Lourdes Andrade

LBS 355
Poetry
Paper #2
October 23, 2012
Draft #3

Do you like poetry? When this question was asked in a classroom with future teachers,
not many raised their hands. Why haven't more teachers discovered the benefits of poetry? In
fact, many teachers stay away from poetry because of their belief that it is something intricate
and that it will only lead to confusion. Poetry can offer much more. Through poetry, students can
improve their reading and writing skills, and then also develop their creativity and confidence.
Above all, teachers can use poetry to enhance students reading and writing skills. Faver
(2008) explained how poetry was used in her classroom for repeated reading. Similarly to Faver,
I have had similar results. In my classroom, the students had the opportunity to learn a new poem
each month. The teacher and I would model the poem, emphasize sight words, discuss any words
the students did not recognize, and then read it together. The students had fun and in addition
learned to read, recognized sight words, and improved their writing skills.
Furthermore, poetry can also be utilized to enhance students' creativity and confidence.
When poetry is presented as a fun word game, it can be as diverse as their lives (Harrison, 2006).
After reading the poem, the students had an opportunity to make up signs to go with poems and
later to perform it, when they were ready to do so. In the beginning, many shied away from
being in the front of their classroom, but as their reading and writing skills improved, many
began to ask us if they could perform the poem. Some students even created their own poem and
performed it at the end of the year. As Harrison (2006) stated, poetry can be used as a teaching
opportunity and most students are already equipped with many of the basic tools to write poetry.
Poetry allowed the students to go beyond just reading and writing, it also boosted their creativity
and confidence levels.
In summary, poetry not only enhances reading and writing skills, but also develops their
creativity and motivates students. For students to excel, it is of great importance that they learn to

read and write with a passion. Poetry offers this and much more. Teachers are always looking for
ways to improve their students achievements; poetry can be the solution.

Reference List
Faver,S. (2008). Repeated reading of poetry can influence fluency. Reading Teacher, 62(4),
350-352.
Harrison, D.L. (2006). A matter of meter. Teaching Pre K-8, 36(7), 50-51.
Sizmur, J. (2008). Attitudes to reading survey-rhyme or reason?. Literacy Today, 57, 29-31.