Can It Make a Difference? - Poetry Academy

Yes, I do believe that the use of poetry in the education of elementary-aged school children can make a difference in their success - in reading and in writing.
I began tutoring at Reamstown Elementary School when we enrolled our daughter as a student there eleven years ago. Most of my time has been spent tutoring in reading, though I have made a few forays into the mathematics “field”.
This year I am working with third graders (9 year-olds) in the Poetry Academy. Most of these students are part of the Title 1/Reading support program, though we do have a few students who do not require/need the extra instruction in reading skills.
It has been a joy to introduce these children to the various forms of poetry and to see their eyes light up as they gain confidence in their reading skills, begin to express their opinions about the poetry they are reading, and most importantly expand their vocabularies.
These little ones have shown a definite preference to what they term “normal” poems – those that have a rhyming sequence. Very few of them care for “free verse” and most have informed me in their blunt, honest manner that poems that do not rhyme are not poems. They are learning that there are many styles of poetry and are beginning to slowly appreciate these varying styles. I have had some interesting conversations with these children as they ask me some very insightful questions – something that may be, to some, surprising in ones so young.
Their comprehension of what the poems are “saying” is developing and they are more readily expressing what they see in the words, understanding what the poet was trying to convey, and whether or not they agree with the poem’s message. Each student approaches the poems in his or her own way and the expression, timbre of voice, and enthusiasm varies every time I spend time with them.
Today all of the students at the school were taking the “writing” portion of the PSSA exam and I am hoping to see that those students who are participants in the Poetry Academy will have carried what they have learned over into their written use of words.