POETRY IN EDUCATION

Gabriela Martinez
LBS 355-4

2/4/2015

3 pages

Paper #3 Draft #3

Poetry in Education
Children around the world are struggling to read poetry. Poetry should
be used in classrooms because reading poetry has been linked to literacy.

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Sizmur (2008) discussed the performance of poetry, Faver (2007) believed in

repeat reading, and Hughes (2007) integrated technology into the poetic
expression of students. I will apply reading poetry with my future students by
trying performance of poetry, repeated reading method, or integrated
technology to help my students be more literate.
Poetry is good because it activates imagination, provides joy, and
develops inspiration. For example, Sizmur (2008), used the performance
method, where students had the freedom to choose their own style for their
personal poetic performance; some chose to do it like a TV report, and others
did a play. The students were given the opportunity to do the assignment
alone, or in groups of two or more to perform the poem called, Off to the
Moon. The students had the opportunity to give their own opinion about the
aspects of a good poetry performance. They identified the relationship
between their voices, clarity, pace, and expression. In addition, they also
found that the facial expressions, and the eye contact contribute to a better
performance of poetry, and that special effects were also important (Sizmur,
2008). I think that the importance of letting students prepare, decide, and
perform the way they want makes everything more interesting for them, and
they take pride in doing their best. Overall, the outcome of using the
performance method was positive, and it proves that performance activates
students' imagination and they become more literate.

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In addition to the performance method, Faver (2007), also found that

reading fluency is a multidimensional skill that must be explicitly taught and
modeled. In her study, Faver (2007), found that poetry can influence fluency,
and used the repeated reading method. For this method, students read the
same text, which should be no longer than 150 words, for several days for
about fifteen minutes a day. Less fluent students are paired with more fluent
students; this is to help the less fluent students learn how to read some of
the more difficult words. Repeated reading improves reading fluency because
the poetry makes children aware of the sound of words, the phonics, the
meaning of the words. At the beginning of this method, the students that
were not used to reading a lot just repeated the poem, but once they
became fluent, they were more engaged because they understood the
meaning of poetry.
Besides repeated reading and performance of poetry, we have to find
meaningful ways to engage students with literacy, and reading poetry leads
to literacy. According to Hughes (2007), nowadays, people all over the world
are surrounded by technology. The technology is used in the classrooms to
help students express themselves. Because students can use something they
already like, such as iPads, cellphones, and computers, they will learn more
effectively and will want to read poetry. With technology, students are
exposed to the virtual environment, and they can understand how poetry
sounds if they can listen to poetry on the screen. They can have the chance
to talk to other students from around the world about poetry, through the

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screen, and they will learn poetry as they interact. The fact is that
technology is here and we can use it to our childrens advantage in the
learning environment.
In conclusion, I highlighted that Sizmur (2008), Faver (2007), and
Hughes (2007) identified improvement of literacy, reading ability, and
interest in poetry after using one of the three studies they performed. I will
definitely try one of the three methods, performance of poetry, repeated
reading method, or integrated technology to help my students succeed at
their reading fluency and to get my students involved in poetry because I
want to ensure that all of my students learn and are more literate.

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References
Faver, S (2008). Repeated reading of poetry can influence fluency. Reading
Teacher, (62)4, 350352.
Hughes, J. (2007). Poetry: A powerful medium for literacy and technology
development. The
Literacy Numeracy Secretarial, 1-4.
Sizmur, J. (2008). Attitudes to reading survey-rhyme or reason? Literacy
Today, 57, 29-31.