Using Poetry in Language

Teaching
Presented by: Jhuanna Marie Sol
Jenny Cruz
Jasel Mae Lomocso
 Poetry
Poetry is written to share ideas, express emotions,
and create imagery. Poets choose words for their
meaning and acoustics, arranging them to create a
tempo known as the meter. Some poems incorporate
rhyme schemes, with two or more lines that end in
like-sounding words.
Poetry is a rich genre and a beneficial complement. There are
many types, including sonnets, descriptive poems, lyrical poems,
and narrative poems which can be used in the classroom. Teaching
English through poetry has many advantages such as it being
authentic in nature, being a medium to express emotions and
feelings, being a wonderful carrier of culture and being able to
help improve students’ linguistic knowledge and skills.

Poetry always awakens our senses, promotes literary. It helps

students to draw a sketch or image of everything in their mind
which they can feel, explain and talk about. Poetry is musical and
rhythmic, so it catches everyone’s attention. Poetry is universal and
global so it connects people. It is a vehicle for expression on a
wider horizon. Poetry requires concentration and attention both
which usually students did not adhere on.
 Language
Poems can be used to introduce or
practice new vocabulary, language
structures, and rhyming devices, and
shorter poems often give ELLs a chance to
explore an idea while working with a more
manageable amount of text than a short
story or essay.
Introducing ELLs to Poetry
Poetry offers wonderful opportunities for reading, writing, speaking, and
listening practice for ELLs. Poetry also gives students a chance to expand
vocabulary knowledge, to play with language, and to work with different
rhythms and rhyme patterns.
Draw on students' background knowledge
It may be helpful to start your poetry instruction by finding out what kinds of
experiences your students have had with poetry.

 Do students know poems in their native language?

 Is there a particular poem from their country or heritage that they like?
 Would they be willing to share a translation?
 Who are the famous poets from their country?
 Have students written poems before?
 Was it in English or their native language?
 Did student enjoy writing poetry?
Using Poetry in Reading
Instruction
 Familiarize students
with different kinds of
poems
Poetry can range from simple and
fun to complicated and abstract,
which may be one reason it is
daunting for many teachers and
students alike.
Depending on the English level of the students, there are a
variety of ways to start bringing poetry in the classroom.

● Talk about the differences between stories and poems. Provide students with a copy of a
short story they've already read and a short poem.
● Start with poems that are manageable. Make sure the poems you present first have
simple and familiar language, images, and themes so that they are accessible to ELLs.
● Give students a chance to illustrate poems. This will encourage them to think about
meaning, and then express their interpretation in their own way.
● Read a variety of poems out loud. Reading a poem out loud brings it to life.
● Be sure to include some poems written for kids and young adults. Children's poetry can
be so much fun, and it also gives students a chance to talk about important ideas and
feelings.
● Discuss the vocabulary used in different poems. Poems offer a wonderful opportunity to
teach new vocabulary related to a topic or idea, as well as a chance to think about language.
● Give students a chance to read poems out loud together as a class and to each other.
● Look for opportunities to include poetry in other contexts.
Encourage students to immerse
themselves in poetry
As students' comfort level increases, it will be possible to
begin more in-depth conversations about different poetry
forms, meaning, and language. Here are some ideas for
more advanced students:

● Use graphic organizers.

● Discuss grammatical/syntax patterns found in poems.
● Continue reading poetry out loud to your students.
● Encourage students to share their personal
interpretations.
 Why poetry?
 High quality language: a model
 Simple language to convey complex
ideas
 Challenging
 Essence of human experience: crossing
boundaries of language and culture
 More specific cultural engagements
 Poetry embodies 'a marvellous potential
if one wants to bridge the gap between
teaching language and teaching
literature' (Cariboni Killander, 2011)
Advantages of using
poetry in language
teaching
There are a number of ways to use
poetry for ELL Classroom. Poetry
offers many opportunities for
language teaching and practice. It
gives a wide chance of learning
vocabulary and structure.
We can start use of poetry in classroom in
various ways such as:

Discussion about Give a short story Read poems loudly

the difference and ask to convert and tales and prose
between Poems and some lines in a in poetic manner so
Prose. poetic composition. that students can
follow.
 We can start use of poetry in classroom in
various ways such as:

In order to increase
fluency, pronunciation Vocabulary is also very Poems have some
and confidence, important because there unusual sentences and
classroom practices and are many words which structures which students
exercises play an can only be used in poetic normally will not find in
important role. composition. prose.
Poetry for teaching is helpful because it
works well as a catalyst over mind. It is
often called ‘balm for soothing mind’,
similarly it’s a versatility make learning
motivating, memorable and involving
the whole classroom. If we go in the
history of poems, we find Epics, Tales
and Folk lore which are sung by so
called illiterate people but they learn it
by heart and reproduce it many a times
all the same. Similarly ‘Tanka’ in Japan
and ‘Shi’ in China also promote
language teaching with great success.
They make historical, cultural and
mythological references learn by heart
easily and enrich our knowledge of
particular language.
There are several advantages which students
can get through poetry such as:

 A student can use and fit words in poetic

composition.

 Correct use of vocabulary and grammatically correct

language can be learned.

 Students can I earn use of Thesaurus, Phrases,

Structure, verb and tenses.

 Nurture student’s imagination and creativity as well

as build their confidence level.
 Each coin has two sides ;
so is everything has some
pros and cons. Teaching
English through Poetry is
time consuming and
sometimes wrong
construction of poem can
make the results worst. A
right click always enhance
the beauty, similarly bad
click make the memory
worse.
References:

● https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/introducing-
and-reading-poetry-english-language-learners?
fbclid=IwAR0X80PP2q3f2VjxsbuPhYWzaJ8zqXgKdvYfSu_o
cC5mumLYpEeF1SDgsG4

● https://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/Vol19-
issue5/Version-3/D019532123.pdf

● https://slideplayer.com/slide/4885662/

● https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1283272.pdf
 Thank You
For
Listening

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