Chapter 9/ Extending Acrostic Poetry
I was glad that I read chapter 9 today, because it went so well with an experience I shared with my class today. We were reading Johnny Appleseed by Stephen Kellog and the author used the phrase “John loved to watch the spring blossoms slowly turn into the glowing fruit of autumn.” It was a teachable moment, because I was able to discuss the author’s use of language and also see if the students were comprehending the text. I think that tomorrow I am going to go back and make a chart of amazing words/phrases to post in my class for students to use in their writing and poetry. I also liked the idea of adding amazing words and language to a writer’s notebook. This would be beneficial to my students because they have not really found their own “voice” yet, and I think that they will be more confident in their writing if they begin to mimic other authors.
I thought that the article about extending acrostic poetry was very helpful. We are so stressed for time in schools and so pushed to teach reading and math, that sometimes we don’t have time for science/social studies content. I think that this is a shame and also unfair to our students. Unfortunately, the stress of standardized testing leaves science and social studies behind. By using poetry and acrostic poetry to teach content, you are meeting multiple goals. It also gives the students a guideline to write by and a format. I agree with “marinating” our students in poetry and content and I appreciate how the article pointed out that before going into poetry the teacher immersed the students in the subject.
