We are currently reading and analyzing poetry in my Honors language arts/reading class.  Students completed the following questions before we actually started the unit:

• Have you ever chosen to read poetry for fun?

• What type of poetry do you enjoy reading and why?  If not, why not?

• What is your favorite poem and why?  Who is your favorite poet and why?

• Describe how poetry has been taught to you at the elementary school level?

• How would you like to learn about poetry?

• Have you experienced any problems or difficulties with reading poetry?  If so, what? 

     The majority of the students responded that they faced difficulty with understanding  the meaning of poems, they were not sure what the poet was trying to say or convey.  I taught a lesson on strategies for reading poetry.  I provided my students with some useful tips on reading poetry:

ü      Preview the poem-Look at the shape, number of stanzas and lines, punctuation, and rhyme scheme of poem.

ü      Read the poem aloud a few times-Hearing how a poem sounds sometimes makes it more sensible.

ü      Visualize the images-Paint a picture in your mind.  Do the images remind you of something?

ü      Clarify words/phrases-Do certain words or phrases/figurative language stand out? Why?

ü      Evaluate the poem’s theme-What message is the poet trying to send or help me understand?  Make inferences and draw conclusions based on the text in the poem.

     We then analyzed the poem, “ I’m Nobody! Who Are You?”  By Emily Dickinson together as a class.  I chose this poem purposefully, because it contains inferences and figurative language.  It was a challenge for my class.

My students also completed a Power Point on the strategies for reading poetry.