Poetry Check-In

I got a bit off track last week on the blog. Hopefully this week I can get back to a full week of posts.

Today I wanted to let you know what we have been talking about in poetry. We are still making our way through Ralph Fletcher's book Poetry Matters.

In the book Fletcher talks about the three pillars of poetry: emotion, image, and music. Each pillar is given its own chapter. In the chapters Fletcher gives advice on how to make the students poetry shine. Here are the four pieces of advice that we have learned so far:

Emotion

1. Think of the poem as an emotional X-Ray
2. Don't say too much
3. Convey emotions through images
4. Try poem speak

Image

1. Use the five senses
2. Try similes and metaphors
3. Personification
4. Use symbols

Music

1. Play with words
2. Use alliteration
3. Fine tune the rhythm
4. Repetition for Emphasis

This weekend I got to read through the writer's notebooks. It is always so much fun to read all the different types of poetry that the students are producing. My favorite part is finding evidence of the students trying these tips they are learning from Ralph Fletcher. I cannot wait to see the poems that the students decide to pick to publish later this week.

I hope your week is off to a great start.