Helping Students Access the Inaccessible in a Poetry Unit

"Teaching Poetry to an Unpoetical Age-- A Junior High Unit" by Eric W. Johnson

Reading this article, I recognized that too many junior high (and high school) students don't recognize what poetry really is, much less how to go about approaching it. Students enter an English class with some firm pre-conceptions about the nature of poetry and their relationship to it. Although Johnson does not say in quite so many words, the only real way for his methods to work is through creating an open, respectful environment where questions of all sorts are welcomed and constructive criticism is taken well. As a teacher, it is crucial that we respect our students in their attempts to learn and that we encourage our students to do the same for their peers, as they read and come to understand the works of others, and as they write works of their own.

Of course, our students must both read and write poetry. And we shouldn't be afraid to challenge them; detailed and individual feedback on how they can improve their strengths will stretch them academically and lead them successfully to the knowledge we want them to find.

To lead them to this knowledge, they must be confident. Johnson suggests posting student work after they write it, and allowing and encouraging students to read poetry aloud often. Poetry today is such  a foreign subject for secondary students that they may need time to get used to its concepts, but  students are more than capable of coming to grasp the intricacies that make up Frost or Williams.

If students are reading, writing, and understanding poetry, we will be left with a classroom of students who appreciate it a little more, who are a little more involved. Poetry teaches many valuable things, says Johnson. Not only do we open the door for our students to further delve into poetry, we also encourage them to examine deeper meanings, tone, emotion, word choice, and other tools that will assist the as they continue to explore the wide world of literary benefits.

http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.uvu.edu/stable/pdf/809989.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A25d139026feef58b24ccac110bdda243