Why poetry in teaching: making a case for its use

If we look around us, there is poetry everywhere: in the vastness of the sea, in the brightness of the sun, in the journey of the falling leaves, in the sound of the soft rain. 

Reading a poem is an experience of a different order from those of “real life” and yet of the kind that can, many a time, make “real life” less insufferable than it might be.

A poem is something we “make”. It comes from the Greek word for the result of “making”. (ποίημα). A poem encapsulates a lifetime’s thoughts and experiences. It can evoke a whole range of feelings and emotions, but above all, it can bring people together by the power of its rhythm and imagery which are universal and culture-free.

Poetry has been kept out of teaching language though there are a number of good reasons why it should form part of it. In the age of texting and tweeting, a poem has the advantage of being brief and self-contained – even the longer ones – compared to novels which can be a few hundred to over a thousand pages long. 

Of course, I am not trying to underestimate the importance of reading extensively – far from it. I am only suggesting that poems can provide ideal language input, ample scope for discussion and a springboard for writing.

One can read a poem out, or play a reading of it on one of the numerous poetry sites. There is nothing wrong with reading a poem several times; on the contrary, one might find plenty of opportunities for doing so: getting the rhythm right, reading it on your own or in a group, counting the syllables in each line and so on.

A poem can be acted out if it lends itself to dramatization or put to music or recited. A poem can be conversational or narrative or philosophical among others. Depending on the subject and the degree of difficulty a teacher can devise all kinds of different activities.

I will provide a simple example. Here is a very popular English poem:

Once the Wind

Once the wind
said to the sea
I am sad
       And the sea said
Why
       And the wind said
Because I
am not blue like the sky
or like you

       So the sea said what’s
so sad about that
                         Lots
of things are blue
or red or other colours too
       but nothing
neither sea nor sky
can blow so strong
or sing so long as you
       And the sea looked sad
          So the wind said
Why

By Shake Keane

One can use this poem for many purposes in class. I am a stickler for testing comprehension and in this case it fits perfectly with testing coherence and cohesion. I jumbled the first few lines of the poem as follows:

I am sad

Why

Once the wind

And the sea said

Because I

Said to the sea

And the wind said

I asked my students to put the lines in the right order, which they found quite engaging.

If your students keep forgetting the preposition “to” after the verb “say”, this is a nice way of bringing it home to them.

The poem, thanks to its conversational nature can be acted out .

The end of it can put into motion another exchange between the wind and the sea and therefore lead to creative writing. Alternatively, the teacher can provide two different identities for children to write their poem with those in the place of the wind and the sea. A handy example is : ice and fire.

Groups of words could be built under the headings:

wind

breeze

gale

hurricane

tornado

or

sea

waves

calm

choppy

rough

bottom

surface

It is therefore obvious that poetry can not only provide pleasure reading but it can also hone skills, encourage creativity and enrich vocabulary to mention but a few of its advantages.