Michelle Gunderson teaches first grade in Chicago. She teaches poetry to her students. They love it. They read poems and they write poems.
We read tons of poems, made lists of what we noticed, tried different techniques, and learned the mechanics of poetry. But at the end of the unit we read Whitman, Hughes, Dickinson, and Rosetti. We decided to add to our list of poetry features that poems can be about something important.
Writing a poem when you are six, and experiencing yourself as a poet is extraordinary.
Poetry is the natural language of childhood – we hear it in nursery rhymes, playground games, and jump rope songs. Yet, writing poetry is not part of the Common Core standards in the early grades. There are several reasons to be troubled by this. First of all, when we eliminate a genre of literature that is natural to children, we also restrict the love of language necessary to draw young readers into the process. I have contended in other writings and presentations that the Common Core standards do not take into consideration child development and natural inclinations of young children. This is yet another example.
It becomes more troubling when we recognize that poetry and song are the elements of resistance and movements. These are the ways that people fully express who they are and speak out against oppression. And finally, poetry is an art, and it is part of being fully human.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The Common Core is a hangman’s noose.
Developed by soul-less orphans so obtuse
‘Cause no one read them Mother Goose or Seuss.
The writer of this column understands that the goal of Common Core (and the current ‘reform movement’) is repression. It aims to create a ‘compliant workforce’ for an automated society. It is trying to fossilize the current social order in amber.
As educators, that is not our job, nor is it our passion. We ‘educate’ (draw out) each individual so that our society can grow. We encourage the natural ferment that allows this growth. We subsume our own, personal, interest for this process.
And, so, I’m sure, many of you know the words Mario Savio spoke 60 years ago, “There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part. You can’t even passively take part! And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop! And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it — that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all! “
My principal is pushing hard to, using school site funds, pay a private, non-district company to come into my school and coach me with the rest of the English department on Common Core instructional practices. The company will come in to my classroom, observe, and give incontestable recommendations as to how I should change my methods and content. I will lose the ability to slip poetry, projects, and creativity into my lessons. I will lose my autonomy. These ‘recommendations’ will be administered via frequent, mandatory meetings during weekends and vacations, in other words, during the personal time I use to plan student-centered lessons, correct papers, and decompress from the pressures of the middle school classroom.
The union site rep and the teaching faculty seem unable to stop it from happening. These people just don’t take no for an answer. Diane, Karen, Ellen, Michelle (I’m glad you mentioned my favorite poet, Rosetti!), anybody, do you have any ideas for how to stop this and preserve poetry and authentic, meaningful instruction in my classroom? Without losing my job? I’m at a loss.
Please help!
Poetry is important and attainable for young children. Keep it and ditch tedious tests . Your students will soar.
Left Coast teacher: If your observer is anything like i have seen in past. They will tell you to tighten transition time so you can make more time for their product. A wonderful use of professional development.
Hi.
Kudos to this teacher for reaffirming the value of weaving poetry into the classroom.
There are many excellent resources about how to infuse poetry into the classroom. Check out Dr. Sylvia Vardell’s Poetry Blog and the four edited anthologies with award winning post , Janet Wong, about Poetry Friday published by Pomelo Books. Also, Georgia Heard has written copious resources about weaving poetry into the classroom. There is also another practical resource by Rose Cappelli and Lynn Dorfnam entitled, Poetry Mentor texts” that would also support teachers.
Children must be immersed in listening to quality children’s poetry in the early grades and beyond. There are many excellent examples of quality children’s poetry. Check out the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry award and the poetry written by the National Council of Teachers Excellence in Children’s Poetry award. Poetry is delightful and supports all areas of language and literacy development.
May each of us hold steadfast to the power of language as we celebrate poetry with our students.
I dont have the sense that most of the writers here have much knowledge of the common core standards. It is perfectly possible to immerse children in poetry and meet the standards. The literature standards ask for poetry to be read, and nothing in the writing standards says children cannot write poetry. One can run a wonderful, rich, progressive classroom and meet these standards. At Mission Hill we taught the way we wanted and mapped back to the Massachusetts standards without any difficulty. The same is true of the common corestandards. They do not prevent good teaching and probably help the kids stuck with bad teachers. (If the objection is to kids being asked to write too early, i suggest thinking of “writing” as applicable to first graders- sometimes independent wrting, sometimes dictation, sometimes shared writing, depending on where the child is.)