What is poetry? Poetry comes from Latin poesis. It is a manifestation of beauty
or aesthetic feeling through words, whether verse or prose. Poetry is a fun way
of teaching sensitivity and aesthetic taste, while helping students to understand
the world we live in. Through poetry we foster communicative, linguistic,
cultural and social skills, which are all very important in children
development.
However, the problem is that we cannot teach
children to like poetry, they must learn to do so themselves. In order to
foster students to appreciate poetry, the teacher must provide the appropriate
atmosphere: he must be able to teach students that poetry is not boring; he
must be able to open up a new world to them… the magical world of words, and
help them discover the world around them through their senses. In order to do
so, it is essential that the teacher loves poetry himself, so that he can show
that to his students. It is also very important that he plans activities in
advance and provides students with the appropriate material.
But… How can we make our students be interested
in poetry? First of all, the teacher should read poetry to students to
stimulate poetic sensibility. Then, students must read poetry themselves, since
this will allow them to feel more comfortable when dealing with poetry, they
will enjoy it and they will read into it their own way. Next, they must
memorize poetry, for this will give them an important cultural stock. By
memorizing poetry I mean reciting it, because that will favour their self esteem.
Finally, students must write down poetry themselves, which will allow them to
show their personality, feelings, fears and personal experiences.
