BJU Press Blog

national poetry month

Teaching Poetry in Your Homeschool

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teaching poetry
Have you ever read Ezra Pound’s “In a Station of the Metro”? This twenty-word poem seems simple on the surface. In spite of that, I never really got it until one of my teachers took the time to flesh out its significance. We talked about the sounds and rhythm of the poem itself, the culture Pound lived in, his beliefs as a poet and writer, and the event that inspired the poem. All this information together inspired in me a deep appreciation for Pound’s art and for this poem in particular.

In the course of your child’s education, you’re probably going to read many poems. Let’s take a look at some approaches for teaching poetry to help your children better understand and appreciate it.

Looking for Sounds

Poets choose words not only for their meaning but also for their sound. Words with hard consonant sounds—b, d, k, and t—can sound harsh and forceful. In contrast, words with softer consonant sounds—l, m, n, and s—are melodic and have a gentle flow. In Pound’s poem, the sounds seem to mimic the noises a steam train makes as it comes into a station. The sounds grow harder as the train brakes and slows.

Analyzing Meter or Rhythm

All poems have rhythm. Some poems have metered rhythm—a regular pattern of stressed and nonstressed syllables. You might remember iambic pentameter from your own studies. For example, Shakespeare’s “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” uses iambic pentameter. Other poems don’t have regular meter, but they still have rhythmic sense, especially when they are well crafted. The words Pound uses in his poem not only sound train-like but also have a rhythm that supports the feeling of a train coming to a stop.

It’s surprisingly easy to spend time analyzing the sounds of a poem. In fact, there is a whole bank of terms to draw from to talk about sounds more effectively, and BJU Press literature books explore many of those terms. Have your child look up John Updike’s “Winter Ocean,” available in Elements of Literature (2nd edition). Updike doesn’t rely solely on melodic and gentle sounds to describe his ocean. He combines hard and soft consonant sounds in lines such as “Many-maned scud-thumper” and “shrub-/ruster, sky-mocker, rave!” The winter ocean is not always gentle.

Considering historical context

Looking at something according to its context should already be familiar to your children from hearing sermons and doing Bible studies. When exploring a Scripture passage, we should take a close look at the immediate context of the verse as well as what we know about the cultural beliefs, the life of the author of that book, and the original meanings of the words themselves. The same strategies for Bible study apply to poetry. If the reader knows how subway stations looked in the early 1900s, his appreciation for Pound’s poem increases.

Learning about the poet

At times, the simplest detail about where the poet lived and what he believed can help your children understand what the poet meant. In Pound’s case, knowing that he studied haiku helps us see why he chose to condense his poem to three short lines. And if we read that he once said in a letter, “I got out of a metro train . . . and saw suddenly a beautiful face, and then another and another,” we understand better how to view the poem.

Discovering the meanings of the words

Sometimes, your children will need to learn what the words meant way-back-when. Take a look at Christina Rossetti’s poem “Symbols,” discussed in Excursions in Literature (3rd edition). The textbook points out that Rossetti lived from 1830 to 1894 in England. Many of the words she would have used regularly simply aren’t commonly used today. For example, when is the matin hour? And what does evensong mean? The Oxford English Dictionary is a great resource for learning the history of English words. By looking up these words, we can see that they both have to do with hours dedicated to prayer in the church—one in the early morning and the other in the evening. In other words, the rosebud that the speaker watches blooms and falls the same day. In Pound’s poem, it might be helpful to look up apparition. Its meaning combined with its sound and rhythm make it the perfect choice.

Poetry can inspire even a young child to look at things a little differently and to appreciate the power of language. You could probably spend hours delving into the depths of poetry. But you and your children don’t have to spend a long time on every poem. Finding even a few things in a poem that give it more meaning or beauty will make him a better reader—and maybe even a writer!

A Blackout Poem Writing Activity

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biology blackout poem
Teaching elementary poetry writing can be enjoyable, especially when working with sensory poems or even simple shape poems. And there are hundreds of engaging poems for elementary ages that can help kids get interested in poetry. One of my favorites is “I Wave Good-bye When Butter Flies” by Jack Prelutsky. But what about teaching high school poetry writing? While sensory poems and shape poems are good for any age, many high schoolers are capable of more challenging activities. A blackout poem might be just the kind of poetry exercise your high schooler will find intriguing.

What Is a Blackout Poem?

Blackout poetry is made by highlighting certain words on a published page and then marking out all the rest. You can use cheap thrift-store books you don’t want to keep or photocopied pages of books you already have. You could also use magazine or newspaper pages. I thought it might be a good challenge to make a blackout poem from a page in the BJU Press Biology textbook—with photocopies, of course.

tree blackout poemHow Do You Make a Blackout Poem?

Pick a book, magazine article, or newspaper story. Any long text will work, but keep in mind that what you choose will affect the words your high schooler will have to work with. Choose material that uses descriptive language and strong verbs. And it helps if it’s about a topic he enjoys.

  1. Show him the example and explain that the goal is to “find” a poem within the text, selecting words from the text that can be connected together to make a poem.
  2. Let your teen pick a page that he thinks will give him enough material to create a poem.
  3. He should read his page several times. He’ll need to be familiar with the content in order to decide what he can do with the words. If he finds that his page won’t work, he should choose a new one.
  4. Using a pencil, he should circle or underline all the words that may be useful in crafting his poem. Knowing where conjunctions and strong verbs are will also help him in shaping the poem.
  5. Once he’s chosen his words, he should black out all remaining words on the page with a marker. Blackout poems are most often read from top to bottom and from left to right. He may need to get creative in order to clearly connect his words.

Why Blackout Poetry?

Since your teen will be creating a poem out of words he already has, this activity should work well with even the most reluctant of poets. He won’t have to come up with the ideas himself, and he can even choose a page from one of his favorite books.

By creating a blackout poem, your high schooler will learn to create a poem using just the words he has available. He may be surprised by the beauty of his final product, even if he’s skeptical at first.

A Sensory Poem Writing Activity (Printable)

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sensory poem activity
April is National Poetry Month. Here in South Carolina, it’s also one of the most beautiful months of the year—the temperature is nearly perfect (no stifling heat and humidity yet!), the mosquito population is under control, and the worst of allergy season is behind us. Do my kids and I want to sit inside and write poetry? Not really.

Thankfully, writing and studying poetry doesn’t have to be an indoor activity. In fact, the great outdoors is the perfect place to practice writing a sensory poem.

A simple definition

A sensory poem describes a scene, an object, or an idea with vivid words that appeal to the five senses. It tells how the subject looks, feels, smells, tastes, and sounds.

A workable plan

• Plan an outing

Take advantage of a beautiful April day and head outside. Even if spring hasn’t quite sprung where you live yet, you and your children will probably benefit from some time out of the house. Head to a local park, walk around the block, or plan an outing to somewhere you haven’t yet explored. Be sure to block out enough time so that you and your children won’t feel rushed.

Before you go, take time to explain to your children the purpose of the outing. Explain what a sensory poem is and share some examples.

• Observe something special

While you are out, look for things that spark your child’s interest such as an unusual plant, an insect, or a special vista. The things that excite your child will make good subjects for his or her sensory poem. Use our sensory poem planning printable to help focus your child’s observation skills. You will also want to take pictures (or even a short video) of the subject for later use.

• Draft a sensory poem

After your child has finished planning his or her poem, it’s time to write. Sensory poems don’t have to stick to a certain meter; they don’t even have to rhyme. Encourage your child to refer to the completed planning sheet and describe how the subject sounded, smelled, looked, and felt. You might want to challenge an older child to try including some sound devices such as assonance, consonance, or onomatopoeia in the poem. Be sure to have your child illustrate the final copy of the poem with a drawing or a photograph.

Find out more about sensory poems in our English 3 Worktext.