Multimedia Classroom Poetry

SOME IDEAS FOR TEACHING POETRY

I always like to begin with Robert Frost's "The Pasture:"

The Pasture
by Robert Frost

    I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;
    I'll only stop to rake the leaves away
    (And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
    I shan't be gone long. -- You come too.

    I'm going out to fetch the little calf
    That's standing by the mother. It's so young,
    It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
    I shan't be gone long. -- You come too.

The kids read this poem out loud from the screens, then we interpret it together in these three steps:

LITERAL MEANING: The author cleans a pond and gets a calf and wants you to join him.

FIGURATIVE MEANING I'm going to see beauty and I want to share it with you.

METAPHORICAL MEANING: Robert Frost is defining the nature of art. All artists, good or bad, working in any medium, are trying to share the beauty they see, hear, or feel, with an audience.

I like to follow this with Ogden Nash's famous short poem:

I? Why?

II

This is always followed by that great poem by the boxer formally known as Cassius Clay: Click me to hear Mohammed Ali

Another neat way to start a poetry lesson is by reading Leo Lionini's FREDERICK.

Frederick is a field mouse who doesn't help the others collect food for the winter. When asked why, he explains that he is collecting colors and feelings and words for the long winter. When winter comes, he is able to make them feel warm and happy by sharing these words.

After he speaks, one of the mice says, "Frederick, you're a poet," and Frederick replies, "Yes, I know it."

It really gives the kids an easy way to understand a purpose of poetry. For younger students, one can ask them to collect the colors, sounds, tastes, smells, and images of summer, and write them in poetry form. I present FREDERICK in Powerpoint format, reading the story out loud. It is also available in an eight minute cartoon version, as are many of Leoninni's wonderful stories.

I like to have the kids read THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. I know it's old-fashioned, but it's fun, especially when reference is made to the LITTLE RASCALS. (I have got to find a clip of it!) You remember the scene: While Alfalfa is reciting the poem, fireworks are popping from his back pocket.

After we talk about the romantic ideals in the poem, and how it was used to encourage boys to enlist in the army (see ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT), I like to use the 1936 film. If you'd like to see the slideshow introduction I use to that show, click here:

THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE SLIDE SHOW

SHOCKWAVE LIGHT BRIGADE WITH MAP

CLICK FOR THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE TEXT

THE BELLS by Edgar Allan Poe I think this is a terrific poem to illustrate poetic devices. especially onomatapoeia, assonance, and alliteration. We begin with a discussion of different sounds: Consonants are formed within the mouth, Vowels from the diaphragm. This makes certain words faster or slower, depending on their point of origin. Thus, in the first stanza, when Poe illustrates the "tintinabulation" of the "jingling and the tinkling" bells, the poem is light, fast, and happy with alliterative words. In the second stanza, Poe uses vowel sounds to slow the poem down. The assonance of the "molten golden notes," give the poem a more serious tone, and the reader naturally has to be more subdued in reading it. The third stanza is a masterpiece of sound. Poe uses harsh, gutteral sounds with a "cacaphony" of "brazen bells" to show the sound of alarm bells during a fire. The last stanza is a little weird, in its sardonic portrayal of Death as a personification, enjoying the pain he inflicts on others. Still, the sound of the poem is excellent, this time using iron bells, "tolling" in a "muffled monotone." The poem is fun to read, and easy for young people of all ages to understand the devices employed.
CLICK HERE FOR THE TEXT OF THE BELLS CLICK HERE FOR FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE DEFINITIONS

Edgar Allan Poe Emily Dickenson Walt Whitman Alexander Pope Oscar Wilde Rudyard Kipling Internet Poetry Archive Haiku British Poetry 1780-1910 Dr. Seuss GLOSSARY OF POETIC TERMS

BACK TO BILL'S HOMEPAGE

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO MAKE YOUR COMMENTS

The Multimedia Classroom is proud to be associated with Amazon.com. Books and videos to accompany my lessons may be obtained by clicking on the logo.

You are visitor number

to visit this site. Thank you!

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page