Studying Poetry in the Classroom

More often than not, if you ask literature teachers how they feel about poetry, they will tell you that they don’t like teaching it because the students don’t like learning about it. While it is true that many students balk at the mention of poetry, this is usually because the teachers try to teach it just like a book, without explaining things like word choice, form, or even what is going on in the poem. Adding some fun activities to a unit on poetry can really help students come up with their own understanding of poetry, and then they can bring that personal connection to the poems you read in class.

Teaching the Form

One of the most important things to teach when you are teaching poetry is about the form of the poem you are reading. Even free verse poems that seemingly lack a form have an art to them. Poetry is different from prose in that there are lines, and when the poet writes a poem, he or she pays careful attention to those lines. Very often, important phrases end at the line, or poets include important words at the end of the line. This can help draw attention to the words and phrases that are used in the poem, and can help illuminate the meaning of the poem.

Most Important Word

By asking students what they think the most important word in the poem is, you are asking them to think about the poet’s word choice. This is actually a very difficult question for students to answer because usually they want to choose a whole phrase. By asking them to pick one word, you are forcing them to look at the whole poem through a critical eye. If they are stuck and need help, you can always give them hints. Important words can be repeated over and over within the poem. Repetition is always a signal of an important word. Other important words can embody the entire theme or message of the poem, or can be a word that the students like the sound or meaning of. Most importantly, remind the students that, as long as they can explain their choice, there are no wrong answers.

Coffeehouse Readings

Always read poetry aloud in class. This can help students understand the poem better. Poetry was also meant to be read aloud. You can make this fun, too, by setting up your classroom like a coffeehouse poetry reading. Have the students snap their fingers after each reading, instead of clapping their hands. Add some lamps to create a coffeehouse feel when the lights are turned off, and put a fake microphone at the front of the room for students to stand up and read into. This will get the students listening and enjoying poetry just for the sound of it, which can lead to really great discussions about the content and how the poem was read.

Found Poems

Found poems are a great way to have students dive into writing their own poetry. For some students, writing a poem can be daunting if anything goes. With found poems, have the students “find” words and phrases in magazines and newspapers. Have them cut out what they find and glue it on a piece of paper in the form of a poem. By giving students something to start with – in this case, words already printed in a magazine – you’ve taken away the fear of creating and sharing something new and personal. 

Montessori Distance Learning – Comprehensive Training for Teachers of the Young

Montessori distance learning courses are designed for continuing education in the field of child education. These programs help to develop excellent teaching credentials and provide extensive practical training in Montessori education. These days, most comprehensive distance learning programs are available for aspiring Montessori teachers worldwide.

Montessori distance learning programs include Montessori methodology and practice, five of the most important ideas in Montessori education, how to prepare the Montessori environment, how to prepare yourself as a Montessori caregiver, communicating with young children the Montessori way. Some programs also offer contemporary ideas to supplement Montessori methodology. The combination of the ideas past and present can truly enrich a child’s educational and social experiences.

Montessori Education Overview

Distance education allows you the freedom of studying and submitting your course work at your own pace without disrupting your current job, leisure activities or family life. Comprehensive curriculum manuals support distance learning programs. Instructional materials and support systems like CD, DVDs and online access to educational video presentations guide you step-by-step through each and every lesson.

Generally, Montessori distance learning programs are divided into different levels. Infant or Toddler Program is for the children under 3 years of age. Pre-school or Kindergarten is for the children in 3 to 6 years age group. Elementary or Diploma program is designed for the children in the 6 to 9 years age bracket. These programs cover all the critical stages of development. Some institutions offer Elementary Montessori Environments programs for 9 to 12 years old children.

Institutions Offering Montessori Programs

Professional Career Development Institute is a nationally accredited distance learning school founded in 1987. They have enrolled over 1,200,000 students in the US and in 100 countries worldwide. They offer affordable, no-interest monthly tuition plans. They regularly update their course materials to reflect new technical advances and research.

The United Montessori Association offers a 9 to 12 month, comprehensive on-line Montessori Teacher Training Program. The Montessori teacher training program is an exclusive distance-learning email based program. Students receive the lesson responses in the form of Microsoft Word attachments. Teaching manuals, CDs and DVDs are mailed via the postal service and are inclusive in the tuition fees. Reference books required for reading assignments may be purchased separately and are not included in tuition fees.

Montessori Teacher Preparation of Washington offers four self-paced videotape courses covering all the levels of Montessori education.

Montessori distance learning programs provide a thorough understanding of the adult-child relationship as well as a complete knowledge of the physical layout and operation of a Montessori classroom.

Simplify your Homeschool Curriculum

When you begin to homeschool, you are keen to go to curriculum fairs and search out the perfect homeschool curriculum for your family.  When you have been homeschooling for a few years, you may discover that your first choices did not work out that well, and you are on the hunt again.  Five or so years later, you may be bored and keen to re-think
the homeschool curriculum and cater for your highschool students.  Ten years later, you throw out so much of what you have bought and never used and keenly look to simplify your homeschool curriculum.

I am not sure if you subscribe to numerous homeschooling e-newsletters or ezines (perhaps you subscribe to mine!).  I subscribe to a few to find out what homeschool curriculum is around and the see what other homeschoolers may be using.  At times, I like to read reviews.  However, as my email box is continually bombarded with new homeschool products and resources,  I wonder if all the new products have helped our desire or vision for homeschooling.   Are we more focussed on the task of homeschooling now with the
plethora of curriculum that is put before us or did those early veteran homeschoolers with limited resources capture the essence of homeschooling in a better way?  Have we lost the vision?

Am I against homeschool curriculum?  Absolutely not!  I am very thankful to numerous publishers who have put time and thought into a product and are selling it to the homeschool market.  Thankyou!  It has made my task so much easier!  However, I am concerned that some publishers are just viewing homeschooling as another market and we are steered into thinking that each child needs to have a textbook for each subject each year!  Four children, eight subjects each year means literally 128 textbooks for every year of homeschooling.  Most of these will be pricey and consumable.

“What are you doing for Language Arts?”
“DS has a Year 3 book for Spelling, Year 4 for grammar, Year 3 book for Literature Studies, Year 3 text for writing and Year 4 Book for Reading Comprehension.  Yes, I am so glad that we can cater for his individual abilities!”

Is this the only way?  Are you ready to simplify your homeschool curriculum and not fall into the marketing traps?  How can that be done?

If you have spent any time on my website, you would know that I always refer to your educational and family goals.  That is the first thing that you need to do now if you want to simplify your homeschool curriculum.

• Decide on the big picture goals

Why are you homeschooling?  For what purpose and to what end are you preparing and educating your children?
Let these answers drive the curriculum you choose to implement in your homeschool.

• Decide why you want to teach a certain subject

Here you should pose questions to yourself which will help you formulate why you want to teach a certain subject.

This step can be quite simple.  The most obvious answer as to why we want to teach reading, is, so that our children will read widely and understand what they read.  True?  How do we do that?  Firstly, we set up an atmosphere that encourages reading.  We read widely to them;  We give them the tools so that they can read for themselves (phonics instruction when ready); We offer a range of quality reading resources – both fiction and non-fiction living books.  We include reading in all subject areas and do not treat it as a separate subject, but instead, a skill to be developed in each subject.

The most obvious answer as to why we want to teach writing, is, so that our children can write appropriately for different audiences and in different situations.  This includes writing notes, letters, essays, descriptive writing, fiction, non-fiction,  responses, critical essays, essays of persuasion and more.  (More writing skills can be found listed here: http://www.design-your-homeschool.com/teaching-writing-skills.html.

So, how would we do that?  Does it mean we need a consumable textbook for each grade level?  Probably not!  If we want to teach our children to write, they need to write! – all types of forms of writing, across the curriculum. Begin by teaching them correct letter formation, writing words, copying sentences, narrations, copying their own oral narrations, essay writing. I would encourage you to get a book which explains different writing forms.  I like the Write Source books and have chosen a few age-appropriate teaching texts.  These are non-consumable and are written directly to the child.

If you would like to work on writing skills, you could choose an excerpt of literature, discuss the grammar, spelling, sentence structure, word usage and use it as a basis for copywork, and modeling.

Spelling can flow directly from their own writing and an individual spelling list can be created from their incorrect spelling.  Spelling in context is far more effective.  However, if you would like a Spelling Program, choose one which spans across the ages and years.

If your goal for history teaching is that they memorize dates, you would look for a program that just focusses on memorization of facts, but if your goal is that they gain an understanding of the time period and understand it in the context of a Biblical Worldview, you would look for a curriculum that helps you to do that.

The answer you give for each subject area, will help you choose appropriate homeschool curriculum which has the same purpose in mind.

• Combine subjects and Skill Teaching

To simplify the curriculum, you need to look for ways to combine subjects.  If you teach history in an integrated approach, you can teach history, geography, literature, art history, science history, music history and worldview (depending on the curriculum you choose to help you teach).  As you integrate these subjects, you use and develop age-appropriate reading and writing skills. Writing can be done in the context of any subject area!

During a study on Ancient Egypt, you can read aloud an historical fiction novel such as “Mara, daughter of the Nile”, create a salt map of Egypt;  Read about the culture;  Put the time period into the Biblical timeline;  Copy the way the Ancient Egyptians decorated their tombs; Dress like an Egyptian, Hold a feast; Write a story/narration/summary/book report/essay from  what was learned.

• Combine ages

To simplify your homeschooling life, combine ages where you can. History can be taught successfully to the whole family at once, but the writing and reading assignments which are set will be different for the different ages.  I expect more from my fifteen year old, than from my ten year old.

Some families like to begin their day with their ‘together’ work – such as Bible, Memorization, History/Science Readings, Art, and whatever they combine, and then continue the day in independent studies.  Other families like to begin independently, and then finish working on projects together.

• Make memorable learning experiences and products

Textbooks may have a place as educational tools, but the consumable workbooks that some children work in year after year, will not be treasured years after.  However, a book which they have created, a scrapbook, a personal diary, an art collection,  a poster, a photo journal,  a project, notebook or portfolio will have an important place in the lives of your children for years.  These will be kept as wonderful memories and as the pages which they have spent energy, heart and soul creating, are turned, the experiences and memories of that year of homeschooling will come back too!  My children love looking back at what they have created, but have not had any attachment at all to a consumable workbook, which subsequently has been tossed in the bin.

• All of Life is Education

To simplify your homeschooling, do not confine education to books.  All of life is education even chore training, kitchen duties, house cleaning.  Do not be anxious if you can not get to the books as much as you would like.  Talk to your children, converse with them about all of life, as you sit down, as you get up and as you walk along the road.  Remember there are phases of learning and different ages have different things you need to focus on.  When a child is ready, they can work quite independently, structure their own days and learn things quickly.  How much more effective would it be if we taught our children a difficult concept when they were truly ready, rather than to our timetable or the timetable of our text?

Remember that excursions, holidays, visiting the sick, providing a meal are opportunities for training and education.

Also, one needs to be reminded that you can not do it all.  Be realistic in your own expectations.

• Do not compare

Above all, do not compare yourself with others.

Use the homeschooling resources which conform with the goals you have for your children.  If it is working for you and your
family, there is no need to change.

As you step out to simplify your homeschool curriculum, keep your own goals in mind and be driven by them, not by the
hype and advertising of numerous publishers.