Poem of the Week launched

This term we have introduced the idea of “Poem of the week”. The children have the opportunity in each class to listen to, explore and discuss the poem over the course of the week, delving deeply into the language, imagery and emotion, using it as a catalyst for thought and undertaking various activities such as rewriting sections for themselves.

 

Poetry can be a tremendous tool in helping us to develop our literacy skills. It has often been said that children brought up with a diet of nursery rhymes find it easier to identify rhyme – a vital component in learning to spell. Poets when writing often tend to use more complex forms of sentence structure than we usually come across in everyday life as well as using novel and unusual vocabulary. Reading or listening to poetry can therefore be extremely stimulating to the language parts of our brains. It can help us develop our overall understanding of language.

Through poetry we can also learn to understand how others feel. Poems can make us feel happy, sad, romantic or just thoughtful. Sometimes reading a special poem can just help us understand our own emotions at times when we find it difficult to express exactly what we are feeling. Poetry is a vital part of our culture.

 

In future weeks we will share with you some of the poems that the children have particularly enjoyed and tell you what they thought about them.  Click the link to read Dragon on the Playground by Kenn Nesbitt, a fun poem that Year 5 have been looking at