How is a Poem Like Yoda? The Joy and Power of Using Poetry to Teach Reading MARK WEAKLAND

For me, a poem is a lot like Yoda: It takes up little space but contains tremendous wisdom, surprise, and energy. More specifically, a poem lends itself to learning and practicing all manner of literacy elements, from fluency, phonic patterns, and vocabulary, to genre, author study, and comprehension. Also, poems work for all types of classroom reading: whole group, small group, and independent. And most children find poems engaging. I attribute this to their brevity, rhythm, and sometimes rhyme, as well as their rule-breaking structures.

During my years of working with low-achieving third graders, I presented two poems a month. Now, whenever I teach in K to 6 classrooms, I present three to four, and the first-grade curriculum I am developing is full of poems, for both shared reading and read alouds.

Loosely Leveling Poems

Presenting a variety of poems provides possibilities for classroom activities, gives students choice in what they read, and allows me to differentiate for reading levels. Some poems come with a Lexile or grade level. For those that don’t, you can type them into an ATOS website or Microsoft Word document to generate a grade level and readability score. But I find these scores can be misleading, sometimes egregiously. That’s why I roughly determine a poem’s appropriateness for a group of students by using my teacher sense as I consider the following:

• Vocabulary load,

• Sentence structure,

• Complexity of concepts,

• Total number of words,

• Number of phonic patterns presented.

Possible Routine for Teaching Reading Skills Through Poems

Here’s a five-step routine for teaching any poem. Of course, it’s just a suggestion. Make it your own based on the type of poem you present and the ability of the kids you teach.

1. Engage students in discussion around the title. Then, pre-teach vocabulary words using direct and explicit instruction. Both of these activities build language comprehension (topic, background, vocabulary) before reading.

2. Next, read the poem three times using some part of (or all of) the “I Read, We Read, You Read” sequence. Point out any rhyming words and discuss spelling patterns.

3. After “I Read, We Read, You Read,” use interactive read aloud techniques to discuss the poem’s content. Focus points might be text-to-text connections, visualization, main idea, and so on. Read a section of the poem, do a think-aloud (such as “I think the author is trying to...” or “I see that this sentence connects back to the beginning where…”), and ask questions, such as, “Why did the author use this word?” “What do you think this sentence means?” and “What is the author trying to say here?”

4. If a poem lends itself to movement, read the poem again and weave in actions. Movement and fun are always a good idea!

5. After multiple practice opportunities, randomly call on two to three students. When called, they can either “pass” or read the poem aloud. After each presentation, directly and explicitly describe any reading behavior you want to highlight and praise, such as effort, accuracy, phrasing, expression that demonstrated meaning, a strong voice, etc. Have the class give a round of applause or some other cheer.

Poems for Two or More Voices

Poems for two or more voices hold a special place in my heart. I love to read them with students and in turn, students relish practicing them in pairs and trios and then presenting them. The gold standards are, of course, Paul Fleischman’s (1989b, 1989a) Joyful Noise and I am Phoenix. But many collections feature two-or-more-voice poems, including Wherever Bears Be by Sue Ann Alderson (2003), Messing Around on the Monkey Bars by Betsy Franco (2009), and Farmer’s Dog Goes to the Forest by David Harrison (2005). I’ve written my own multi-voice poems, including the perennial favorite, Macaroni and Cheese (Weatland, 2011). You can find this poem in my poetry collection The Delicious Chocolate Donut (And Other Off-Kilter Poems) (Weatland, 2011).

Poetry Anthologies

I thank my mother, a longtime reading teacher, for clueing me into poetry anthologies back in the 90s. During my years as a special educator and then as a third-grade teacher, individual anthologies were an important element of my independent, supported reading program.

For each poem you present, have an appropriate number of 3-hole punched copies ready. Also, have a three-ring binder for each student. A simple double-pocket folder also works. Any poem a student loves goes into that student’s anthology binder or folder. The anthology grows as the months go by, reflecting each child’s reading preferences.

Every poem in the anthology provides an opportunity for students to re-read, build fluency, and share their reading. Here’s a list of student options for reading a poetry anthology during independent supported reading time:

• Read at your desk or in the cozy chair (sign up);

• Read with a whisper phone or paintbrush;

• Dramatically read a poem into a digital recording device;

• With a partner or trio, read the poem in various ways (using character voices, with a prop, alternating lines, alternating stanzas, etc.);

• Sign up to present a poem to the class;

• Sign up to present a poem using two or more voices (duo or trio).

In conclusion, when you use poetry to help you teach reading, you spread the joy of language and words as you go. Have fun making a joyful noise!

References

Weakland, M. (2021). How to prevent reading difficulties. Corwin Press. How is a Poem Like Yoda? The Joy and Power of Using Poetry to Teach Reading

Poetry Books Cited

Alderson, S. A. (2003). Wherever bears be. Tradewind Books.

Fleischman, P. (1989a). I am phoenix: Poems for two voices. Harper Trophy

Fleischman, P. (1989b). Joyful noise: Poems for two voices. Harper Collins.

Franco, B. (2009). Messing around on the monkey bars and other school poems for two voices. Candlewick.

Harrison, D. (20050. Farmer’s dog goes to the forest: Rhymes for two voices. Wordsong.

Editors’ Note: This article is a revision and synthesis of current thinking plus previously published thoughts that first appeared in How To Prevent Reading Difficulties (Weatland, 2021).

About The Author

Mark Weakland is a consultant, teacher, writer, and musician. The author of teacher resource books, award-winning writing and music projects, and more than 75 books for children, his latest book, How to Prevent Reading Difficulties, PreK-3 (2021) is published by Corwin. Visit his website (www.MarkWeaklandLiteracy.com); follow him on Twitter @MarkWeakland.