Writing Poetry

When I arrived home and checked my mail, I found the book Gooney Bird is So Absurd by Lois Lowry waiting for me. I have to apologize now because I have no idea who sent it to me. I don’t know if I requested it or if someone just liked me and wanted me to have it but I received it without any note. This means I have no way to thank the sender so if you are the one that sent it to me, please let me know so I can thank you.

The story takes place in Mrs. Pidgeon’s second grade class. The students are learning about poetry and the teacher introduces different kinds. By using personal examples, the teacher is able to make the lessons relevant to the students. The class is introduced to what makes a poem a poem, rhyming words, haikus, couplets, limericks, and list poems. When something happens, the students come together to create a poem for their teacher.

I think this book would be a great book to use in the classroom for a poetry unit. Each type of poetry is easily explained and the students in the story give examples. Even when I read it, I felt like I wanted to stop and write my own poem. The story made poetry simple and fun yet showed how the poems had meaning.

So, if you get a chance to check out this children’s book, I highly recommend it. Enjoy the poetry and make some up yourself. I think students in my classroom would be successful with writing their own poetry after hearing this book.