TEACHER TRAININGTeaching the Music of Language: Poetry Writing Throughout the Curriculum

After reading a book or facilitating a unit of study, why not write poetry as a way of synthesizing student understanding? Poetry reaches into the heart of a topic, offering students an elegant format for re-thinking essential questions and expressing enduring understandings. Join this Teaching the Music of Language  arts integration program and learn to help students write meaningful poems and blend gesture, vocal expression, and movement to interpret and perform their own poetry.

Using a step-by-step brainstorming, drafting, critique, and revision process, students learn to write meaningful poems about science, social studies, biography, character relationships, and even themselves. After writing, students blend gesture, vocal expression, and creative movement to interpret and perform their own poetry. Performing a poem helps students deepen and solidify their understanding. This creative process engages every type of learner while also supporting ELL students. Watch the video below to see how 4th graders synthesized their understanding of the Civil War and Reconstruction through poetry.