Writing Motivation

While discovering resources on children's literature, I came across an encouraging article on ways students can create successful poetry writing. "The Poetry Cafe Is Open! Teaching Literary Devices of Sound in Poetry Writing," by Beth Kovalcik and Janine Certo had many ideas on how to help students to become motivated and eager to write poetry. The teachers began with poetry mini-lessons in a writing workshop format. Each workshop begins with a poetry read-aloud--allowing students to use auditory skills to understand the power of language and texture of poetry. Following a read-aloud, the teachers taught a mini-lesson, had students write for 5 minutes, conferred with students for about 15 minutes and ended the workshop with a 10 minute student sharing exercise. Teachers found that offering models for the structure in poems creates successful poets in the classroom. The mini-lessons taught to the class varied from alliteration and onomatopoeia, to color and rhythm. Some of the lessons were more teacher-directed, where others included students performing the literary devices out to their class. At the conclusion of the poetry unit, the teacher opened up a "cafe" in which parents were invited to come and listen to their child read their poetry.

In my classroom, we study literary devices and write poetry for a quarter of the school year. We also arranged for a published poet to come in and work with our students for two weeks. This article reminded me of much of what she does with our students. At the beginning of each session, the poet hands out a page of the poems the students wrote the previous day. Each student reads their poem aloud to the class--taking ownership in their writing. At the end of the poet's two weeks, parents are invited to come and listen to their child read one poem they wrote. Students rehearse their poem leading up to the actual performance. After our poetry unit, I created an anthology for each student including all of the poems the student wrote. This provides the students with their own book to take home and that is filled with the poems of their classmates. Students also have a published "book" to keep.

Motivating students to write can be challenging and poetry is no exception. Teachers need to create motivational writing experiences for students. Doing so will ensure students have an enjoyable and meaningful poetry experience.