Kovalcik & Certo: The Poetry Cafe is Open!

Summary: This article details a poetry unit (including 4 mini-lessons and a list of suggested children’s poetry books) that culminates in the form of a poetry reading in a class made café. Each Writer’s Workshop lesson consists of a mini-lesson, then independent writing (while teachers do conferences), and lastly a sharing session. The mini-lessons are: color and rhyme, repetition and alliteration, onomatopoeias, and collaborative poetry (writing a poem as a class.) As the class continues to create their own pieces throughout the unit, teachers differentiate instruction according to each students needs. One of example from the article occurred when a student was struggling with the grammatical and spelling aspect of writing. To negate him from focusing on these negatives, the teacher allowed him to articulate his poem while she wrote it down. Finally, when all the children have published a final piece, they share their poetry with their families.

This article was perfect for me to read because it is what I will be taking over in terms of literacy throughout guided lead teaching. Additionally, my mentor teacher and I have been discussing having a poetry reading event in our classroom, as well. Therefore, it was very insightful to see how other teachers approached this unit. It was also helpful because the way that the teachers from the article had their Writer’s Workshop set up is exactly how my classroom’s is, as well. We have a mini-lesson, independent writing, and sharing time. The only difference is that we have a partner writing section right after independent writing. This is a time where students can read and help edit each other’s work. The mini-lessons associated with this article will be included in my unit, too. The topics of color, rhyme, repetition, alliteration, and onomatopoeias are all crucial elements to learning poetry. However, the main part that I have taken from this article that will enrich my instruction is that relating to differentiation. I know that my students are at varying writing levels, and I was concerned that I would not know how to cater to each student’s educational needs. The advice to write a poem for struggling children and to scaffold them through the writing process is an idea I definitely will use. Too often I feel pressure that students need to be writing for themselves, I never thought to have them verbalize their ideas until they were comfortable enough to write them.

The only problem I had with this article was that I feel as though it did not contain enough mini-lessons for an entire poetry unit. I believe that there needs to be more time for the students to practice what they have learned and create numerous poems. My poetry unit will be ranging (on and off) for 2 months, which is more appropriate for the grade level I am in.

Lastly, by reviewing the assessment section of this online module, I have learned that I need to get to know my students as writers prior to starting my poetry unit. That being said, I think that the “Thinking about Yourself as a Writer” sheet would be an insightful survey to give my students. To really prepare myself, I would like to adapt the document in order to incorporate my student’s feelings about poetry and about their selves as poets. This will clue me on their past experiences as well as how comfortable they are with the new genre of writing.