Jago Ch 5- How Poems Work

❡ I'll be the first to admit that poetry is not my forte.   In high school I never had to really deconstruct poetry as others may have had to. Becoming a Literature teacher, poetry is what scares me the most.  I am a little apprehensive that I may not be able to answer my students' questions when I do teach poetry. With all of that said, this chapter gives great advice for how to teach poetry. 

❡ The first line of this chapter is 100% true. "STUDENTS NEED POETRY" (JAGO 75). Because I wasn't exposed to poetry as much as I should have, I believe that is a factor as why I don't care for poetry as much as classic literature and young adult literature.  I like the idea of using song lyrics and hip hop songs to accommodate to students to get them interested in poetry.  This also shows students that they are involved in using poetry daily when they listen to music. 

❡ Jago's "Thinking Aloud" section is a great way to introduce tough poetry in a class.  I like how Jago demonstrates this method first to her class with the first couple of lines because it shows students what she is wanting them to do (modeling) and also it can bring some ease to students by seeing the teacher demonstrate the think aloud process.  The pairs of students who do the think aloud can learn from each other.  I like how Jago has a class discussion over the harder terms, or phrases that are no longer common.  

❡ The questions and analogies Jago brings into the discussion of Wordsworth's "The World is Too Much With Us" helps students relate to the poem and get involved.  I like the question about cell phones causing the world to be too much with you.  This relates to most students in the class, and students can start relating to the poem.  

❡ For difficult poems I like how Jago uses the sensory sheet go help students place certain words and characteristics into a category.  Asking questions of why a certain word, phrase, or object had that sensory image with it can help answer questions about the poem.  I also like how Jago ends with the reading of the poem because it leaves students with the words one last time in their minds.  The poem won't seem as difficult that last time read.

❡ I remember my 8th grade English teacher reading "The Raven" to the class and being extremely exuberant about the poem.  Each year students would talk about his reading of "The Raven" and the reading became a tradition for his English classes.  I liked reading the background of Poe's reasons for written the poem.  "The Raven" has always been an impact to me when it comes to poetry.  It may be the way my 8th grade teacher read it, but it was effective.  I want to be able to do that with poetry like my 8th grade teacher did to keep students talking.  Knowing the background of a poem can also make the reading more personal.