Children love poetry and writing their own is a delightful experience. To get up some interest begin by checking out several books of poetry from the library. Most kids love the humorous poetry of Ogden Nash. They also love Robert Louis Stevrnson, Christina Rosetti, James Whitcomb Riley, Robert Frost, Sara Teasdale, and Rachel Field. Read the poetry out loud and try different types and styles.
Poetry Ideas:
How do you get ideas for poems? There are ideas everywhere just waiting for an open mind, a quick wit and an observant eye.
Go for a walk. A small outdoor outing with no talking allowed can be a fun way to learn to observe and harvest ideas. Take a notepad and pencil and go on a timed walk outside--country or city, no matter where there will be ideas. Write down a list of things you see. Try headings like bright colored things, high things, low things, things that make me wonder.
People watching can give you tons of good ideas. Sit with notebook in a public place and jot down notes about the people you see and hear. A man with a red ball cap, a boy with a skull on his t-shirt, a girl wearing house slippers, a lady in a purple and red dress. Don't try to write poems on your outing just write notes of things and people who interest you.
Photo gazing is looking through family albums and photo boxes for memory's sake. Looking at old photos will give your mind a chance to recall events that may be poem starters. Try cutting stray pictures from a magazine. Paste these unto pages and try to come up with an idea about each picture. For example of a picture of a brown dog might give you just the idea for a poem about a pet.
Listen to music like calm nature type stuff with ocean waves and maybe rain storms or bird sounds. This type of mood music can be listened to with closed eyes and let your mind envision the places as you hear the music. Is it night or day? Is it cold, hot, raining, snowing, a pretty place? Are you lost? Are you alone? Is a child there? an animal? Let your imagination go and then write a poem about the scenes you imagine.
Types of Poetry
Haiku : There are many styles and types of poems. Some fun ones are the three-lined Haiku. these are usually about nature and usually have five syllables in the first line, seven in the second and five in the third. Write a short idea about some scene in nature like the clouds overhead, flowers in a garden, a butterfly, a deer in the woods, or a tree outside your window. Now try to think of a way to tell about in three lines. Work to arrange your words into the lines with just the right words for five-seven-five syllables. Haiku is like a puzzle.
Narrative Poems: A narrative poem tells a story. These are good for your photo memories. Paul Revere's Ride is a narrative poem that we all love to hear full of movement, excitement, danger and telling a story. Remember your story must have a beginning, middle and an end. It can be long or short but should have a clear rhythm and beat to it.
Lyric Poems: Lyric poems are musical They sing in a rhyming patterns. They sound like songs, but they use devices like similes, meter, cadence and beat instead of notes.
The Dramatic Poem:These poems are about people so bring out your people watching notes and write a poem that tells a story about characters.Maybe it will be a poem about a homeless person, a person who is loud and cheerful who really has fears, a person who you see daily, like your grandmother or a friend, a soldier, a singer on a stage, or a person you wonder about. make the charcter seem alive.
A Sonnet: Sonnets are lyrical songs. They can be dramatic, tell a story . A sonnet is usually long and technical and it is about some universal theme like love, peace, charity, hope, or truth.
Free Verse: These are an easy style because they can be anyway you please they do not have to rhyme. They can be in a shape. They can be short or long, have little or no punctuation. Be creative.
There are other forms also. These are only some basic forms. Decide what subject you will write about. Choose a form that fits your theme. Decide if you will have meter (pattern of syllables and beats) or rhyme. Write a first draft and then revise until your poem has just the right feel and look. Add a title. Be careful to choose words that rhyme true. Never add syllables to force a rhyme.
Revise and recopy into a final draft. Now post your poem and share it with your family and friends!
