Fictional Texts in the Classroom: Poetry

Literacy genre focusing on verse, prose, rhythm, rhyme, writing styles, literary devices, symbolism, analogies and metaphors.
Poetry is characterized by sound of language, arrangement, and meaning.
May use devices such as assonance and repetition to achieve musical or incantatory effects.
It is difficult to translate from one language to another
Can be dificult to interpret and can cause different interpretations depending on the reader
There are reasonable interpretations, but there is never a wrong interpretation
http://www.poetry.org/whatis.htm

Reading Rockets shares ten ways to use poetry in the classroom (I will share a few of them with you):

Poetry provides a quick and fun way to activate prior knowledge
Establish Theme: the perfect poem can lead to a wonderful writing reflection or discussion that allows students to construct the theme and essential questions for themselves.
To explore language
Focus on Facts: creating poetry is a wonderful way for students to share information they learned through class or independent study
Set a Scene: Poems could spark discussion, curiosity, and prior knowledge, ultimately building excitement and anticipation for the new unit
See New Perspectives: one of poetry's transcendent powers is its ability to refocus, if not totally transform, our point of view.

Love that Dog by Sharon Creech

Reference Information

Grade Level

Themes

Qualities of Writing

Author (Sharon Creech) is an Newbery-Medal winner and Newbery Honor medalist for two of her other published books
The author uses italics, bold, different font sizes, and different formatting for the shape of the poem
This would make a great mentor text for students who are learning how to write poetry. Not only can they learn about formatting, but it also shows students that poems don't always have to rhyme.
Reading poetry can help with fluency because it helps teach students where to put emphasis while reading and where to pause for effect.

Difficult Components of the Text

Interpreting poetry, especially at this length, can be a challenge because there aren't very many words and therefore there is a lot more to think about as a reader.
There is a lot more inferencing that needs to be done before this book can be comprehended

Math Curse by Jon Scieszka

Reference Information

Grade Level

Themes

Qualities of Writing

Does an excellent job of connecting math and literacy
The author formatted the text in a way that made the words even more interesting
It is comical and entertaining for students
The older the children get, the funnier it is because there are some humorous aspects of the book that make it funny as you grow older
It is very helpful for students to see how much math applies to all aspects of life, not just school

Difficult Components of the Text

Illustrations might distract the learner from the text, however, the illustrations are necessary so I wouldn't suggest hiding them

Fictional Texts in the Classroom