Chapter Eight: Poetry

Chapter Eight. Poetry.

Study shows that children:

1.      Prefer Narrative Poetry- Getting a story is natural for them. They like them!

2.      Dislike to Read Free Verse and Haiku-They might like writing them but not reading them.

3.      Strong preferences for Rhyme and Rhythm and sound devices-They like listening to pleasant sounds (rhyming with alliteration and onomatopoeia and play with the language.

4.      They like funny poems and poems about familiar experience and animals.

5.      They have a preference for contemporary poetry since the language is something they recognize and understand.

Additional criteria that children like:

6.      Lively poems with rhythm and meters

7.      Emphasize sounds and play on words

8.      Visual images and words that allow children to interact with them.

9.      Simple stories and introducing stirring scenes of actions

10.  Poems shouldn’t be brought down to a lower level, where the child is supposed to be.

11.  Allow children to interact with the poem.

12.  Subjects should touch the child

13.  Good enough for repeated reads.

Another method to use in the selection of poems is to look at the list of awards granted for poetry:

The NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children and the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. 


This is a list of criteria that should be considered in poetry evaluation for selection:

1.      Is the subject of the poem something with which children would be familiar?  

2.      Does the poem use imagery?  

3.      Does the poem rhyme?  Even if poetry does not have to rhyme, young readers seem to enjoy it very much.   

4.      How is rhythm used?

5. What role does sound play? Alliteration, consonance, assonance, onomatopoeia are all part of hown sounds play a role in poems.  

Additional Criteria to evaluate poetry:

1. ·         Sound: Does it sound good?
2. ·         Language: Does the poem use alliteration, assonance, repetition, onomatopoeia
3. ·         Rhythm: Is it pronounced? Is it obvious?
4. ·         Sensory Images: Are they clear? Are they within the experiences of the children?
5. ·         Rhyme: Is the poetry rhymed? Does the poem offer to the young child the predictability of rhyming words?
6. ·         Humor: Does it have humor?
7. ·         Emotional Intensity: How has the poet created the emotional intensity of the poem?
8. ·         Quality of imagination: What is the quality of imagination in the poem? Does it patronize childhood by looking down on it? Is it preachy?
9. ·         Substance: Does the poem offer substance? Does the poem offer the child an idea or feeling to ponder or delight in?
10. ·         Purpose: What purpose does it serve?

Additional Questions for Criteria in Poetry Selection:

1. Can children understand it? With adult help?

2. Does it stir emotion (delight, sadness)?

3. Does it play with the sounds of language?

4. Is it age appropriate?

5. Does it allow the reader to be interactive with poem?

6. Is the subject matter appealing, appropriate?

7. Will it be able to stand up under repeated readings?

8. Will it accompany you through life?

 It is crucial to use this criteria in selecting poetry for children so that they enjoy it and so that they don't develop a hatred for it like a lot of people do because of a poor selection process by the teachers.