Tomorrow Tuesday 21 March is World Poetry Day – a day for appreciating and supporting poets, and for reading and writing poetry. It’s time to open your favourite book of children’s poetry and read your favourites to your children.
Poetry is a wonderful tool for learning language. When children listen to or recite poetry, they are learning the rhythms and sounds of language, exploring ideas and how to express them, expanding vocabularies, deepening understanding in nuances of meaning, and having fun with thoughts and their expression.
Children are exposed to rhythm and rhyme from their earliest days through nursery rhymes, chants and songs as well as the text of picture books. It is important for children to have opportunities for appreciating and exploring poetry into and throughout their school years. Our Australian Curriculum places poetry firmly into the literature strand of English teaching each year. But it is not necessary to relegate poetry just to a poetry unit of work when stipulated by the curriculum. Poetry, rhymes, chants and songs can be easily incorporated into the daily class program. World Poetry Day should be an unnecessary excuse.
Continue reading for teaching ideas: Celebrating World Poetry Day on 21 March – readilearn
Norah Colvin 
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