Back to school

[warooa]

Any tips or pointers from anyone would be appreciated. I've been invited to the local (Rossville) primary school to do a weekly session on bush poetry. It's for senior kids (grades 4 - 7) and the idea is for the exercise to culminate in the kids presenting their own poem at the Christmas break-up. I'm working with the school on developing a 'template' that could be taken to other schools if successful.

Cheers, Marty

[Maureen K Clifford]

emphasize the importance of correct spelling and punctuation especially apostrophes I'm only half kidding actually. you could use Heathers little poem perhaps to get that point across.

[Heather]

That would be Heather's little poem, Maureen!

[Stephen Whiteside]

I'd be a bit wary of the template, Marty. What kids respond to more than anything is the personality of the presenter. No template can replace an individual human being.

I think kids respond best to being listened to and taken seriously. Some people think it must be pretty easy presenting poems to kids, but I actually find it quite exhausting, because to do it properly you have to listen astutely to each child in turn, and find something positive to say afterwards that is also specific to that child and their poem. It's easy to say 'Great!' but it's much harder to respond to a particular word or phrase that the child has used. I reckon the best advice is to listen, try to give your undivided attention to that child and that child only while they are presenting, and try not to give them cliched feedback.

I usually start off by reciting a few of my own poems, just to break the ice, let them know a bit about what I think a poem is and who I am, then it's 'Over to you guys!', and they're usually very happy to write for 20 - 30 minutes. Then I bring them up the front to read their poems to the rest of the class for the last 20 minutes or so, and that rounds off a 60 minute session.

That's just one day of doing it, of course, but it has always served me pretty well.

I must admit, these days the teachers sometimes put a but of pressure on me to be a bit more didactic and 'teach' poetry. I think that is a real shame, and runs against the very purpose of what I am trying to do. Primary school children should have the freedom to explore poetry on their own terms before being told what is 'right' or 'wrong'. That's my view, anyway.

The biggest compliment I can get at the end of the day (and I'm pleased to say I've had a few) is when a teacher says "I am amazed that so-and-so got up and read a poem. He/she normally never says Boo all day!" I know I must be doing something right then. There are lots of young poets who aren't very confident at doing anything else, and never even get the chance to discover that they are good at poetry, because they are never given the opportunity.

OK, time I got off my soap box!

Good luck with it all, Marty. I'll be interested to hear how you got on.

[Kym]

I agree whole heartedly with Stephen that we should let the "children should have the freedom to explore poetry on their own terms before being told what is 'right' or 'wrong'." It is great to let them write their own poems with their own thoughts and emotions.

I may have shared this story with you all before, but years ago when I was working as a Teacher Aide at a primary school, I was landed with the 'troubled' boy to more or less babysit while the teacher took the rest of the class. He refused to do his assigned work, so we talked. Long story short - somehow the subject of poetry came up, and he ended up writing a poem. It had no rhythm or rhyme, but it was words on a page, and for him, that was a pure miracle.

His parents didn't seem to ever be around, and he lived with his grandad, who at best, could only be described as a grumpy old bloke. In his poem, he opened up about his feelings for his grandad, how much he loved him and wished his grandad would spend more time with him fishing down the creek or working on his motorbike etc. And how he understood that the man was angry at the world as a result of being in the war. The emotions and thoughts were painfully honest, and it brought me to tears.

I typed it up all pretty on a page for him, and he read it out load on parade that Friday. All the parents and teachers were crying to see this badly behaved boy explain his pain. He received an award - his first award on parade ever - and people clapped and cheered for him - and the look on his face was priceless!!!

It was so rewarding for me to have helped him like that. I don't know that it corrected his behaviour after that or not, but maybe, just maybe it changed him just a little for the better?

In conclusion (sorry for wandering off on a tangent), while I know bush poetry is all rhythm and rhyme, I wouldn't bash them over the head about that. Let them enjoy poetry, how ever THEY enjoy it. If they decide it's their cup of tea, then we can nudge them towards the rules. If we scare them off while they are young by preaching rah-de-rah-rah-rhythm-n-rhyme, it will just give them bad memories. The kids who are interested in that side of it, will come forward and ask. Just my worthless opinion ...

K.

[Kym]

But don't misunderstand me - r&r is imporant to our poetry, and to some kids is fun, so go ahead and point it out, particularly rhyme, some kids get a kick out of finding rhyming words. Just don't cane 'em if they don't get it perfect.

Fun and interest are the primary objectives ...

[Stephen Whiteside]

That's a beautiful story, Kym.

[Maureen K Clifford]

Apostrophes are worse than sheep the little ''''""""'''' are always escaping . But Heather is on the job

What a great feeling that must have been Kym I reckon that kid will always remember you - maybe not the name but that a nice lady showed an interest in him and helped him. You probably did more good there than you will ever know

Cheers

Maureen

[Heather]

Lovely story Kym. A small thing like that can make a huge difference to a kid and their future. Imagine the change in attitude by the teachers and other students and the sense of worth that little boy must have experienced. Good on you Kym. A little bit of caring goes a long way.

[warooa]

Thanks all - some great tips there Stephen, and goodonya Kym - what a story . . you could write a poem about that . Thanks Heather and Maureen re propostrophe's and yeah Marty you're right about the being a kid and having fun . . when I grow up I wanna be a role model

Cheers, Marty