Jacqueline Sweeney

Use Poetry to Help Your Children Explore Their World

Editor's note: April is Literacy Month. During this month, and in fact, during any month, we encourage you to explore the wonderful world of words with your children. Reading books together and bedtime stories are classical ways parents interact with their children. In the following article, Jacqueline Sweeney offers an exciting way to help your children learn more about themselves and about their world.  After you've tried these activities we invite you to send us samples of your children's poems and we'll post them on the site. You may mail the poems to feedback@inspiredparenting.net.

Poetry is a thoughtful way for children to explore everyday environments through the use of their senses and feelings. It provides a vehicle that is so versatile; it can offer insight into those odd, funny moments we encounter every day. Poetry assists children to make eloquent, daily commentaries about the joys and sorrows happening in their lives, but it doesn't stop there. It can also suggest worlds of subjects for them to explore, such as the life cycles of plants, animal habitats, newspaper headlines, imaginative kingdoms, biography and autobiography, or the personification of kites, toasters, dwellings, blades of grass, sunsets, snow, etc. The list of subjects for poetry goes on and on.

Poetry is ultimately the language of the heart and - whatever its subject - encourages children to affirm their existence in their own terms, not only to themselves but to their families, teachers, friends - the world! It is a way to say: "I'm here. Listen to what I have to tell you."

I’m So Mad I Could Scream!
One of my favorite ways to defuse an angry child or situation is to read William Cole's poem "I'm So Mad I Could Scream" to them. Parents especially like this poem because it’s not only cathartic, but it shows children they’re not alone with their angry feelings; that everyone at one time or another wants to beat up mother and dad - and little brother and big sister, too! When I read this poem to children, I always address this by saying: "I'm all grown up, and sometimes I still feel this way towards my mom and dad! But that’s what I really love about poetry. I can write about my thoughts and get those feelings out without hurting anyone - or getting into trouble."

The ending of William Cole's poem is worth worlds, because it offers a nonviolent way to resolve anger, and ends with the feeling of relief; the kind that usually follows a safe, healthy expression of negative feelings.

I'm So Mad I Could Scream
I'm so mad I could scream,
I'm so mad I could spit,
Turn over a table,
Run off in a snit!

I'm so made I could yell,
I could tear out my hair,
Throw a rock through a window,
Or wrestle a bear!

I mean - I am furious,
In a terrible huff,
I'm raging and roaring
And boy, am I tough!

I'm really ferocious,
I really am mad
I'm ready to beat up
My mother and dad!

On thinking it over,
I will not leave home,
But I'll put all my anger
Right here in this poem.

I'm feeling much better -
Like peaches and cream -
For a poem is the best way
Of letting off steam!
-- William Cole

I usually follow this with a poem written by my son, Matt, when he was six years old and suffering daily in kindergarten at the hands of an aggressive fellow student. I would explain to your children how Matt felt much better after being "allowed" to write about all the destructive things he’d like to do - in poem form - and how it was actually better, because he didn’t get in trouble (when I say this last part, most kids nod in solemn agreement).

Mad
I’m so mad I could
spit spikes into a wall
and crush the ceiling
down which would
make the walls fall.
I could beat the chalkboard in
and tear books into little pieces
and feed them to the sharks.
Mad tastes like
rotten orange juice
and makes me feel
like stale dried up
gum mixed with
food coloring and dirt.
-- Matt Piperno, Age 6



Here are two simple models for poems:

I’m so ____________________
I could ___________________
I’m so ____________________
I could ____________________ etc.

When I’m __________________
I feel like a ________________

I find it helpful to remind the children as they are writing to ask themselves "Like What?" to help them create pictures or images for their feelings. Also, it’s sometimes quite helpful for younger children to brainstorm a list of feelings. Be sure to add some of your own if the list seems paltry, for example - "Left Out" or "Frustrated" or "Sleepy" - because children don’t always think of these.

Next read some sample poems by other children. This is especially helpful, because your kids will relax when they hear you read about some of the more "controversial" feelings as the center of poems. It’s as if you are saying to them: "Yes, it’s okay to feel what you are feeling. And it’s also okay to write about it." You’ll find some poems at the end of this article. For more examples, see my books Kids Express.

Finally, give your children space to write their poems, then read them aloud. And be sure to listen to what they have to say. If you write a poem of your own to throw into the collective "feelings pot" it’s even better. You’ll all learn more about your world and each other!

More Poems
I'm Jealous
When
I'm
Jealous
I
feel
like
an
old
tree
rotting
in
the
woods.
--Sarah, Grade 2

Hot Dog with Mustard
When I'm mad I feel like a
hot dog being thrown in the garbage
and all the mustard and ketchup falls off
of me. When I'm hot I feel
like a chicken being thrown in the oven.
And then they take me out. They throw
me in the garbage.
--Dermot, Grade 2

When I'm excited
I feel like a cookie
that hasn't been eaten.
--Josh, Grade 2

I'm so happy I could float
on a cloud.
I could swim in a lake.
I could sing out loud.
I could yell.
I glow.
I am the sun.!
--Patricia, Grade 2

When I'm left out
I feel like I was thrown in a volcano.
I feel like no one likes me and
I'm just like an ant.
When I'm left out
It tastes like sour grapes.
I feel like a piece of paper
that was thrown out.
I feel left out when my brother is with his friends.
--Elisa, Grade 2

Miserable
Miserable is when I fall into
a
big
mud
puddle
And my sister gets a piece of
candy and I get none.
Miserable is
when
my
dime
goes
into
a big black hole and now I
feel like a red flower getting
stepped on.
--Jennifer, Grade 3

When I Feel Mad
Mad is red like red hot peppers
And is also like blood bursting out of my ears.
When I am mad I feel like I cloud throw a baseball at a car.
When I am mad I like to close my door and put on some clown music
and it usually calms me down.
--Timothy, Grad

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About The Author ...
This article was excerpted from Quick Poetry Activities You Can Really Do! by Jacqueline Sweeney with permission from the author.

Jacqueline Sweeney is a poet and author (33 books). She finds the greatest satisfaction in conducting hands-on writing workshops with children (and teachers) in their classrooms, which she has done for 28 years. She also created a poetry as therapy program for court committed boys, which she implemented for five years as part of an integrated curriculum when she had my own classroom. Her latest books, the series Kids Express, are collections of children's poetry and art. They are available on amazon.com and from the publisher (1-800-821- 9881); they will be reviewed in our next issue.