Pamela J. Tonge
I want the students to enjoy what they're doing.
I want to share my feeling that poetry is fun.
I want my students to be involved in something they can relate to.
I want my students to write poetry that has a personal connection.
I believe as an educator that it's part of my job to give kids an environment where they can work and play while they're learning.
I believe as an educator that my students need to use their thoughts and knowledge to create something that will help them remember what they've learned.
I want my students to be proud of what they wrote and want to share it.
I believe that if my students work relates to their world, they will have a better chance of retaining it and they'll remember it.
This unit will help them read well, write well and spell well so they'll understand why it's important to do well later on in life.
They will be reading poetry that they write.
By the end of this unit, my students will be writing poetry on their own because they enjoy it. It's a new experience for them to have confidence in their own ability to accomplish something, to create meaningful work out of their own heads.
Kids often throw away their work because it doesn't have much meaning for them. I want my students to be able to share their poems with other students, family members and friends because they will have higher self-esteem when they are finished.
My goal is to give them the tools to build their own poems. I believe they will be excited and proud when they write about their inner thoughts, feelings and experiences. Anything kids do should have meaning and connection to where they live, their environment, what they know already and then they can be more responsive and learn better when they are in familiar territory. Most of what I teach in a year is rigid. I have to follow certain and specific guidelines for items that each child must be exposed to in an academic year, such as: literature appreciation, main theme, character analysis, interpretation of actions, metaphors, similes and other grammar fundamentals. Teaching these things are important, but this curriculum unit is the area in which I intend to teach and create freedom, play and make room for feelings.
When I teach this unit, I want to remember to use examples for my students like: "I know the fire is hot, because I burnt myself…I'll remember that."
