ERIC Number: EJ857497
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 8
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1054-0040
EISSN: N/A
Follow the Poet: Poetry in the Montessori Classroom
Reid, Laura
Montessori Life: A Publication of the American Montessori Society, v21 n3 p16-23 2009
Poetry enables teachers to connect with their students in new ways. Teachers can show students that "poetry is something people do to capture thoughts, feelings, and experience." When poetry is incorporated across the curriculum, students learn to make discoveries by looking at their environment in new ways. Poetry stands apart from storytelling and language lessons because of its ability to inspire personal expression. In the author's first year as a head teacher of a Montessori 3-6 classroom, she has witnessed the children in her class experience significant language development and begin to experiment with creative expression through poetry. Montessori said that the teacher must "entice the children." Through poetry, a teacher may find a way to entice children in wondrous ways not before realized. A teacher can "entice" children with the varied rhythms and creative language of a poem. However, the teacher must also have an enthusiasm for poetry before introducing it.
Descriptors: Creative Writing, Creative Activities, Montessori Method, Language Acquisition, Poetry, Teaching Methods, Young Children, Creativity
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A