USING POETRY TO INCREASE DESCRIPTIVE VOCABULARY IN WRITING

by

Marcia M. Hempel



A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
Of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Education
at
Carroll University Waukesha, Wisconsin

Fall 2008

A thesis entitled
USING POETRY TO INCREASE DESCRIPTIVE VOCABULARY IN WRITING
Submitted to the Carroll University in
partial fulfillments of expectations
and academic requirements of the
degree of Masters in Education
by
Marcia M. Hempel
/
Date
Date
(d-{B oYJ
Date

PREFACE


Of all the classes I had taken in my Masters program at Carroll University, I
found the classes on writing to be the ones I enjoyed the most and could transfer what I
had learned to my first grade classroom. In particular, an assignment to create a
mentor text for use with my students gave me the opportunity to pursue writing poetry.
I wrote a variety of poems, my students illustrated the poems, and a mentor text was
created.
When thinking of a topic to explore for my thesis, I recalled my positive
experience with writing poetry. I also asked myself what type of writing first graders
most often engage in and what could be done to improve this writing. First graders
most often write narrative pieces of writing, yet their writing is often very simplistic with
little description. I started to wonder whether the use of poetry, which is filled with rich
vocabulary, could increase the amount of descriptive vocabulary students use in their
narrative pieces of writing. In addition, I wondered if exposing poetry to children could
improve their overall enjoyment of writing. These are the questions I chose to
investigate when I began my data collection process.

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


I would like to thank my family, my husband Bill, and my colleagues at Blair
School for all of their support and encouragement throughout this process.
In addition, I would like to thank my mentor, Carla Giordana, who gave of her
time to read my thesis and give me invaluable feedback.
Finally, I would like to thank my support group. I feel very fortunate to have been
able to work with such positive, helpful, and dedicated professionals.

iii

ABSTRACT


POETRY AND INCREASING DESCRIPTIVE VOCABULARY IN WRITING

By

Marcia M. Hempel


Carroll University, 2008
Under the supervision of Dr. Wilma Robinson


Using poetry with children can provide benefits in their development as readers
and writers. The purpose of this mixed method study was to explore whether the use of
poetry in the elementary classroom could increase the amount of descriptive vocabulary
students use when writing a narrative piece. It also examined whether the use of poetry
could increase the overall enjoyment of writing.
Thirty-two students and 2 teachers were participants in this research. Students
completed a narrative writing sample and a writing attitude survey. Parents completed
a survey on their childs interest in writing. Results showed strong evidence that poetry
can improve students use of descriptive vocabulary when narrative writing, and over
time increase their interest in writing. The outcome supported the need for more
consistent poetry exposure and instruction in the primary grades.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS



Approval
Title Page
Preface i
Acknowledgements ...ii
Abstract iii
Table of Contents ..iv

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION ..1

Problem 1
Background ..2
Rational and Purpose of the Study 9
Significance 11
Research Questions. 15
Hypothesis ..15
Definition of Terms.16
Delimitations .. 19
Limitations...20
Overview of the Chapter...20

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW ...22

Early Life Experiences With Poetry 23
Why Poetry Is Neglected In Schools .26
Benefits of Using Poetry In the Classroom 30
Positive Classroom Experiences 41

CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY ...44

Research Design ...44
Participants .44
Instruments .45
Procedure ...48
Reliability and Validity 50
Data Analysis .51

CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS, ANALYSIS, AND DISCUSSION..52

Results 52
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Analysis ..66
Discussion ..67

CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 69

Summary .69
Recommendations 71
Questions For further Study .72
Future Implications 73

REFERENCES 74

APPENDICES ..81

APPENDIX A Parent Writing Survey ...81
APPENDIX B Student Writing Interest Survey...82
APPENDIX C Writing Scoring Guide ...85

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

Elementary students in the primary grades are encouraged as well as
required to do a great deal of writing. Many choose to compose narrative pieces
of writing. In other words, students write about whatever it is that is important to
them such as their family, their pets, their hobbies, special vacations, favorite
celebrations, etc. The objective of this narrative type of writing says Myra Cohn
Livingston (1991) is so:

our listeners and readers can sense something of what we have
encountered, see something they have never noticed before, or look at
something in a fresh way; we hope to make the image, the thought,
even the sound come alive again (p. x).

Students in early elementary school seem to enjoy writing stories about
their lives. Freeman (1998) states that primary-grade youngsters are strongly
egocentric and eager to write about themselves and what they know (p. 25).
These students are encouraged to use descriptive vocabulary to better explain
the important events in their lives, but often have not developed a large bank of
vocabulary words to do so. Many times the sentences students use are short,
choppy, and repetitive; they have few descriptive details to bring their writing to
life. Can the use of poetry in the classroom, both the reading and writing of it,
2

increase the amount and range of descriptive vocabulary students use when
writing a narrative piece? Can this experience with poetry increase students
overall enjoyment of writing?


Background

Narrative writing in the primary grades is essential. In addition to narrative
writing, it is not uncommon that many primary aged students enjoy using their
creativity and imagination by doing creative writing. This type of writing also
frequently lacks sufficient descriptive vocabulary to completely paint an adequate
picture for the reading audience. It seems that no matter the type of writing
students choose to do or are assigned to complete, students in the primary
grades often write very simplistic and loosely constructed sentences with little
descriptive vocabulary (Baura, Berry, Murray, & Oczkus, 2006). These type of
sentences give the reader limited and basic information about the topic and are
written in a repetitive manner. It is not unusual for a student in first grade to fill
his or her paper with several sentences beginning with the same first few words.
For example, a student may write, I like my family. I like my friends. I like to
play., etc. Students may also write one sentence that is meant to convey the
entire message such as in this example: I went to the park and then I played and
then I went home. Rarely is an adjective used to describe the nouns in the
sentences that students use in their in their writing. Calkins (1986) believes that
3

at this stage of writing development, children may not approach writing with the
intention of building a story or unfolding a line of thought (p 72) and therefore, do
not feel it necessary to add more descriptive vocabulary words. At this stage of
development students fail to recognize how the use of these adjectives can
enhance their writing and instead rely on their drawings to add information to
their writing. They believe that their drawing is the more important part of the
paper (Graves, 1983). Students also appear hesitant to leave their comfort
zone of using simple words that are easily spelled rather than risk using more
expressive words that they may not know how to spell or use properly in
sentences (Calkins, 1986).
For a number of reasons most teachers are continually searching for
methods that can improve student writing. With the advent of increased
assessment in schools, teachers are anxious to find strategies that can improve
test scores that are reported to parents, administrators, and boards of education.
It has become apparent to educators that since the No Child Left Behind Act of
2001, there is an increased emphasis on accountability and the use of test
scores to make critical decisions about the future education of our students
(Higgins, Miller, & Wegman, 2006/2007). Narrative writing is often the focus of
assessment in the primary grades. One element that is usually scored in a
writing assessment is the amount of detail and/or the descriptors a student uses.
Teachers are seeking to find meaningful and enjoyable activities that will help
develop students abilities to use descriptive vocabulary so that they can score
well on writing assessments and even more importantly, become effective writers
4

overall. They hope also that through this process, students will gain the
confidence to explore different genres of writing as well as enjoy the process of
writing and the rewards that they can receive from constructing fluid sentences
and paragraphs.

Benefits of Using Poetry

Surprisingly, students come to first grade having had many experiences
with poetry. Manning (2003) believes that through lullabies sung to them, poetry
is the first genre that most children hear. In pre-school and in kindergarten,
students experience nursery rhymes, finger plays, and books filled with poetic
verses and rhymes. They also participate in rhythmic chants, songs, and other
musical activities during play time in their classroom, instructional music class,
and while playing games on the playground during recess time.
It is when students enter the primary grades that the use of poetry is often
overshadowed by other reading and writing genres and does not receive the
same attention (Darigan, Tunnel, & J acobs, 2002). There are a multitude of
reading and writing skills that are required to be taught in the primary grades.
Time and instruction is spent learning the mechanics of writing and how to write
other forms of writing such as letter writing, persuasive writing, narrative writing,
creative writing, etc. Concentrating on the mechanics of writing and other types
of writing often take precedence over taking time to listen to and enjoy poetry.
Little time is spent instructing students and engaging them in the process of
5

writing poetry. This is unfortunate because the use of poetry in the classroom
appears to offer many benefits to students, benefits that may also help to
improve other types of writing as well.
The writing stages that children progress through can be described in
terms of the writing behaviors that they exhibit. According to Freeman (2003),
these stages are:
Stage One, Picture Writer - communicates through drawings or
random marks
Stage two, Verbal Informer chooses own topic, tells about picture,
and makes random marks on paper
Stage Three, Letter Copier often copies words from
environmental print and text from books to tell about picture
Stage Four, Labeler labels important parts of drawing and tells
about picture using initial letters of words strung together
Stage Five, Inventory Taker/Sound Maker writes with a letter-to-
word correspondence with some words consisting of first and last
consonants, starts to write inventories of known sounds, names,
phrases (I can hop. I can run. I can sing., etc.)
Stage Six, Sentence Maker more emphasis on writing than
picture, some use of vowels in words, space between words,
some punctuation
Stage Seven, Information Communicator/Story Maker emphasis
is mainly on writing, usually more than one sentence about topic,
6

more letter sounds are used in words, some high frequency words
(the, is, can, etc. are spelled correctly)

Most students enter first grade writing anywhere from stage four to stage
seven. It is apparent from the description of these stages that emergent writers
repeatedly struggle with and focus on the forming of letters and words and may
benefit from the freedom writing poetry may offer. Allowing students to express
themselves with poetry frees them from the restrictions of form, length, and
conventions needed when creating other types of writing. Students can then
concentrate on the content of the poem and let their imaginations soar (Routman,
2000). Students in the primary grades are easily enthralled and motivated when
they are allowed to use their creativity! Creating these types of positive writing
experiences may develop better writers.
Poetry can also encourage students to use descriptive vocabulary. Burns
and Broman (1983) believe that if teachers would read a good poem to students
every day, the essential elements of rich language use (form, rhythm, words, and
subject matter) might be more quickly acquired by the children (p. 397). Smith
(1985) also believes that poems are filled with a wide variety of descriptive
vocabulary meant for the reader to fully experience the content of the poem. He
states that:

No writer crafts words more precisely, more descriptively, or with
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more insight into people and their environments than the poet. The
messages of poets speak of pleasure and pain with heightened language.
Their words laugh and dance and cry. Therefore, poems are excellent
models of language for children (p. 2).

If students are given a wide variety of words to choose from when writing
and are allowed the freedom that writing poetry offers, they may be more likely to
write poems with details that create images and elicit feelings (Graves, 1994).
Thus, the introduction and the instruction of writing poetry may positively
influence other forms of writing. This is because, when using poetry, students
are engaged in experimenting with language, focusing on a main idea, using
detail, creating a mood, incorporating detail, and expressing feelings (Routman,
2000). They love hearing the rhyming words and they enjoy the images that
poems help them visualize. Baura, Berry, Murray, and Oczkus (2006) found this
to be true as well when their team of first grade teachers decided to use poetry to
answer the question of how their students could focus their ideas and include
personal voice in their writing. They found the use of poetry to have many
benefits including allowing struggling and reluctant writers to find success. The
teachers felt that this occurred because their students were encouraged to write
brief pieces, use repetitive words that they knew or liked, and not be concerned
with standard grammar. Their students success in writing poetry then made the
task of creating other types of writing more approachable.
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Lastly, poetry can be a lot of fun for young students! Routman (2000), a
long time poetry teacher, reflected that

of all the writing done with students in the elementary school, teaching
poetry had been the most exhilarating and successful. Kids love it; they
are energized by the myriad of possibilities and the total writing freedom.
Teachers love it; its fun and easy to teach, and all kids thrive. (p. 22)

Upon researching and discussing with colleagues the aforementioned
benefits that using poetry has to offer students, teachers have begun to initiate
the exploration of poetry in their classrooms despite their own negative
experiences with poetry. Previously, due to these poor experiences teachers
had working with poetry, many shied away from having their students read and
write poetry. Sweeney (1993) documented hearing teachers say, I really want to
teach poetry, but I had such horrible experiences with poetry when I was in
school I dont want to turn my students off! I never know how to begin! (p. 11).
A group of pre-service teachers working with Campbell and Parr (2006) created
an acrostic poem that conveyed their feelings toward writing poetry. They wrote:

Poetry
People find it difficult to write
One line and then another
Especially when you consider rhyme, imagery, and meter.
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Try an acrostic, free verse, cinquain, limerick, or colour poem.

You just need to put a little creative thought into it.

It was reported that these teachers initially felt the challenges and
reluctance of writing poetry yet after having been given the proper tools and
support, were eager to give poetry a try and express their feelings and opinions.
Campbell and Parr (2006) were hoping that these pre-service teachers would
walk away from this exercise feeling successful as poetry writers. They hoped
that the teachers had started to develop what they termed poetitude, a positive
attitude toward writing poetry that could be transferred to their students.
Fortunately, it appears, more teachers now share the opinion that the use
of poetry may help their students improve as writers and have started to gain the
confidence necessary to expose their students to poetry.


Purpose and Rationale

Students in the primary grades are enthusiastic writers as they are with
many activities. They are anxious to share the important events in their lives
through narrative forms of writing. Many of these students are also excited to
experiment with the process of creative writing. They love using their
imaginations to write and tell their stories. Although excited about the process of
narrative and creative writing, young writers lack a great deal of descriptive
10

vocabulary when they are speaking and writing. The purpose of this study is to
explore whether the use of poetry in the elementary classroom can increase the
amount of descriptive vocabulary students use when writing a narrative piece of
writing. The use of poetry in this study will include:
reading poems to students
listening and recording of descriptive vocabulary found in poems
illustrating poems read orally to students
exposing students to a wide variety of different types of poetry
(limericks, cinquains, Haiku, acrostic, couplets, etc.)
poetry instruction (including modeling of poetry writing by the
teacher and the sharing of poems written by the teacher)
student writing of poems
editing and revising of poems
compiling of student poems into individual poetry books

This study will also explore whether students are able to transfer the newly
acquired descriptive vocabulary used in the poems read to them and in the
poetry that they have written themselves to their narrative pieces of writing.
When students are exposed to poetry, they hear many different types of
descriptive vocabulary. It appears that poetry can be a vehicle or word tool that
can, through the use of this descriptive vocabulary, capture the listeners
attention and encourage a listener to create the poems images in his or her
mind. Hopefully, students will begin to incorporate the new descriptive
11

vocabulary heard in the poems read to them into their own poems and narrative
pieces.
Finally, this study seeks to examine if increased exposure to poetry and
the writing of it in the classroom can increase students overall enjoyment of
writing. The enthusiasm that some students initially express towards writing
wanes as the school year progresses. Typically, as the year continues, students
are seeking a novel approach to express themselves through writing. Because
of the rhymes and rhythms of poetry, the variety of descriptive vocabulary
presented in poems, and the unique formats that poems are written in,
excitement in writing may be renewed and students may be, once again,
motivated and eager to continue working through the writing process to create
their own poems.

Significance

It is extremely important for todays students to become proficient writers.
Writing is a skill that is used in all school subjects and one that students will need
throughout their lives. Ralph Fletcher (2001) believes that, students who learn
to write well truly have one of the most powerful tools imaginable (p. 1).
Whether we agree or not, writing is also a skill that is part of local and state
assessments. Results of standardized assessments and the reporting of said
results have become extremely important in education. Although most educators
12

believe that literacy assessment should be used for student learning, high-stakes
testing has put tremendous importance on accountability rather than using
assessment as a tool for instruction (Campbell, 2002).
It is critical, then, that students be taught strategies which teach them to
incorporate descriptive vocabulary into their narrative writing so that they can
improve their writing scores. This instruction may enable them to become better
writers and to create a solid foundation that can be built upon in future grades as
well as in secondary and in post secondary endeavors. Fletcher (2001) feels that
this can be done by using instruction based on best practices. These best
practices include:
1. teaching students to write in a variety of genres including the writing
of poetry
2. providing time for writing and revising
3. allowing students to choose their topics
4. encouraging students to use their creativity
5. teaching the use of proper writing conventions.
Helping students become better writers can begin as early as kindergarten
or first grade. Students are writing on a daily basis in their classrooms and are
usually very enthusiastic about writing. Initially, emergent writers primarily focus
on the task of forming words. They are encouraged to use inventive spelling
which allows them to use the words of their choice just by sounding them out.
Gradually, first graders begin to include more and more conventional spelling in
their writing pieces as well as proper grammar and punctuation. They start to
13

string several sentences together to express their ideas in the form of a

paragraph. Students also display more complex sentences in their writing.
Most elementary classrooms now use Writers Workshop and/or the 6 +1
Trait method to teach students writing skills and to allow students to work through
the writing process in hopes of bettering their writing scores on standardized
assessments. Both of these methods can be used to teach writing poetry as well
as other writing genres. Writers Workshop begins with a mini-lesson which is
meant to introduce an important writing skill. Fletcher (2001) states that these
mini-lessons typically fit into one of the following categories: a) procedural b)
writers process c) qualities of good writing d) editing skills. During a mini-lesson
on class procedure, important information is given to students about how the
workshop will run in the classroom including where to get materials, how to use
them, when and where to confer with other students, etc. Mini-lessons on
writers process includes teaching students strategies that writers use to help
them decide on a topic, organize their thoughts, revise their work, etc. Literary
techniques are taught to students during mini-lessons on the qualities of good
writing. These lessons may include instruction on the use of scene, point of view,
word choice, beginnings, endings, etc. Mini-lessons that focus on editing consist
of lessons that teach students about spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
Other important features of Writers Workshop include student choice of
writing topics, a generous amount of time devoted to writing, time given to revise
and improve writing pieces, and the sharing of student writing (Fletcher 2001).
Young writers are quite receptive to learning new vocabulary words that may
14

enhance their writing whether it be for a narrative piece or a poem that they have
created. Most are anxious to produce their best descriptive pieces of writing so
that they can illustrate them and share them with their teacher and classmates in
the final stage of Writers Workshop!
The 6 +1 Trait model is a method of looking at specific characteristics of
writing and assessing them independent from one other. The traits are defined
by Culham (2003) as:
Ideas (the content of the piece)
Organization (structure of the ideas written)
Voice (writers feelings, thoughts, etc. come out through the words)
Word choice (words that touch the reader)
Sentence fluency (flow of the language)
Conventions (spelling, grammar, punctuation)
Presentation (form and layout of the piece)

These traits allow the reader and the writer to focus on the strengths and
weaknesses of a piece of writing as it progresses through the writing process
(Culham, 2003) and make the necessary improvements.
It is hoped that gains students make through the year with the use of
Writers workshop and the 6 +1 Trait method will be reflected in improved writing
scores on standardized tests.

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Research Questions

This study will explore whether students can expand their writing skills and
improve their interest in writing when exposed to poetry over a six week period.
Students will listen to a wide variety of poems including listening to the poems
modeled and written by the teacher and be given the opportunity to create their
own poems as well. The questions that will guide this study are:
1. Will this experience with poetry increase students use of
descriptive vocabulary in narrative pieces of writing?
2. If there is added descriptive vocabulary in their narrative writing, will
it improve their portrayal of the events they are writing about?
3. Will the use of poetry increase students overall enjoyment of
writing?
4. And if so, will this new found enthusiasm assist them in becoming
improved writers?

Hypothesis

Students exposed to poetry will increase the number of descriptive
vocabulary words that they use in their narrative writing. Including more
descriptive vocabulary in their narrative pieces of writing will better describe the
16

events of their lives and create a clearer, more vivid image for the reader. The
use of poetry in the classroom will increase the students interest in writing.
Students that enjoy writing will be more motivated to write and to work through
the writing process to revise their work and produce quality pieces of writing.

Defining the Terms

The following terms are used when explaining the development of early
writers, types of writing they produce, different approaches that are used to teach
students to write, and methods to assess student writing.

emergent writing Emergent writing is writing that is written by students in
the process of learning to write. Emergent writing is characterized by
drawings, marks, single letters, and groups of letters. Some or all of these
are used by emergent writers in an attempt to communicate with others in
written form (Freeman, 1998).

narrative writing Narrative writing describes an event that has happened
in a writers life. Writers reflect back on a particular event in their lives and
attempt to recreate the event so that they bring the event to life for the
reader. Using such description gives the reader a sense of being there
(Culham, 2003).

17

descriptive vocabulary These are words that help an author better depict
other words in his piece of writing in hopes that in doing so, it will construct
an accurate and more vivid image for the reader. The use of adjectives (
beautiful, strong, mean, etc.) and adverbs (quickly, softly, loudly,
etc.) are example of types of words that can better describe the nouns and
verbs in a piece of writing.

inventive spelling Inventive spelling is spelling and writing words the way
they sound to the writer. For example, an emergent writer may write bg
for big or techr for teacher.

conventional spelling Conventional spelling is the writing of words the way
they appear in the dictionary.

writing assessment A writing assessment is a writing assignment given to
students to complete without any teacher assistance. Typically, students
are given a writing prompt and are expected to generate ideas on the
particular topic in written form. Time is set aside to allow students to write
and revise their writing to the best of their abilities. Teachers use a
scoring guide to assess several aspects of student writing. Writing
aspects that may be assessed include idea development, organization,
voice, word choice, fluency, and conventions.

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scoring guide A scoring guide gives a level of proficiency for several

aspects of a piece of writing. It is usually given in the form of a number.
For example, the scoring guide used for writing assessments in the
Waukesha School District uses a number scale ranging from 1 (Minimal)
to 4 (Advanced).

writing prompt A writing prompt is an idea given to students to help them
generate thoughts about a particular topic. An example of a writing
prompt may be, Describe your favorite celebration such as a birthday, a
special family time, a holiday, etc. or Describe your favorite field trip of
the school year.

writing process The writing process describes the stages students go
through while writing. These stages include generating ideas, writing a
draft, revising and editing, writing a final product, and publishing it.

writers workshop Writers workshop is an approach used to teach the
process of writing. Lucy Calkins (1994) describes Writers Workshop as a
time of day when kids are actively involved in creating their own texts.
The workshop includes a series of specific steps which include mini-
lessons that teach writing skills, editing, revising, and publishing work.
6 + 1 Trait Model: The 6 +1 model allows teachers to offer their students
suggestions for improvement through the use of specific criteria. This
criteria includes idea, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency,
19

convention, and presentation. This model was based on the premise that
teachers need to have a tool to communicate writing performance to
students, one that would give them more feedback than a single grade or
score (Culham, 2003).

acrostic poem An acrostic poem is written using the letters of a topic.
Each line begins with a letter of the word followed by a phrase describing
the topic that the word spells out.


Delimitations

This 6-week long study will measure the amount of vocabulary students
use in their narrative writing samples and their level of interest in writing. The
study will involve 32 first graders and their parents from a school in Waukesha,
Wisconsin. This middle to lower socioeconomic group is comprised of different
ethnic groups with some students having recently immigrated to the United
States in the last few years. In many of the limited English speaking homes,
English is not the familys primary language.





20

Limitations

The final conclusions of this study may be affected due to the limited size
of the group. Some students in the study have had less experience with and
exposure to the English language previous to entering school and most likely
have not attended pre-school nor been raised in a home where they were read to
or surrounded by books. A final limitation will be the level of parent participation
in regards to completing the pre and post writing interest surveys.


Overview of the Chapters

Chapter Two of this research is a literature review. First, it examines the
developmental writing stages and the importance of becoming a proficient writer.
The literature review will delve into the challenges primary teachers face creating
high quality writers. This Chapter will also explore the benefits poetry has to offer
to students when used in elementary classrooms including the positive effects it
may have on other genres of writing, most specifically narrative writing, and how
poetry can affect a childs feelings and attitudes toward writing.
Chapter Three will focus on the research design, participants, instruments,
procedure, and the analysis. It will detail the six-week data collection period in
two first grade classrooms at an elementary school in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Chapter Three will also describe the narrative writing assessments given to
21

students before and after the poetry unit. These writing assessments focused on
the level of descriptive vocabulary used by the students, and in the use of this
descriptive vocabulary in their narrative writing. The Chapter also provides
information regarding the writing interest surveys that both students and parents
will complete prior to the poetry unit and at its completion.
Chapter Four will report and interpret the findings from the participants of
the study in the following categories: 1) pre and post narrative writing
assessment scores; 2) observations of the students level of interest and
participation during the poetry unit; and 3) pre and post writing interest surveys
completed by both students and parents.
Chapter Five presents the summary and conclusions from this research
that provide answers to the question of whether the use of poetry in first grade
classrooms can increase the amount of descriptive vocabulary in students
narrative writing. It also includes questions for further study, recommendations,
and implications for administrators, teachers in the primary grades, and other
educators.

22

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW

Poetry has always been a part of elementary classrooms. The frequency
of its use and the reasons for its use in the classroom vary greatly. Teachers in
the primary grades appear to be more likely to incorporate poetry into their
classroom instruction than do the intermediate grade teachers (Denman, 1988).
Even in these grades, though, the amount of poetry infused into the curriculum
fluctuates tremendously from classroom to classroom. Some teachers integrate
poetry into almost every subject taught throughout the day. This is accomplished
through reading poetry aloud to students, having students read and discuss
poetry, and encouraging students, themselves, to create and share poetry during
Writers Workshop. Other primary classrooms include poetry by planning an
annual poetry unit in their classrooms while still others limit the use of poetry to
occasional read alouds. Numerous articles in the literature have documented
many ways that poetry can enhance learning. Stanley (2004) believes that
incorporating poetry into the classroom can help students develop vocabularies
for speaking and writing, facilitate reading instruction, improve content area
learning, and allow students to become more in tune with their thoughts and
emotions. In 2004 a study was conducted by Lori Wilfong, a literacy coach, to
determine the effects rereading of short poems would have on students fluency,
confidence, and comprehension. Within this study, identified struggling readers
were selected to be part of a Poetry Academy. The Poetry Academy involved
23

pairing these struggling students with community volunteers for a 5-10 minute
weekly intervention. These volunteers were trained to introduce a new poem to
students each week by reading it to them, reading the poem with the student,
and listening to the student read the poem to them. Students were then required
to take the poem home and read it to as many people as possible. The following
week, the students would reread their poem one last time to their community
volunteer before being introduced to a new poem. By the end of the semester,
significant gains were made in the area of word recognition, the number of words
read correctly per minute, and the retelling of a story (Wilfong, 2004). Despite
success such as the aforementioned, poetry remains a genre that many teachers
feel uncomfortable with, are ill prepared to use in their classrooms, and/or feel
that they do not have enough time in their daily schedule to teach poetry
(Lockwood, 1994).
This literature review will examine the use of poetry in the elementary
classroom. It will explore early life experiences students have with poetry,
teachers current and past practices of using poetry in the classroom, the
multitude of benefits that poetry appears to offer to young readers and writers,
and offer ways that poetry can successfully be incorporated into the curriculum
on a regular and consistent basis.




24

Early Life Experiences With Poetry

Many children are exposed to poetry long before they enter elementary
school. In fact almost every child comes to school having had some experience
with poetry (Perfect, 1999). These early language experiences are embedded in
lullabies, nursery rhymes, riddles, songs, childhood chants, and books. Most
frequently mothers and fathers become the childs first literacy teachers by using
the sing-song poetry of the lullaby. Children are able to memorize or sing
simple verses again and again and appear to have an affinity for the rhyme and
rhythm of poetry (Perfect, 1999). They want poetry read to them again and again
and usually want to join in the joy of making the rhyme and rhythm. Baron (2000)
writes that poetry is the most personal form of artistic communication, and
children understand this intuitively (p. 52). Stanley (2004), too, believes that a
love of poetry comes naturally to children. He explains that children revel in its
rhyme, rhythm, and repetition (p. 1). He also believes that the images that
poems create amuse and captivate young children. These experiences with
poetry may better prepare children for success in schools. Wells (1986) has
stated that listening to poetry, along with experiencing other oral language
activities, may have a positive effect on future literacy learning for young children
entering school. This is because children who come from homes where there
are many opportunities for oral language development possess a wider
vocabulary and conceptual background. These children are given numerous
opportunities to talk with care-givers, siblings, peers, and relatives about their
25

daily lives. They are also given many opportunities to listen to literature,
including poetry, that is read to them. Through these chances to talk and listen,
children begin to understand language, how it functions, and how it sounds in
different circumstances. They hear how language sounds in formal and informal
situations, they hear how sentences are structured, and how words are used for
different audiences and for different occasions (Hadaway, Vardell, & Young,
2001). All of these understandings that children gain about language count when
they enter school. This is because these understandings about language are the
foundation for literacy learning that begin once they start elementary school
(Cummins, 1981).
Informal experiences with poetry continue as young children enter school.
Playground games, like jump rope and Red Rover, music, and other types of
play provide practice with the rhythm and rhyme of poetry. This play offers a
natural link between oracy and literacy (Lenz, 1992). Nursery rhymes and
poems are read often to students in kindergarten and first grade. Children
delight in hearing this type of literature and quickly memorize portions of the
pieces and join in as they are read to them. Grade school children enjoy
listening to poetry so much, they will ask for special poems to be read over and
over again (Gable, 1999).
Exposure to poetry, though, seems to diminish as students progress
through elementary school. There appears to be a sharp decrease in the amount
of time teachers spend reading and writing poetry with their classes as students
advance from the primary to the intermediate levels in the elementary school
26

(Perfect, 1999). Denman (1988) agrees and states that poetry is the most
neglected component in the language arts curriculum (p. 57). He further states
that our curricular side-step of poetry has relegated it to an optional status
(p. 57). Darigan, Tunnel, and J acobs (2002) also believe that poetry is not given
the same amount of attention as other literary forms. This is unfortunate as
Duthie & Zimet (1992) have discovered that poetry is a genre that is not only
accessible to primary children, but can be the genre that excites children and
motivates them to read and write (p 14).

Why Poetry Is Neglected In Schools

There are a number of reasons why poetry is often neglected in
elementary school. First, it seems that poetry is the type of literature that most
teachers feel the least comfortable with (Lockwood, 1994). Many teachers did
not have positive experiences or exposure with poetry when they were in school
and therefore, have not been able to teach poetry in a manner that conveys the
benefits that poetry appears to offer. When teachers were in school, many were
required to memorize lengthy poems, asked to analyze poems that were
considered to have just one correct interpretation, and told to write formal verse
without adequate instruction on how to do so (Vecchione, 2004). In a study
several decades ago, Painter (1970) found the most frequent explanation for
students dislike of poetry was the tearing apart of a poem in order to find one
meaning the teachers (p. 15). Students were not given the opportunity to
27

embrace their own interpretation of the poetry presented in class. Instead their
ideas were often disregarded. Heard (1989) feels that when teachers insist on
their own meaning of a poem, they can easily force children to lose any joy a
poem may have to offer. She believes that teachers must examine their
practices and make certain that they are not ruining the enjoyment that students
may derive from a poem. Heard (1989) challenges teachers:

To revive those old responses to poetry and trust them again Reading
or hearing a poem should feel like jumping into a cool lake in the summer
or drinking a cold glass of water when youre thirsty. But most of our
encounters with poetry have had the life squeezed out of them. Weve
been asked to memorize, analyze, write, and answer questions about
poems we dont even choose to read In order to want to talk about
poetry, people must first like it. When I like a poem, my understanding has
begun. (p. 1)

Perfect (1999) states that a persons understanding of a poem is critical to
creating personal connections to poetry. This, then, allows the reading of poetry
to become an activity that one seeks rather than dreads.
These negative experiences with poetry led many teachers to dislike
poetry and to avoid using it in their classrooms (Campbell & Parr, 2006). Despite
poor experiences with poetry, most teachers are aware of the benefits of poetry
instruction and want to include it in their teaching, but often are uncertain as how
28

to do so successfully. Sweeney (1993) documented hearing teachers say, I

really want to teach poetry, but I had such horrible experiences with poetry when
I was in school I dont want to turn my students off! I never know how to begin!
(p. 11).
It seems many teachers also hold misinformed ideas about what makes
good poetry. They believe that poetry has to rhyme and has to follow a specific
pattern or that poetry has to use a certain type of vocabulary in order to be
considered good. Stanley (2004) believes that other teachers think of poetry as
a dessert that can be served only after a student finishes his vegetables in
this case, drills and worksheets (p. 1). Many teachers build into their lesson
plans a one-week poetry unit or enjoy a school wide poetry celebration, but most
do not use poetry as regular reading material or as a writing assignment.
Because of these misconceptions and practices, teachers assume that teaching
poetry is beyond their ability (Linaberger, 2004) and therefore, they rarely attempt
to incorporate poetry into their lessons. Benton (1992) shares a similar
viewpoint:

Handling poetry is the area of the curriculum where teachers feel the
most uncertain of their knowledge, most uncomfortable about their
methods, and most guilty about both The neglect shows both in our
knowledge and our pedagogy Worry about rightness, both of a poems
meaning and of our teaching methods, predominates, and the worry is
conveyed to the children so that the classroom ambience of poetry
29

becomes one of anxiety of a difficult problem with hidden rules rather than
one of enjoyment of a well-wrought object (p.127).

Not all teachers have had negative experiences with poetry. There are
those who want to share the joy of poetry, but continue to put poetry aside to
concentrate on other issues. One issue that affects the amount of poetry
instruction given in many classrooms throughout our country is the enormous
drain on teachers time and energy to prepare students for high-stakes
standardized testing. Poet Kristin Prevallet (2001) worked as a resident poet in
the New York City schools. She witnessed the stress placed on teachers to
prepare their students for state exams, and explains that because each school is
evaluated based on the cumulative test scores of its students, many teachers are
hesitant to spend classroom time on seemingly peripheral activities such as
poetry (p. 52). High-stakes standardized testing can greatly influence the
teaching of reading and writing including whether or not poetry is used in the
classroom. Matthews (2004) argues that opportunities for combining fun and
learning [are] being squeezed out by test preparation (p. 2). The combination of
teachers negative experiences with poetry in school, inadequate preparation to
teach poetry, and the focus on high-stakes testing has allowed poetry to be
overlooked or poorly taught in our schools. Tiedt, Tiedt, & Tiedt (2001) note:

In an assessment-driven curriculum, poetry is not typically given a large
place. The few poems that are taught tend to be analyzed to death and
30

torn apart looking for symbolism and the authors intent. Not surprisingly,
many students come to believe that poetry is boring. (p. 259)

Unfortunately, poetry seems to be caught in a bad cycle. Teachers either
did not have positive experiences with poetry when they were students, they
were not given adequate training in how best to use poetry with their students,
and/or they feel they do not have time to teach poetry to their students.
Research reports that poetry is not an important factor in teachers lives, they
know little about it, and therefore, feel uncomfortable using it (Ford, 1992).
Because of these factors, many teachers are side-stepping the use of poetry in
the classroom and ultimately, not reaping the many benefits that it has to offer to
students.

Benefits of Using Poetry In the Classroom

The literature is filled with reasons why using poetry is beneficial to
students. First, poetry promotes oral-language development for all students
because of its repetitive quality. It emphasizes phonemic awareness and
improves natural language acquisition (Stanley, 2004). Stanley also notes that
when children grow in one language area, such as oral language, the growth
tends to spur positive growth in other areas such as written language (p. 4). Oral
language development plays an important role in helping children acquire
language. It sets the foundation that language provides in helping children learn
31

to read and write (Hadway, Vardell, & Young, 2001). This is beneficial not only
to emergent readers and writers in kindergarten and first grade but to students in
ESL (English as a second language) classrooms as well.
ESL students need exposure to their new language and listening to the
spoken word is an important step in learning any language. Listening to, reading,
and the rereading of poetry can provide this experience for ESL students.
Hearing poetry can help language learners acquire correct word pronunciations
and incorporate listening vocabulary which can help them improve overall
comprehension. Hadaway, Vardell, & Young (2001) feel that the rhyming and
patterning of poetry can be an outstanding support for ELS students. Because of
the pronounced emphasis within poems, students learn to pay attention to the
most important points and then fill in the gaps. It is this connecting the dots,
so to speak, that is important for inferential understanding. They state that the
coping mechanism of guessing and hypothesizing filling in the gaps or
approximating meaning are critical for ESL students (p. 798). Cullinan, Scala,
& Schroder (1995) agree and state that despite the fact that poetry continues to
be neglected in classrooms, it is very effective for language learning. They
believe this to be the case because poetry contains language use in its most
beautiful forms Children wrap it around their tongues and play with its sounds
(p.3). Long after other lessons and experiences have gradually disappeared,
poetry can stick in the minds of children just like song lyrics and television
commercials can. Creating an oral language foundation for students is extremely
important and comes naturally in poetry (Hadaway, Vardell, & Young, 2001). In
32

poetry, one is expected to hear the language before truly understanding it (p.
799).
The format that poetry is written in can be helpful to ESL and struggling
students as well. The short, concise form of many poems provides helpful
scaffolding to longer texts as well as practice with meaningful content (Hadaway,
Vardell, & Young, 2001). The short format poetry is often written in is appealing
to ESL and struggling students because it appears less intimidating. (Hadaway,
Vardell, & Young, 2002). Concrete or shape poems add a visual element that,
along with the words to describe an object or event, can aide in comprehension.
Free verse poems also help these students to concentrate on the arrangement of
words on the page and on the description and emotion that the words can
convey.
Poetry that is used to teach particular skills and strategies can produce
good readers and can be very effective with struggling readers as well. Learning
the rhymes that are in poetry can help students learn the sounds that they can
apply to learning to read (Bradley, Bryant, Crossland, & MacLean, 1989).
Repeated shared readings of poems can help students with comprehension,
improve their vocabularies, and help them with concept development
(Dowhower, 1994). Smith (1985) reminds teachers that using carefully selected
poems can help train struggling readers to read with good fluency which is a
behavior considered by many reading educators to be basic to the development
of reading comprehension skills (p. 13). Stanley (2004) states that applying the 3
Rs of poetry rhyme, rhythm, and repetition helps children integrate textual
33

clues for reading expressively while focusing on meaning (p. 34). He strongly
believes that poetry can help children to read and feels that teachers who
incorporate poetry into their daily literacy instruction will be amazed at the
progress students make and be surprised that their classroom managed to get
along for so long without it. Durham (1997) also believes in the positive effects of
daily poetry and mentioned this in an article on the topic when she stated that
she wanted poetry in her classroom for its affective power, its ability to inspire
children to love language and, therefore, be more inclined to read (p. 78).
Overall, using poetry can enhance reading instruction in phonemic awareness,
phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
The short format poetry offers also is appealing to struggling readers who
are often threatened by longer verse. Cullinan, Scala, & Schroeder (1995)
concurred that because poetry usually has only a few words on a line, it looks
manageable to the hesitant reader (p. 60). Poetry can also provide emergent or
struggling readers with opportunities to practice reading high frequency words
such as the, is, it, and, there, who, etc. These words do not have personal
meaning for students yet they comprise 65 percent of all the written words that
students encounter when reading (Burleson, 2002). High frequency words are
the words that bind together meaningful words in print (p. 60). If students
struggle with reading high frequency words, they have great difficulty gaining
meaning from the text. Introducing and practicing these vocabulary words in the
context of poetry is one way that students can master them.
34

Poetry is filled with a variety of rich descriptive vocabulary words.

Denman (1988) refers to this vocabulary found in poetry as word wonderments
(p.113). Poets need to pick and choose their words wisely to create the image
and convey the feeling and emotions in a small amount of space. In fact,
Vecchine (2004) defines poetry simply as a picture made of words (p. 24).
J anecake (2000) states that good descriptive writing always includes vivid
details that make a scene come alive but in no other genre are such details as
important as in poetry, where the writer must make economical use of language
(p. 41). Lenz (1992) feels children are captivated by the descriptive vocabulary
when poetry is read to them. She witnessed that poems read aloud had the
potential to capture the ear, imagination, and souls of their listeners (p. 598).
Poetry has a unique ability to play with words. Poets choose their words so
carefully that they create beauty and a certain level of intensity. Often, the words
chosen to express an idea in a poem force the reader to see things in a new way
(Cullinan, Scala, & Schroeder, 1995). Hearing the rich vocabulary in poetry
allows children to form images in their minds and bank this vocabulary for future
speaking or writing. Brountas (1995) believes this to be true when she states
that Poetry becomes an important vehicle for communication as it empowers
children to use the borrowed language of others while they are learning how to
express their own thoughts and feelings (p. 40). In preparation for an article on
poetry, several poets were asked to define poetry (Hopkins, Kurkjian, Livingston,
& Young, 2004) including a poem written by Avis Harley (2004). The poem very
cleverly and descriptively defines what poetry can do especially in regards to the
35

words used to describe a concept. The form in which the poem is written adds to
the visual image that the words already create:


P
O
P E P
O T O
E R E
T Y T
R R
Y



Poetry can suddenly leap
off the page like a volcano
erupting in a lava of language
the wordfalls rolling out in hot
rhythm and spilled sounds to color
your hidden thoughtscape brilliantly



Writing poems can help students become better writers overall. They
learn to take risks when writing and combine words in surprising ways
(Vecchione, 2004). Routman (2000) found that students who struggled with
forming letters and words and with writing sentences were freed from the
restrictions of content, from, space, length, and rhyme when writing poetry.
These students were then able to use their imaginations. Routman also noted
that all students improved their word choice when writing poetry and their joy in
creating was seen as well.
36

There appear to be many advantages to incorporating poetry into

classroom instruction. Routman (2000) feels that these benefits of poetry are
especially true with first grade students because teaching them poetry allows
each child to feel competent and successful as a writer (p. 7). This confidence
allows students to freely express themselves with their inventive spelling and
progress through the stages of writing. Routman (2000) goes on to list many
other important benefits of teaching poetry which she believes may transfer to
other genres of writing. These benefits are:

Focus students thoughts on careful and creative vocabulary
Challenge students to be innovative with use of language
Invite kids to write about compelling content and to capture strong
feeling in a poem
Experiment with language
Use of imagery
Incorporate detail
Express feelings with their own personal voice

Lenz (1992) has had positive experiences using poetry with young
children as well. Listening to poetry and having them read it aloud have helped
her first and second grade students develop the feel for the texture and power of
language (p. 597). Baura, Berry, Murray, & Oczkus (2006) also found much
success when they incorporated poetry lessons into their first grade classrooms.
37

They were hoping to get their students to use more adjectives, adverbs, and
emotions that would bring voice to their pieces of writing. In the end, they found
that using poetry is an ideal vehicle for expanding ideas and letting student voice
shine through (p. 479). Other benefits of using poetry with young students
included:

Enhancing the narrative writing of students
Struggling and reluctant writers found success due to the brief
writing process, repetition of words, and being unconcerned with
grammar
English-language learners were free to play with language without
concern for syntax or convention
More proficient writers were able to experiment with language
which then enhanced their creativity

Overall, it appears that writing poetry with young students encouraged
them to use voice and to use a tremendous amount of creative language in their
writing.
Many classroom teachers realize that reading and writing poetry can be a
very meaningful experience for students. Poetry often speaks to our common
human condition and experiences. It can help students validate their feelings
and make sense of their lives. Poetry allows students to connect to others but
38

also to their inner selves. Morelli (1997) believes that poetry gives us a gift: It
reminds us just how things are. It comforts us and sustains us. It lets us know
that we are not alone (p. 76). Baron (2000) thinks that the rhythm and rhyme of
poetry can become a calming effect on young students especially those with
chaotic lives. They can tap into a personal freedom and power as they
recognize their abilities to manipulate the written word (p. 53). This was the
case for Barron (2000) when she wrote the poem, Poetry Is Me:

A word is what Ive lived
And changes as Ive lived it
It really only lives
From the meaning that I give it
A word is what I feel and touch and taste
And smell and see
And when all the words connect just right
Thats poetry.

Stanley (2204) feels that poetry can help students connect their
experiences, ideas, emotions, and imagination in personal areas that might
otherwise remain untouched (p. 5). He believes that students can build
important connections to their cultural heritage as well as build their self-esteem,
self-concept, and personal identity through the use of culturally appropriate
poetry. Stanley further states that the use of multi-cultural poetry helps build a
39

feeling of community with students and their peers. These poems can illustrate
the issues of equality and inequality in students lives.
Poetry has been written about almost any topic imaginable. This makes it
very logical and practical to link language, imagination, and creativity with other
areas of the curriculum (Perfect, 1999). Well-chosen poems can improve the
climate surrounding a content area that is filled with facts. Poetry can make the
area of study more appealing and meaningful for students. McClure and Zitlow
(1991) feel it is important and advantageous for children to see a content area
topic from an aesthetic perspective so that more thought and appreciation are
able to be opened up. They believe that

Concern for teaching the facts has caused us to neglect forging an
emotional connection between those facts and the lives of our children.
Adding the aesthetic dimension, through literature and particularly poetry,
can help students look beyond the facts to discover the beauty and
richness that lies within a subject . When teachers encourage students
to view the ideas they are studying from an aesthetic perspective, they are
in fact combating meaninglessness. (p. 28)

Stanly (2004) agrees that students can gain a more personal and
meaningful experience from the more academic work if poetry is used as a brief
anticipatory setup for content reading. He believes that poetry can then stimulate
40

a contextual interest in the subject matter. Stanley (2004) trusts that poetry can
build a bridge to content areas such as social studies, science, mathematics,
history, and language. Culinan, Scala, & Schroder (1995) have even suggested
that poetry helps children think like scientists since scientists observe with a
clear eye, record their observations in precise, descriptive language, and craft
their expression. Poets do the same thing (p. 72). Gregg & Sekeres (2007)
share the belief that poetry can be helpful when teaching science and social
studies concepts. They feel some poems lend themselves to the beginning of a
unit because they teased the imagination in a particular way, or gave a preview
of the content under study (p. 474). Other poems are more appropriate for
sharing after the completion of a science or social studies unit or revisiting
previously introduced content knowledge because the imagery created in the
poems helps build understanding. Hadaway, Vardell, & Young (2002) feel that
poetry can be an outstanding tool for introducing content. They state that Poetry
can bring the names and faces of history, the people of geography, and the facts
and figures of social studies vividly and memorably to life (p. 51). Gregg &
Skekeres (2007) found that students chose to reread these content related
poems throughout the year which deepened their learning experience, kept the
content fresh, and tied the year together (p. 474).
Donald Graves (1992) urges teachers to use poetry throughout the
curriculum. He points out that Poetry is not a genre on a hill, nor should it be
confined to writing time, English, or Language Arts. Poetry is for thinking and
41

feeling (p. 171). According to Graves, poetry fits all goals of the content areas
because it helps students look deeply at words, terms, and concepts.

Positive Classroom Experiences

There are many ways to integrate poetry into the curriculum and allow
students to experience success with poetry. Inviting students into the oral world
of poetry simply involves reading poems aloud to the class. This is important so
that children can hear the language of the poem without interruption. Cullinan,
Scala, & Schroeder (1995) recommend that teachers read a poem at least twice
to children. Reading poems out loud to children encourages them to pay
attention to the sounds of the words and lines as well as to their meaning
(Hadaway, Vardell, & Young, 2001). Highlighting the oral features of poetry
acknowledge students unique need to incorporate the heard and spoken word
with their vocabularies before attempting to read and write these words (p. 803).
Lockwood (1994) further suggests ways for teachers to successfully use poetry
in their classrooms:
Expose students to beautiful, powerful language
Allow time for multiple oral readings of a poem
Engage students in discussions that help them create a personal
relationship with a poem
Work with poems that are accessible to students
Occasionally let students choose their own poems
42

Give students many opportunities to write their own poems

There are many ways to help students learn to enjoy and feel comfortable
responding to poetry. Even experienced teachers often wonder what else there
is to do with a poem besides read it (Tchudi & Mitchell, 1989). McClure (1990)
believes that Passive listening isnt enough show them how to uncover the
subtle nuances of meaning and what poets do to forge an emotional connection
with the reader (P. 68). It is important to begin responding to poetry with oral
discussion and small-group sharing to help students express verbally what they
see before asking them to analyze the poem or create their own original poetry
(Hadaway, Vardell, & Young, 2001). The use of partner work or poetry circles,
similar to literature circles (Harste, Short, & Burke, 1988), can provide students
opportunities to share their ideas in a collaborative manner. Another method of
responding to poetry may include creating artwork such as drawing or painting a
mini-mural to illustrate a poem followed by explaining it the class. Hadaway,
Vardell, & Young (2001) noted that this type of response activity helps students
think deeply about a poem, talk critically with classmates about the words and
ideas, and express themselves creatively about their own interpretations of the
poems meaning to them (p. 804).
There are many different methods to teach varied types of poetry to
children. Teaching students to write a narrative poem is a natural place to begin.
Narrative poems are a record of experiences, thoughts, images, or memories
that authors feel worth sharing (Campbell & Parr, 2006, p. 44). Sweeney (1993)
43

agrees and feels that when students are encouraged to write poems based on
personal experiences, it helps them to view poetry as something that is
connected to them and their everyday lives (p. 71). Sharing poetry written by
both the teacher and fellow classmates can encourage more poetry writing in the
classroom. Butler (2002) believe this to be true and contends that Using the
writing of others to teach writing can yield effective and long-lasting benefits that
give students confidence to write convincingly on their own (p. 2).
The literature reviewed describes multiple benefits of using poetry with
emergent readers and writers. By immersing first grade students with poetry
throughout this study, will another benefit for students be increased descriptive
vocabulary when they are writing a narrative piece? Also, will students become
more enthused about writing overall when the study is complete?

44

CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY

The design of this study will be a mixed method approach. This type of
design will allow for procedures which use both qualitative and quantitative data
in a single study. Triangulation, a process of gaining information that draws on
multiple sources of information, individuals, or processes (Cresswell, 2008) will
be used to collect data. The instruments used will be surveys, writing samples,
and observation.

Participants

This study will be conducted at Blair School in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Blair School consists of 362 students from middle to low class families. 60.06%
of the school population qualify for free and reduced lunch thus allowing Blair
School to be eligible for Title 1, a federally funded reading program. In addition
to Tiltle 1, Blair School hosts both a bilingual program to accommodate the
growing Hispanic population in Waukesha as well as an ELL (English as a
second language) program to help those students whose families speak another
language other than English. Blair School has a transient population with many
students migrating from Milwaukee.
The first group in this study will be 32 first grade students. The students
are all six to seven years old and include Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian, and Indian
students. These students will be participating in a six week poetry unit where
45

they will be listening to a variety of poems. They will be asked to identify

vocabulary that assists them to better visualize the content of the poem and
illustrate it. Students will also be writing several different types of poetry. In
addition to this poetry unit, the first grade students will also provide pre and post
narrative writing samples which will allow the researcher to examine the amount
of descriptive vocabulary students use in their writing. Furthermore, the students
will complete pre and post writing interest surveys as part of this study. These
surveys will provide information regarding students feelings toward writing, the
role it plays in their lives, and the topics they choose to write about.
The second group that will be participating in this study are the parents of
the first grade students. They will be asked to fill out a writing survey both at the
beginning of the study and at its conclusion. This information will reveal parents
perceptions of their childrens interest in writing, their attitude toward writing, and
the types of writing they see their children engaging in at home.
Finally, the first grade teachers will participate by recording and sharing
observations of their first grade students throughout the study.

Instruments

Student and parent writing surveys, writing samples, and teacher
observation will be the instruments used to collect data for this research study.


46

parent writing surveys

Parents will also be asked to complete a Writing Interest Survey
(Appendix A) prior to starting the poetry unit and again at its completion. They
will be asked questions regarding observations of their childs attitude toward
writing, the amount of writing their child engages in at home, any difficulties their
child has thinking of writing topics, and their childs desire to share their writing
with others. Parents will choose from the same answer choices as students did
on their writing survey. Parents will also be asked to list the types of writing
and/or the topics that they witness their children choosing to writing about.

student writing surveys
Students will be given a Writing Attitude Survey (Appendix B) to
complete the first and the last week of the study. This survey will ask students
how they feel about writing, how often they write, to what degree they see
themselves as writers, and what types of writing they prefer to engage in. For
each question on the writing survey but one, students will have four possible
responses from which to choose from. The last question on the writing survey
will ask students to list the writing topics that they usually choose to write about.



writing samples
47

The first part of the data collection will be writing samples that the first
graders will be asked to complete the week before the poetry unit commences.
Writing samples will be scored using the School District of Waukesha Scoring
Guide for grade one students (Appendix C). Word Choice and Voice will be
the traits used to measure the amount of descriptive vocabulary students use in
their writing. At the conclusion of the poetry unit, students will be asked to
provide another writing sample. This instrument will be identical to the initial
writing sample except for the writing prompt that is given. This time students will
be asked to tell a story describing a favorite memory from the school year.

teacher observation
Both first grade teachers will be recording informal observations
throughout the study. They will note the level of enthusiasm students display
throughout the study. Teachers will observe whether students are able to
comprehend and illustrate poems read orally to them. They will watch for
students who are able to identify unique and/or descriptive vocabulary words
used in the poems read aloud to the class. Teachers will also observe their
students throughout the writing process while their students work to create
several different types of poems.


Procedure
48

During the first week of the study, students will be asked to provide a
writing sample based on a writing prompt given to them. In this case, students
will be asked to write a story about their favorite field trip of the school year. As a
class, students will brainstorm their ideas based on the writing prompt and the
teacher will list their ideas on the chalkboard. Previous to writing their story,
students will illustrate a picture of their story to help them visual the details and
organize their ideas. While drawing, students will be encouraged to think about
ways to describe their story and also to try and have a beginning, a middle, and
an end to it. Students will be encouraged to reread their writing, edit and, revise
as best as they can. Writing samples will be collected and scored.
In addition to completing a writing sample, writing interest surveys will also
be completed by both students and their parents during this first week of the
study. Students will complete their writing surveys in small groups at school with
the teacher available to answer any questions and/or provide guidance as
needed. Parents will complete their writing survey at home and return it to
school within a few days.
The next two weeks of the study will consist solely of reading poetry to first
graders. Two to three poems will be read aloud to students during their daily
story time. The purpose of this is to allow students to enjoy this new genre and
to expose them to different types of poems. In addition, another poem will be
read to students daily during their language arts block. Students will be asked to
listen for unique vocabulary words used in the poem. These vocabulary words
49

will be recorded on a poster and be added to each day. Students will also be
asked to visualize the poem when it is read to them orally and to illustrate the
poem when given a copy of the poem. Each day the teacher will then select a
student picture which vividly illustrates the poem. It will be placed in a special
class poetry binder. Finally, the teacher will share the illustration that
accompanied the poem in the book from which it was taken from. This reading
and illustrating of poetry and the selection of unique vocabulary used in the
poems will continue each day throughout the poetry unit.
The next three weeks of the poetry unit will include students writing 2-3
poems per week. Different types of poems (Haiku, cinquain, etc.) will be read to
the students and instruction will be given to create such poems. Each time a
new type of poem is presented to the first graders, characteristics of the poem
will be discussed and the class will work together to write this sort of poem. The
poem will be written on the chalkboard as an example for the students to refer
back to. Students will then have an opportunity to write the specific type of poem
introduced to them. They will be encouraged to include describing words in their
poems so that a reader can better visualize their ideas. Students will also
illustrate their poems and keep them in a special poetry folder that they will
make. At the end of the three weeks, students will be asked to choose a favorite
poem that they have written. Each student will work with the teacher to edit this
favorite poem so that it is ready to be typed and compiled into a class poetry
book. Each student will receive a copy of the class poetry book and instructed to
design a front cover for their book. Students will practice reading their poem
50

orally to classmates to prepare for a class Poetry Party. This will be an

opportunity for each student to share his or her poem with the class and to
celebrate with food and drink all the work they have done with poetry during the
study.
The last week of the study will duplicate the first week of the study.
Students will be asked to complete a writing sample. The same procedure will
be followed except for the writing topic given to the students. Students will be
asked to write a story to describe a favorite memory from the school year.
Writing surveys will also be given to students and parents during this last week of
the study. The surveys will be completed in the same manner as they were at
the beginning of the study.

Reliability and Validity

Modifications and allowances were used to gain better results on the
student and parent surveys. Student surveys were conducted orally with small
groups of students. The teacher read the questions and possible answer choices
orally to the students. This was done to allow for better comprehension and to
answer student questions as they arose. Student answer choices were defined
for the students previous to beginning the survey. Parents were sent the writing
survey via their child, asked to complete it at home, and return it to school.
Some parents most likely would have needed the assistance of an interpreter to
51

understand the questions asked on the survey regarding their childs writing
habits and attitudes. The interpreter probably was a family member and in some
cases, their own first grade child.

Data Analysis

The qualitative data in this study was analyzed by looking for themes,
patterns, and models, and using deductive and interim analysis. Each survey
question, with the exception of one, was answered by choosing from 4 choices to
allow for a range of data collected. One question on both the student and parent
survey (Appendix A and B) was an open ended question which allowed
participants to more personally note unique information about writing behaviors
and interests. Qualitative data was gathered throughout the study by teacher
observation and recorded in anecdotal records.
Quantitative data collected on the writing surveys were analyzed by
calculating the percentage of students or parents responding to each answer
choice. The pre poetry data obtained was compared with the post poetry unit
data. Finally, analyzing both the qualitative and qualitative methods helped to
make more sense of the data regarding students descriptive vocabulary and
writing interest.

52

CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

The purpose of this study was to explore whether the use of poetry in two
first grade classrooms would increase the amount of descriptive vocabulary
students use when producing narrative pieces of writing. The study was also
conducted to examine whether the use of poetry would increase students overall
enjoyment of writing. Three methods of gathering data, student and parent
surveys, writing samples, and teacher observations, were used in this study. The
results are explained in this chapter.


Teacher Observations

Two first grade teachers were involved in this study on the use of poetry in
the elementary classroom. Each teacher had a classroom of 16 students. The
teachers kept anecdotal records throughout the study to record their students
reactions to the poems read to them and their students ability to pinpoint
descriptive vocabulary words used in the poems. The teachers noted the
progress students made illustrating images created in their minds while listening
to poems read aloud to them. Students attitude toward writing and poetry
throughout the study was also documented.

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listening for descriptive vocabulary

The six week study began at the end of April with daily readings of poetry.
Students were asked to listen carefully for special words in the poems which
uniquely described people, events, actions, etc. After reading the poem orally to
students, the teacher inquired whether students had noticed any descriptive
vocabulary words in the poem. As students shared words from the poem, the
teacher recorded them on a chart. Early in the study, students could only identify
a few words. They often needed the opportunity to listen to the poem a second
or third time in order to detect unique vocabulary words. In addition, students
frequently needed the teacher to suggest more descriptive vocabulary words
used in the poem that the students were unable to pinpoint. Students were very
excited and receptive to the words presented to them by the teacher. They often
nodded their heads in agreement and acknowledged their teachers ideas with
statements such as Oh, yes, thats a good one or Yes, I was thinking about
that one. Students finally concurred that the words their teacher had pointed out
were, in fact, unique, added to the quality of the poem, and helped create more
vivid pictures in their minds. As the poetry unit continued, students became
more capable of picking out descriptive vocabulary words when poems were
read to them. The students faces lit up when they heard what they believed to
be an extraordinary vocabulary word and/or when they heard a string of words
uniquely describe an event in the poem. After a poem was read to them, most
students had their hand in the air hoping to be called on so that they could share
the descriptive word they had heard in the poem and have that particular
54

vocabulary word added to a special chart of outstanding vocabulary words which

was posted on the chalkboard for all to see. Quite often the students who were
most excited about this process of choosing unique vocabulary words could not
wait until the end of the poem to share the words they felt were most descriptive.
They would blurt out vocabulary words immediately after hearing them recited by
the teacher. Some students pointed to the vocabulary chart while the poem was
being read to them as a reminder to the teacher that another word or two should
be added to the growing list of descriptive vocabulary words. This occurred not
only when the teacher read poetry to the students but also when guest readers
came to read poetry to the class. Students smiled, waved their hands, squirmed
in their seats, and shouted out the astonishing words they heard guest readers
state. They spoke with tremendous excitement as they made the connection that
the guest poetry readers such as their principal, custodian, other grade level
teachers, etc. also had books of poetry filled with exceptional vocabulary words.
Students commented that not only did their classroom teacher have poems with
such interesting and unique vocabulary words but many others did as well.

creating mental images
In addition to listening to poems and selecting unique vocabulary words,
students were asked to use these descriptive words to help create a picture in
their minds. After reading a poem, the teacher would lead a discussion of what
had occurred in the poem or what had been described. Students were
encouraged to share what they had envisioned in their minds while the poem
55

was read. Early in the study it was necessary for the teacher to read the poem
more than once to the students to allow them another opportunity to generate
more thorough pictures in their minds. Students were then given a copy of the
poem and asked to illustrate it. Most students quickly complied with the
directions to sit back down at their desk, pull out their crayons, and begin to
illustrate the picture in their mind. There were usually a few students who
needed to have the poems reread to them and given assistance in remembering
the poems content before they could begin the task of illustrating the poem.
Once students were settled at their desks and confident with their understanding
of the poem, they initially colored quietly. As their pictures became more
complete, they often held up their picture, smiled, and shared it with a classmate
or the teacher. Often there was laughter as students reviewed a picture they had
drawn which had accompanied a silly poem. Their completed pictures were very
colorfully drawn with a great deal of detail. Students did appear to become more
competent and more independent completing this portion of the poetry unit as the
weeks went on. Fewer students needed poems reread before they could begin
their illustration while more students felt their illustration had captured the
essence of the days poem. The students drawings of poems became more
detailed and more colorful as the poetry unit evolved. Students showed pride in
their interpretations of the poems by holding them up for the teacher to see.
Many students asked each day if their drawing could be the one selected for the
class poetry book or placed on the bulletin board. When all students were
finished illustrating a poem, the teacher shared the illustration that accompanied
56

the poem in the poetry book. Students were very interested in comparing their
drawing to the actual illustration in the book. Many would comment that their
drawing looked just like the one in the book. Some pointed out that many of their
classmates drawings looked different from the one in the book. They realized
that everyone had their own ideas of what should be included in a poems
illustration and this was why there was such variety in their pictures. This
enthusiasm of illustrating poems waned somewhat near the very end of the six
week poetry unit. Some students Illustrations were not as colorful or as detailed.
Overall, though, the daily reading of a poem, having students choose good
descriptive vocabulary words, and then illustrate the picture that had been
created in their minds proved to be a very useful activity in assisting students to
become more aware and more capable of selecting descriptive vocabulary in
poetry.

interest in poetry
Both teachers involved in the poetry study observed students increased
enthusiasm toward poetry. This was especially true at the onset of the unit as
students were immersed in poetry. Students let out cheers and made statements
such as Oh, its poetry time! or I wonder which poem you are reading today!
when they saw their teacher or guest reader head to the reading chair with a
poetry book in hand. Students were interested to see the poem being read to
them and often commented on the format of a poem in comparison to their own
writing. They noted that some poems did not have capital letters at the beginning
57

of lines nor did they have periods at the end. Students came to understand that
an idea could be expressed in a poem without writing a sentence as they were
used to doing in their own narrative or creative writing. Quite often during the
study, teachers spotted students choosing to write poetry during their writing
block. During this time, students often experimented by writing the type of poetry
they had been introduced to earlier in the day. For instance, if they had learned
how to write a haiku poem in the morning, they often tried to write another one
when they had free writing time. Occasionally, though, students chose to write
poetry without following any specific type of format. Students loved sharing their
poetry with others and appeared excited to share the poem they had just written.
There were times when the normal routine had to be stopped to allow students to
share their poems either with the teacher and/or the whole class. This pride and
excitement of sharing poetry continued through to our culminating activity of
choosing a poem that had been written during the poetry unit, working with the
teacher to edit and revise it, and then illustrating the final copy to be placed in a
class book that each student would get a copy of. During our poetry party which
was held to celebrate all the students work with poetry, the completed books
were passed out to the children. Students had big smiles on their faces when the
poetry books were handed out. Students quickly went from student to teacher to
principal eager to read their particular poem that had been included in the class
book.
This level of excitement carried over into finding poetry books in our class
and school libraries. Students would readily share the books soon after returning
58

from a trip to the school library and requests were made for reading them to the
class during story time. Some students would spend free time looking through
poetry books and mark poems they wanted read to the class. Teachers also
noticed children were excited to read poetry books during their silent reading
period.

interest in writing
Teachers continued to see students interested and anxious to write during
Writers Workshop time. They also observed students writing during other
periods of the day. Despite that the end of the school year was near, most
students did not appear to be worn out or tired of writing. It seemed to be an
enjoyable activity that many students continued to engage in. Overall, teachers
in this study observed an increased interest toward writing by first grade
students.


Parent Writing Survey Results

Parents of the first grade students were asked to complete a writing
interest survey (Appendix A) before and after the poetry unit. The purpose of the
survey was to determine their childs feeling toward writing and their ability to
choose writing topics. Four out of the five questions on the survey had several
possible answer choices. These choices were a whole lot, a lot, some, a
59

little, or not at all. A final question on the survey requested that parents list
writing topics that their child most often chooses to engage in. Results on the pre
unit survey were compared with those on the post unit survey.

feelings toward writing
The Writing Interest Survey For Parents (Appendix A) was provided to
the parents before the poetry unit began at school and again at its conclusion. It
included five questions to help parents gauge their childs level of interest in
writing. First graders are generally enthusiastic so it was not surprising to see
that most parents reported that their child thought writing was fun both before
and after the poetry unit began. 64% of the parents marked either a lot or a
whole lot on the pre unit survey in response to the statement writing is fun
while 71% of the parents chose the same answer responses at the conclusion of
the study. For those parents who believed their child did not care for writing
before the poetry unit began, 19% marked not at all or a little to the statement
that My child says that writing is fun on the initial survey. Fewer noted this to be
the case at the completion of the unit with only 12% choosing the same
responses.
By the completion of the poetry unit, there were some signs that more
children liked writing in their spare time. There was an increase of 16% of
parents who selected a little, some, and a lot in answer to the statement My
child likes to write in his/her spare time. In addition, 4% fewer parents selected
the response not at all. There was, though, a significant drop in the number of
60

children whose parents felt that they liked to write a whole lot in their spare
time. On the pre unit survey, 30% of parents felt their child liked writing in his/her
spare time a whole lot yet on the post unit survey, only 13% of parents chose
this response. Perhaps this was due to the weather getting warmer and the
childrens desire to get outside and play rather than spend time writing.

choosing writing topics to share
Parents reported some interesting findings regarding their childrens
ability to come up with ideas to write about. It appears that parents felt their
children had more difficulty choosing writing topics at the end of the study. When
given the statement, My child has trouble thinking about what to write, 43% of
parents chose the answer not at all at the beginning of the poetry unit. Only
25% of the parents felt this to be the case at the conclusion of the study. The
response a little to the same statement increased 12% by the studys end.
Also, there was a 6% increase in the number of parents who marked a whole
lot to the same statement My child has trouble thinking about what to write.
The percentage of parents who had chosen the responses of some or a lot
remained relatively the same.
Possibly the most surprising results were those expressing the amount
children like to share their writing. The percentage of those wishing to share their
writing decreased in every category. The biggest decrease was the number of
parents who selected the response a lot to the statement My child likes to
share his/her writing with others. Initially 30% of parents chose this response,
61

but by the end of the study, only 17% selected the same response. These
results were unexpected considering that most first graders want to share their
writing at school. Rarely do we have enough time to listen to all the students
who request to have their writing shared during a particular writing block.


Student Survey Results


All first grade students were given a writing attitude survey (Appendix B) to
complete before the poetry unit began and also at its conclusion. Students were
asked a multitude of questions regarding their attitude toward writing, their
willingness to write and share their writing, their feelings about themselves as
writers, and the topics they like to write about. The question regarding students
writing topics was an open ended question. Students were asked to list 3-4 of
their favorite writing topics. All of the other survey questions had five possible
answer choices to pick from. These choices were a whole lot, a lot, some,
a little, or not at all. The answer choices selected on the pre unit survey were
compared with the answer choices selected on the post unit survey to determine
if students feelings toward writing had changed.

attitude toward writing
According to the results gathered using the Student Writing Attitude
Survey (Appendix B), students attitude toward writing appeared to improve by
the end of this study. This was reflected by the responses to such statements as
62

I like writing stories, Writing is fun, and I like to write. Students chose a
whole lot 15% more by the end of the poetry unit when responding to the
statement I like writing as well as selecting a little 9% less often. In answer to
the statement, Writing is fun, the percentage of students marking a little,
some, and a whole lot increased. By the end of the poetry unit, 3% more
students selected a little, 9% more chose some, and 13% more picked a
whole lot. Also, 6% fewer students selected not at all when responding to the
same statement Writing is fun. For the most part, positive results were also
shown by student responses to the statement I like to write. This included an
increase of 9% who chose a lot and a 12% increase in those who selected
some. The answer choice not at all was marked 12% fewer times at the end
of the poetry unit while a little was selected 6% less. There was, though, a 6%
decrease in the percentage of students who selected a whole lot at the end of
the study.
Another indicator that students attitudes toward writing improved was the
number of students who disagreed with the statement Writing is boring. Those
marking not at all jumped from 45% to 70%. The response a little decreased
9%, some decreased 6%, and a lot decreased 6%. Only the answer choice a
whole lot remained the same from the beginning to the end of the poetry unit.

willingness to write and share
Students who had little interest in writing at home or school previous to the
poetry unit seemed noticeably more willing to choose writing as an activity after
63

the poetry unit was completed. There were 21% fewer students who chose not
at all in response to the statement I like to write in my free time on the writing
attitude survey while on the opposite end, there was a 21% increase in the
number of students who marked a little to the same statement. A slight
increase of 6% was shown by those students selecting the response a lot to the
statement I like to write in my free time and no change in the percentage of
children marking a whole lot. The only response showing a decrease in interest
in writing during free time was some which decreased 6%.
By the end of the poetry unit, there was a slight increase in the number of
students who felt that it was fun to write at home, yet the decision to write more
frequently at home seemed to remain unchanged. The survey responses that
revealed positive change to the statement I like to write things at home were a
little and a whole lot. 6% more students marked a little and 3% more
students marked a whole lot by the end of the poetry unit. There was a 6%
drop in the number of students marking a little to the same statement I like to
write at home while the other answer choices remained unchanged. In answer
to how often students choose to write at home, 18% more students chose the
response a lot on the post unit survey, 15% fewer selected a whole lot, and
the other response choices remained unchanged.
There were a few signs that students would like more time to write at
school. For example, by the end of the poetry unit, 9% fewer students chose not
at all in response to the statement I wish I had more time to write at school
while 6% more students chose a lot as their response. There was, though, a
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3% decrease in the number of students marking some and another 3%

decrease to the response a whole lot while the choice a little stayed the same.
There were some conflicting results in regards to whether students
increased their desire to share their writing with others. Students responded to
the survey statement I like to share my writing with a 9% increase by marking
the response some at the end of the study and a 6% increase by marking the
response a whole lot. On the other end, there was a 12% decrease in those
students selecting a lot in answer to the same statement I like to share my
writing.

writing beliefs and abilities
The topics children chose to engage in did not appear to change much
from the beginning of the study to the end. Most students stated they liked
writing about friends, family, hobbies, and animals. There were conflicting results
documenting whether students had difficulty thinking about what to write. The
percentage of students who chose not at all to the statement I have trouble
thinking about what to write decreased 9% by the end of the poetry unit and the
percentage of students choosing a little decreased 3% as well. The percentage
of students who selected some and a lot did increase, though. There was a
3% increase in students who marked some and a 7% increase in students who
marked a lot. Students belief that they were good writers revealed
disappointing results. In all categories but a whole lot, more students at the end
of the poetry unit marked answers noting that fewer perceived themselves to be
65

good writers. This was shown by 3% fewer students marking not at all to the
statement I think Im a good writer, 6% fewer marking some, and 3% fewer
selecting a lot. There was a 5% increase in the number of students who
marked a whole lot in their belief that they were good writers and 3% more who
felt this to be the case a little.


Student Writing Results

Students completed a writing sample before the poetry unit began and
also at the end of the unit. Writing samples were scored using the School district
of Waukesha Grade 1 Writing Scoring Guide (Appendix C). The writing
categories scored were Voice and Word Choice with each student given a
score of Minimal, Basic, Proficient, or Advanced in each category. The
scores on the writing sample given to students before the poetry unit began were
compared with the scores students received on their final writing sample.
Students showed considerable growth in Voice and in Word Choice.

voice
The percentage of students scoring minimal in Voice decreased 16%
from the initial writing sample to the final writing sample. There was also a
decrease of 38% of students scoring basic in the same category. In addition,
the number of students who scored Proficient increased tremendously during
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this period of time. There was an increase of 54% of students who received a
score of proficient by the end of the poetry unit.

word choice
Students writing also showed improvement in the category of Word
Choice. On the pre unit writing samples, 16% of students received a score of
minimal while 0% obtained the same score on the post unit writing samples.
Students were given a score of basic 77% of the time on their first writing
sample yet only 61% received the same score on their final piece of writing.
Most promising was the fact that many more students scored proficient on their
post unit writing sample. Initially, just 3% were given this score, but at the end of
the poetry unit, 39% of the students scored proficient.


Analysis


Based on student writing samples, parent and student writing surveys, and
teacher observation, poetry use with first graders appears to have had a positive
effect on students writing and their feelings toward writing. The data collected
revealed an increase in the amount of descriptive vocabulary students use in
their writing after being exposed to poetry over a six week period. The overall
level of interest and enthusiasm students displayed toward writing appears to
have grown as well.
67

The results of this study add to the information obtained in the literature
review regarding the benefits of using poetry in the classroom. The literature
review noted many benefits of using poetry with children including oral language
development, reading and writing success, and personal growth. By the
conclusion of this study, students confidence and enjoyment of writing had
soared as did their awareness and use of descriptive vocabulary in poetry and
other writings.


Discussion

The results of this study added to the literature regarding the use of poetry
with emergent readers and writers. It showed strong evidence that the use of
poetry can improve students use of descriptive vocabulary when they are writing
a narrative piece of writing. Results also showed some evidence of how using
poetry consistently with students over a period of time can increase their interest
in writing.
The inquiry process selected to complete this research worked very well.
Having students and their parents complete the pre unit writing interest surveys
motivated students to start thinking about writing and helped set the groundwork
for the poetry unit to come. Solely reading poetry aloud to students each day the
first week of the poetry unit eased them into the unit and also increased their
interest and excitement level. It was then a natural progression to have students
68

select descriptive vocabulary from the poems read aloud to them and illustrate
the poems. These activities adequately prepared first grade students for writing
their own poetry. Six weeks proved to be just the right length of time for this
study. Students remained enthusiastic and interested throughout the entire unit.
Students constant desire to listen to poetry and their eagerness to write
poetry was an unanticipated outcome of this study. Their ability to write a variety
of different types of poems with little help from their teachers was also
unexpected. Improved writing samples were anticipated, not just because of the
exposure to unique vocabulary in poems, but also because students had also
experienced six more weeks of reading and writing instruction in first grade.
However the evidence also suggested, this experience most likely helped
improve their final writing samples.
Finally, results from this research suggest that descriptive vocabulary
may be increased by incorporating poetry into primary daily instruction
throughout the school year. Teachers may be more able to adequately assist
students in becoming stronger readers and writers. Thus this work moves
toward a theory that teachers should encourage the love of language both in
written and oral form through the use of poetry, and reinforce the possibilities to
strengthen students capacities for narrative writing. Ultimately school districts
may want to revisit their language arts curriculum and require more consistent
poetry exposure and instruction for students in the primary grades.


69

CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

This mixed method study was conducted to discover whether the use of
poetry in the elementary classroom would increase the amount of descriptive
vocabulary students use when writing a narrative piece. The study was also
intended to determine if students overall enjoyment of writing would improve
after completing a poetry unit.
The two first grade teachers who conducted this study reported positive
results by the conclusion of the six week poetry unit. One encouraging outcome
was that students became more aware of the variety of vocabulary words used in
poetry and were more easily able to identify them and use them in their own
writing. The teachers felt their students came to appreciate that using a variety of
descriptive vocabulary words added to the quality of their writing, and that using
these descriptive words in poems as well as in other types of writing helps create
a more vivid picture in the readers mind. Students displayed their knowledge of
this when they completed their post unit writing samples. There was
considerable growth overall in student use of descriptive vocabulary words in
their final writing samples and was reflected in the improved scores they received
in two different categories, Voice and Word Choice.
The data collected in this study revealed that parents, teachers, and
students felt that the students had gained an increase in enthusiasm toward
writing by the end of the six week long study. Teachers witnessed excitement
70

throughout the poetry unit as students listened to poetry, drew pictures to

accompany poems read to them, and eventually wrote their own poems. They
also noticed students choosing to write poems during their writing block as well
as during their free time. Teachers commented that as the poetry unit
progressed, all forms of writing had become a popular choice when students had
the choice to pick the type of activity they would like to engage in.
By the completion of the study, parents reported their children
having an increased interest in writing. They felt their children were writing more
often in their spare time and appeared to struggle less when determining a
writing topic. The student writing surveys completed at the end of the study
indicated that their attitude toward writing had improved. More students had
positive feelings toward writing stories and were more willing to write in their free
time. Finally, there were an increased number of students who were requesting
more time to write at school.
Overall, poetry use in the elementary classroom appears to have had
many positive outcomes including increasing students use of descriptive
vocabulary words when they engage in narrative writing and improving their
overall attitude toward writing and poetry. Therefore, school districts may want to
require more consistent poetry exposure and instruction for students in primary
grades.


71

Recommendations

The literature is filled with many articles describing the benefits of using
poetry with emergent readers and writers. These benefits include helping
students with phonics, vocabulary development, expression of feelings and
ideas, and building sight words. The results of this study concur that poetry has
much to offer young learners. Due to the outcomes of this study:

It is highly recommended that parents frequently read poetry to
their children starting with sharing nursery rhymes with them on a
regular basis.
Teachers of young elementary students should be exposing them
to a variety of consistent experiences with poetry. These
experiences should include daily reading of poetry to their students,
asking students to identify unique vocabulary used in poems,
encouraging students to visualize the content of poems and
illustrate them, sharing different types of poetry with their students,
and giving students opportunities to write and share their own
poetry.

All of these activities can have positive effects on building students
descriptive vocabulary which can then be available to them when they are
72

composing narrative or other types of writing. Frequent use of poetry in the

primary classroom can also positively affect students interest in writing overall.


Questions for Further Study

In order for students to reap the benefits of using poetry in the classroom,
teachers need to be informed and educated on this topic. They need to learn all
the advantages poetry has to offer young learners. Teachers should be provided
opportunities for training so that they can provide positive and varied experiences
with poetry for their students.
This study on the use of poetry in the primary classroom presented some
further questions for study.
1. Would there be some benefit to repeating this study over a longer
period of time?
2. Would such a lengthened and more in-depth study allow for more
growth in descriptive vocabulary and interest in writing?
3. If poetry were consistently used specifically for the purpose of
increasing descriptive vocabulary and improving interest in writing,
as was the case in this study, how would teachers monitor
students progress as the school year progressed?
73

4. Would the results be the same if the study was conducted with
students from another socio economic or ethnic group?
5. And, finally, realizing that poetry has so much to offer young
students, should there not be an expectation that all primary level
teachers use poetry on a regular basis?

Future Implications
The use of poetry in the first grade classroom appeared to be a positive
experience for both the teachers and the students. Infusing poetry into the
classroom increased the amount of descriptive vocabulary students use when
writing a narrative piece. It also helped improve students overall attitude toward
writing. Ultimately, then, school districts may want to revisit their language arts
curriculum and require more consistent poetry exposure and instruction for
students in the primary grades.






74

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81

Appendix A

WritingInterestSurveyForParents

ChildsName______________________________________

Pleasecircletheanswerthatbestappliestoyourchild.

1. Mychildsaysthatwritingisfun.
notatall alittle some alot awholelot
2. Mychildlikestowriteinhis/hersparetime.
notatall alittle some alot awholelot
3. Mychildhastroublethinkingaboutwhattowrite.
notatall alittle some alot awholelot
4,Mychildlikestosharehis/herwritingwithothers.
notatall alittle some alot awholelot
5. Whatkindsofthingsdoesyourchildwrite?(types,topic,ortitles)

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

82

Appendix B

Student Writing Attitude Survey

Name __________________________________________________

1. I like writing stories.
not at all
a little
some
a lot
a whole lot

2. Writing is boring.
not at all
a little
some
a lot
a whole lot

3. I like to write in my free time.
not at all
a little
some
a lot
a whole lot

4. I enjoy writing notes and letters to people.
not at all
a little
some
a lot
a whole lot

83

5. I like writing at school.

not at all
a little
some
a lot
a whole lot

6. I have trouble thinking about what to write.
not at all
a little
some
a lot
a whole lot

7. Its fun to write things at home.
not at all
a little
some
a lot
a whole lot


8. I like to share my writing with others.
not at all
a little
some
a lot
a whole lot

9. Writing is fun.
not at all
a little
some
a lot
a whole lot

84

10. I wish I had more time to write at school.

not at all
a little
some
a lot
a whole lot

11. I think Im a good writer.
not at all
a little
some
a lot
a whole lot


12. I like to write.
not at all
a little
some
a lot
a whole lot

13. How often do you write at home?
not at all
a little
some
a lot
a whole lot

14. What kinds of things do you write about?

______________________________
______________________________


85

Minimal Basic Proficient Advanced
I
d
e
a

D
e
v
e
l
o
p
m
e
n
t

MainIdea Textislimitedtoletter
strings,wordsorone
sentence
Writesoneortwo
sentences
Writesmultiplesentences
withamainideaorstory
line
Writingenhancesthereaders
understanding
Focus/Topic Writingmakeslittlesense Writingissomewhat
confusing
Writingmakessense Writingmakessense,isoriginal
andcreative
Details Notenoughinformation
tohavedetails
Fewdetails Detailsarerelevantand
accurate
Unusualdetailsgobeyondthe
obvious
O
r
g
a
n
i
z
a
t
i
o
n

Order Notenoughinformation
togetasenseoforder
Eventsareoutoforder Useslogicalorder Orderaddsinteresttothepiece
Beginning/Mid
dle
End
Lacksstructure
Ex:Noclearbeginning,
middleorend
Structurestraysfromthe
task
Ex:Maybemissinga
beginning,middleorend
Usesappropriatestructure
Ex:Includesabeginning,
middleandend
Structureincludesauniquestyle
Ex:Beginningtousetransitions
V
o
i
c
e

Audience
Suitability

Writingismissing
audienceconnection
Writingoccasionally
speakstothereader
Writingspeakstothe
readerandisappropriate
forthepurposeand
audience
Writingstyleaddsinterest
andindividualitytothetopic
W
o
r
d

C
h
o
i
c
e

Variety
Complexity

Wordsdonotmakesense Usesmanysimple,familiar
words
Wordscreatepicturesand
adddetail
Wordscaptureyourattention
F
l
u
e
n
c
y

Structure Choppy,ramblingor
incomplete
Partsofthewritingfeel
natural,othersmaybe
awkwardorchoppy
Rhythmandflowfeel
natural
(easilyreadaloud)
Thewriterhasthoughtaboutthe
soundsofthewordsaswellas
themeaning
C
o
n
v
e
n
t
i
o
n
s

Mechanics
Numerouserrorsprevent
understanding
___Prioritywords
___Littleornoevidence
ofphoneticspelling
___Capitalization
___Punctuation
___Grammar
Errorsdistractthereaderbutdo
notinterferewithunderstanding
___Prioritywords
___Primarilyuses
phoneticspelling
___Capitalization
___Punctuation
___Grammar
Minorerrorsdonotinterfere
withunderstanding
___PriorityWords
___Usesmixofphonetic
andconventionalspelling
___Capitalization
___Punctuation
___Grammar
Minortouchupswouldgetthepieceready
forpublication
___Prioritywords
___Usesconventionalspelling
mostofthetime
___Capitalization
___Punctuation
___Grammar