How to Interpret Poems for Elementary Students
Interpreting poetry might seem far too complex for elementary students; however, it is something that these youngsters can accomplish, at least in a rudimentary fashion. By guiding elementary students through basic poem interpretation, teachers can encourage them to think critically and infer meaning even when meaning is not clearly stated in a text. These lessons have far-reaching applications, as adept poem interpreters can apply the skills they use to interpret poetry to other academic tasks.
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Instructions
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Highlight key words. Teach your students that not all words in a poem are created equal by having them highlight the ones that are most important. Before you read the poem, arm students with highlighters. Ask them to highlight any words that seem to be particularly important, reminding them that objects and descriptive words are often most important. Share the results of the highlight activity upon completion, allowing each student to share which words he highlighted.
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Write margin notes. If reading a long poem with elementary students, pause after each stanza and ask them to write margin notes. When you get to the end of the poem, revisit the stanzas one at a time, asking students to share what they wrote for each.
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Talk through the poem. Pair your students, placing students in heterogeneous groups, pairing high-performers with students that struggle. Ask the students to discuss the poems they read, working together to craft meaning.
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Draw poetry pictures. Let your elementary students get artistic as a way to help them build meaning. After reading a poem with your students, ask them each to read over the poem again and draw a picture inspired by it. Let students share their artwork after they finish.
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Compose a poem summary. Once your students have become more skilled at poetry interpretation, allow them to do the interpreting largely on their own by having them write poetry summaries as the only means of showing their understanding of the poems presented. Allow each student to select a poem that particularly appeals to him and read it. Then ask him to compose a summary in which he explains the piece. Discuss it with him, asking him to explain how he arrived at the conclusions.
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