Arkansas Learning Through the Arts (ALTTA) Teaching Artist and Poet Kai Coggin completed a weeklong poetry residency with the students at Cutter Morningstar Elementary School last semester. Coggin spent several sessions with the students in grades 2, 4, 5 and 6. The students learned the basic fundamentals of poetry with a lesson in figurative language and poetic devices, followed by reading and analyzing poems by famous poets based on certain themes.
Coggin then asked the students to write a poem on their own, with different topics specific to each grade level. Second graders learned the traditional Japanese form of poetry called Haiku, and wrote deep observational haiku about something specific they witnessed in nature such as a rainbow, a waterfall, an eagle, a chipmunk. 4th graders wrote persona poems from the point of view of an animal. 5th and 6th graders dug a little bit deeper and wrote poems making good choices and decisions.
Kai always tells the students that “Poetry is a safe place for your feelings.” Students tend to open up during Kai’s workshops. Teachers notice that students that normally are reserved, are eager to share. Poetry gives them an outlet to express themselves with no judgement.
More information about Arkansas Learning Through The Arts is located at www.altta.org including a brief video and a roster of available programs.
