Poesía en el cuarto grado (Poetry in the Fourth Grade)

Writing poetry is a great exercise for all language learners, regardless of the target language. It gives the learner a chance to experiment with language and vocabulary, and to freely share their ideas without the confinement of accurate grammar. To express their joyful encounter during their Shore Trip to Cape Henlopen in Delaware, the fourth graders gave this art form a try.

To embark on this learning practice the students first gathered for a Meeting and reflected on their Shore Trip experience.  To help extend our thoughts, we read Pam Muñoz Ryan’s book, Hello Ocean / Hola mar. In this tale, a young girl shares how she experiences the sea with all of her senses. Inspired by the story, we decided to create a poem on how our five senses were evoked by the shore experience, adding an emotional feeling as well.

A PowerPoint was prepared that included the Spanish vocabulary for los cinco sentidos (the five senses). As a large group, we discussed the many words that one might use in their poem and included them in this document. The students were encouraged to contribute their ideas for each part of speech; objeto (object), adjetivo, (adjective), verbo (verb), and sentimiento (feeling). Afterwards, written in English with the Spanish translation, a list of all the words suggested was compiled by category. It was this list that the students used as a reference to help them form complete sentences in the Spanish language. 

 The fourth grade's complete work is on display in front of their classrooms. Please make sure to stop by and see the amazing job they did. The poems are truly inspiring!