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Exploring the Music of Poetry in 2nd Grade
In her class’s exploration of reading and writing poetry, 2nd grade teacher Sarah Willett works to help train students’ ears to listen and find the music within each poem.
In a normal academic year, Willett provides students with a variety of musical instruments, breaks them into groups and asks them to play around, create and practice a musical version of a poem, which they would later perform in front of the entire class. This year, with remote learning the order of the day, she changed things up a bit.
Willett asked students to scour their homes and either find or make musical instruments to approximate the same experience and videotape themselves delivering a musical version of a poem. She set up each student’s submission on this Padlet page so that the all could share each other’s efforts. “It was different. The collaborative element was missing, but the kids rose to the occasion,” shared Willett.
When reflecting upon the challenges remote learning poses to a master teacher like herself, Willett offered, “It’s a constant uphill battle to find clear, explicit ways to communicate lessons and even more challenging to gauge how young children are absorbing and practicing those concepts we’ve taught. However, it forces us to be innovative and spontaneous with what we have.”
Francis W. Parker School educates students to think and act with empathy, courage and clarity as responsible citizens and leaders in a diverse democratic society and global community.