Creative Hunt: Pictures of Practice
What does the routine look like in action?

Using the routine to explore poetry

Ulrica Andersson, grade 4, Lemshaga Akademi

To prepare for their upcoming unit on poetry, the students in Ulrica Andersson's class interviewed a parent about poerty. They asked following questions:

• What is poetry?
• How do you recognize a poem?
• What are they usually about?
• Do you usually  read  poems? Why/why not?
• How should a good poem be, what do you think?

With these questions in mind the class turned to the Creative Hunt routine to explore poetry fro themselves. Ulrica began by asking students to think about the purpose of poetry: What is the goal with poetry? Why does it exist? Why do we write poems and why do we read them?

Target image used in Creative Hunt

Student ideas were made visible using a target diagram. After students considered the purposes of poetry they were asked to think of the parts of poetry, and audiences for poetry. Scroll down to read student responses. After ideas about all three questions were documented on the board, students considered what they now thought about poetry. It was agreed that that "poetry is something important that concerns many people in many different ways." In subsequent lessons, students worked on writing their own poetry.

Purpose You write poetry because:

You want to be a writer

You want to tell something with funny and beautiful words

You want to tell about feelings

You want to express your feelings

You like to write

You want to get away to another world, dream away

It is a more pleasant way of writing

You want to give a poem to someone

You read poetry because:

You think it is amusing to read

You like words in poems

You think it is beautiful reading

You think it is relaxing

You can recognize a feeling

You get inspiration for your own writing

You want to get to another world, dream away

What are the parts of poetry ?

Short lines, or short and long, mixed

About for ex. love or nature

Divided into verses

Can rhyme

Not whole sentences

No unnecessary words

Can explain things that are hard to tell

Then I helped them to find out that rhythm is an important ingredient.

Who is the audience? For whom is the poetry?

For all who want to read

For someone you like

For the writer him/herself

For someone who understands how you feel

Relatives

Friends

For someone who recognizes him/herself