Date of Award
1-1-1991
Document Type
Practicum
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Center for the Advancement of Education
Advisor
Victoria J. Dimidjian
Committee Member
Bernice B. Campbell
Keywords
alliteration, children, classroom poetry exposure, cognition, curriculum integration, daily experiences, early reading ability, enjoyment of poetry, kindergarten pupils, parents, phonology, poetry, poetry composition, poetry production, poetry skills, poetry supplement, posttests, pretests, reading skills, rhyme, school presentation, self-esteem, surveys, teacher competence, teachers, young children
Abstract
This practicum was designed to improve kindergartener’s understanding, enjoyment of, and ability to compose poetry integrated across the curriculum in order to enhance their cognition and reading skills. It was also designed to impart the value of teaching poetry to young children. Parents were involved in the process.
The writer developed a poetry supplement integrated across the curriculum for use by teachers and a history of rhyme and poetry for use by teachers and parents, administered surveys to parents and children, administered pre and posttests to kindergarten pupils, organized daily experiences for the children’s classroom poetry exposure and opportunities for display of their work, and presented a poetry production by the children to their school.
Analysis of the data revealed that 11 of 13 goals were set which exceeded projection, and two goals were met at high level. The results strongly demonstrated that: using poetry daily can increase children’s poetry skills and curriculum cognition; use of phonology, alliteration, and rhyme can facilitate early reading ability; and teachers and parents can gain more competence and self-esteem by using poetry.