ABSTRACT
Fred Sedgwick shows how poetry can be made accessible to diverse groups of children of primary school age. He discusses the benefits for all learners of listening to, reading and writing poetry. As they work with poetry, children are able to reflect on what they know, to extend their understanding and to make new discoveries. Poetry can help children to learn about themselves, about the world around them and about their relationship to the world. Poetry, Sedgwick says, is a valuable tool for learning of all sorts. Not only does it help children come to terms with deeply felt emotions and powerful personal experiences, it is also a means to investigate the natural world about us. Fred Sedgwick stresses the need in working with poetry to make space for children’s provisional, exploratory thoughts by encouraging group talk, drafting and redrafting. Children who find it hard to write with paper and pencil can compose in alternative ways: difficulty in writing need be no barrier to poetry.
