This year, in Primary 4, the activity "El rincón del poeta" (The poet's corner) is being developed as a complement to the subject of Spanish Language and Literature.
Reciting a poem at the beginning of each language class is enough to learn it in an easy, heartfelt and emotional way. Then, at the end of each fortnight, they recite it in front of their classmates individually or collectively, always on a voluntary basis, while recording their performances to share and enjoy with the rest of the family.
The benefits of the activity go far beyond rote learning. For example, we could claim that this praxis is helping students to:
- Develop language through learning new vocabulary.
- Improve their communication skills, verbal and corporal expression, which are a very important part of the social skills they possess. The inherent rhythm of the verses favours corporal expressiveness and communicative skills, brilliantly complemented by the subject of "Public Speaking".
- Improve verbal expression when pronouncing words correctly; that is, to improve their diction and phonological awareness, realising the importance of pauses, silences, breathing and the cadence of the words in each of the verses.
- Enjoy reading, because through the musicality of the rhyme of short, simple and agile poems, they learn how to read verses properly. It also encourages a taste for reading other literary genres, as well as the need to express and communicate at home to the rest of the family the beauty of what they have learnt.
- Poetry also involves dramatisation and interpretation, artistic connotations that bring great benefits in both academic and social development.
- Acquiring new knowledge and establishing values: friendship, love, empathy, sadness, happiness, justice...
- Stimulate imagination and creativity, while encouraging memorisation, a fundamental part of their academic life.
- Encourage teamwork when rehearsing and performing the poems as a group.
- To help improve attention, as the sequencing of the verses and repetition of sounds gives them security and confidence, while the rhythmic relaxation encourages the creation of patterns of attention.
- Encourage educational play at home. By reading, declaiming or inventing poetry, the whole family will enjoy sharing a very interesting activity.
