Blake, B. E. & Kuhn, S. (1997) 'Writing As People; Voice, Poetry and the Special Needs Student' EDRS; Scottsdale (US)
Good for establishing ideas and linking to literacy through reality. Good case studies of special needs.
ABSTRACT:
'Poetry is a powerful avenue in which students can learn to express their voices and 'write like people'. In the special needs classroom, where students specifically have problems with narrative structure... developing voice through poetry becomes especially crucial.'
POETRY
'poetry, as a special way of knowing can help students to learn about [their] feeling selves, [to] learn how to give audience to others and become members of a culture, to ultimately learn how to use words in the company of others, to reconstruct reality' (Blake, 1990)
'it is precisely because there are fewer or 'no' rules for creative expression, that the structure seems less inhibitive, affording students genuine opportunities to 'control' or to 'own' what they write.'
'because we have not traditionally listened to the voices of special needs students, poetry as a way of knowing and learning affords these students even greater opportunities to teach us about who they are.'
