Here I reproduce my article "Use of acrostic poetry in learning has the potential of whole brain learning and gender inclusion" published earlier at scratchmysoul.com blog which has been closed down.
The blogger writes that around the globe, the World Poetry Day was celebrated on March 21 emphasizing the need for pedagogical use of language arts and pattern poetry for learning different knowledge areas for whole brain learning and inclusion.
His blog post goes as follows:
"As a deep expression of the human mind and as a universal art, poetry is a tool for dialogue and rapprochement. The dissemination of poetry helps to promote dialogue among cultures and understanding between peoples because it gives access to the authentic expression of a language." said Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, in her message for the World Poetry Day (WPD).
A decision to proclaim 21 March as WPD was adopted during UNESCO’s 30th session held in Paris in 1999 with a purpose to recognize the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind.
Poetry is a form of literary art which uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of a language evoke imagination, emotive response and meaning. As an art, it has ornamental elements like metaphor, rhyme, alliteration, assonance and consonance as repetitive patterns of sound. Prose poetry is becoming more common these days as a fusion genre that shows attributes of both prose and poetry.
As an enthusiast of pedagogical use of language arts and pattern poetry for learning different knowledge areas, I revisited acrostic poetry on WPD and thought of writing an acrostic on ‘acrostic’ itself. Of late, due to a heightened interest in multiple intelligences theory of learning, many educational researchers and psychologists have got interested in use acrostics as a mnemonic device to remember the subject matter and for cognitive enhancement of students.
The following additional information for WPD-2021 goes as follows
UNESCO coordinated World Poetry Day is being observed today, March 21, to 'celebrate the linguistic expression of our common humanity' and highlight poetry as an important mainstay of oral tradition and, over centuries, can communicate the innermost values of diverse cultures.
According to UNESCO, "The oral traditions and expressions domain encompasses an enormous variety of spoken forms including proverbs, riddles, tales, nursery rhymes, legends, myths, epic songs and poems, charms, prayers, chants, songs, dramatic performances and more. Oral traditions and expressions are used to pass on knowledge, cultural and social values and collective memory. They play a crucial part in keeping cultures alive."
UNESCO holds that poetry is the language art that has the following attributes.
-Poetry reaffirms our common humanity by revealing to us that individuals, everywhere in the world, share the same questions and feelings.
-It is unique innate ability to capture the creative spirit of the human mind.
-Poetry respects linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer endangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their communities.
I have found that poetry and learning of a discipline can lead to mant cogitive advantages.
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