Did you know that when the SAT made the switch to its current digital version, more changed than the modality of the test? The current computer-administered version looks vastly different from the old paper-and-pencil test. Nowhere is this change more apparent than in the Reading and Writing section. Gone are the days of 500-to-750-word passages with ten questions each; students are now greeted with short bursts of text containing between 25 and 150 words with only one question per passage.
With the change, the SAT has also included two new types of passages: poetry and drama. The poetry questions may be particularly daunting for students who do not have much experience with the genre. However, what may initially be a challenge for high schoolers is actually an opportunity for educators to lay the foundations of poetry appreciation in their curriculum. After all, the importance of poetry is not confined to the realm of the SAT; the impact of poetry extends well beyond standardized testing into all areas of a well-rounded student’s educational experience.
A Break from the “Ordinary” Curriculum
When students first encounter a question testing poetry on the SAT, they will know straight away—the passage itself will likely look vastly different from the passages that came before. Whether the piece is a sonnet, haiku, or free verse poem, the difference in structure may initially take test takers by surprise.
The makers of the SAT are aware of this difference, and in fact, they have built the test to feature a variety of content. Incorporating different genres of literature is integral to the SAT’s goal of providing a score that represents a student’s ability in reading comprehension on the whole. Remember, the SAT Reading and Writing score is ultimately meant to show to colleges how ready a student is for their freshman year, and many students will encounter poetry in their first-year classes.
Within the classroom setting, educators can help students change their mindset to see poetry not as intimidating but as a “break” from traditional prose passages. The distinctly different structure of a poetry passage gives students a chance to reset their attention and halt any inadvertent routines they may have fallen into while engaging with standard texts.
Outside of the SAT, poetry serves a similar purpose in the classroom. Poems offer an exciting way for teachers to break out of old instructional habits in literacy education. While great prose is anything from “ordinary,” the distinctness of poetry gives depth to students’ relationships with literature. Poetry naturally focuses students’ attention on word choice and literary devices like metaphors, which, in turn, can produce a slower, more thoughtful reading experience in the classroom.
In an age of non-stop stimulation, poetry can help educators guide students to take a breath, notice the details of the world around them, and savor the beauty of language. And the best part for busy school schedules? Poems can be consumed in a single class period. Reading every day has long been touted as a crucial educational practice, with 15 minutes of reading usually quoted as the ideal daily goal for students. However, it may be hard to incorporate 15 minutes of reading into a packed school day, whether because students find it hard to get into a reading zone or because it’s too engaging and difficult to stop after 15 minutes. Poetry can be a solution to both problems for time-conscious educators.
Vocabulary Development in the Curriculum
Any educator preparing students for the SAT will tell you that vocabulary makes up a large component of the new Reading and Writing questions. School literacy programs are adept at identifying student needs when it comes to studying vocabulary. However, schools can naturally expand student vocabulary beyond explicit instruction as well.
Engaging with poetry in the classroom is a dynamic way for students to not only encounter new words but also to see those words in action. Indeed, encountering vocabulary in the context of a poem gives students an opportunity to experience different permutations of that word that extend beyond the word’s usage in traditional prose.
Even when not preparing for the SAT, students of all ages can greatly benefit from learning new vocabulary through reading poems in class. Diction takes on a heightened role in poetry, and poems introduce language that students may not have encountered elsewhere in the curriculum. Similarly, the emphasis poetry places on rhythm and the sound of words can provide another layer of appreciation to vocabulary development in the classroom.
Distinguished Writers in the School Curriculum
With the introduction of poetry to the SAT, the test can now feature work from authors that previously would not have been included. School English departments recognize the importance of building a curriculum that prepares students for the range of poets they will encounter on the SAT. As such, well-designed school literature programs feature poetry from exalted writers such as Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, Georgia Douglas Johnson, and Rabindranath Tagore. Beyond the SAT, it is essential for a well-rounded school curriculum to include poetry so that students may hear the voices of authors that do not work in traditional prose.
With the inclusion of poetry on the SAT, the College Board is confirming what educators already know—poetry serves a distinct and important role within literature and the classroom curriculum.
