Book Talk Thursday ~ Poetry Books {Freebie Included}

It is time for another edition of Book Talk Thursday!
Today was Poem in Your Pocket Day, and our school always has a lot of fun with this day.  Students and teachers have poems in their pockets and read them to anyone who asks.  I had each of my groups read their poems. Even the kindergarteners had poems that they had learned throughout the year.   They did really well and were even able to track most of the poem!

I carried a simple poem that I use with the kindergarteners.  We haven't used it yet, so I thought it would be fun!  Here was my poem:
Way down South, where bananas grow,
A grasshopper stepped on an elephant’s toe.
The elephant cried with tears in his eyes,
“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”

I loved when the kids laughed at it because it was funny!  Even the kindergarteners liked it!! I wish I would have done this earlier, but I made a little page for students to copy poems onto.  Click here or the image below to grab a copy.  Then read about three fun poetry books and a great website for FREE poetry!

The first book I will review today is Laugh-a-teria by Douglas Florian.  

This book is full of funny poems that children love!  When I had it on my classroom shelf, it was one that kids would always pick up and read.  Even the boys loved it!  The book includes fun poems like "Why My Homework is Missing", "School Lunch", and "Substitute Teacher", the kids are sure to be laughing!  And the pictures in the book make the poems even funnier!

Another great poetry book I enjoy using is A Spider Bought a Bicycle with poems chosen by Michael Rosen.
It is full of poems that are great to read to young children and poems that young children can read.  It includes some basic poems like "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean", "Jelly on the Plate", and "Miss Polly".  All of the poems are more traditional, but some of them have their own little twist.  Many of them are poems that children can remember and understand.

One of my favorite poetry books of all time is Joyful Noise by Paul Fleischman.
This book includes poems about insects that two people or two groups of people read together. This is a great book for helping students work with fluency.  The readers read the poems at the same time and take on different parts to show the feelings of the insect.  Students enjoy reading the poems, especially since it lends itself to working with partners.  Plus, it helps students to learn more about insects, an important science concept.

One of my favorite poetry websites is Giggle Poetry, Bruce Lansky's website.

Here you can find loads of funny poems, like "My Teacher Likes her iPod", "How to Torture Your Teacher", and "How to Torture Your Students", students will roar laughing!  I used this site quite a bit when I was tutoring a sixth grade student.  She laughed out loud at the poems and actually was able to relate to some of the poems.

So, go check out these poem books and websites!  April is Poetry Month, and there are many great poetry books out there!  Which ones are your favorites?
Classroom Freebies Manic Monday

3 comments

  1. We celebrated Poem in my Pocket day too! The kids LOVED it! :)

    My favorite poem is "Woe Ith Me" by Bruce Lansky. My kids begged me to read it again and again! :)

    I LOVE Bruce Lansky - thanks for sharing his website. I'm off to check it out!

    ~Jessica
    Joy in the Journey

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  2. So cute, I haven't heard of Poem in Your Pocket Day - but it's absolutely adorable; you've just INSPIRED me! By the way, your pocket poem is perfectly humorous and brief!!
    :)
    Antonia @ forkin4th

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