Book Talk Thursday ~ Spring Has Sprung Blog Hop

Next month is National Poetry Month, which is always loads of fun in my school.  And today's Book Talk Thursday is also part of a Poetry Blog Hop. So, on with the show!

A bunch of my blogging friends have gotten together to ring in April with some fun poetry ideas and freebies for you, our readers and followers.  If you want to start at the beginning at Line Upon Line Learning, click on the picture below.

Today I am sharing a fun book that will inspire students to write their own poetry.  I love reading poetry by Douglas Florian, and I couldn't pass this one up.  The book Poetrees is perfect for both reading and science.

When I first read the book, I was surprised to find that it is written, so you have to hold it up and down.  What a great idea to show more about trees!

The book has poems about tree parts, certain kinds of trees, and even some imaginary trees.  While I was reading the poems, I even learned a few things!  Did you know that the outer bark on a tree is dead?  Or that wide rings mean slow growth?  I love how students can learn so much from poems in this book!

The book reminded me of a poetry writing activity that our fifth grade teacher does with her class.  Her class makes a "poet-tree" each month.  She has taken a large branch from a tree and put it in a pot in her classroom.  Each month, students write poems on shapes and hang them on the tree.  Here is a picture of her poet-tree, done at the beginning of the year.  Each apple has a poem on it, written by the students in her class.

My freebie for you are some "Poet-tree Templates" to use on your very own poet-tree.  There are some for every season to use.  Some have lines and some do not to help your students be creative as they want to be.  Click {here} or on the picture below to grab your freebie!

Now, hop on over to the next stop, I'm Lovin' Lit for some more poetry ideas and a freebie!

I hope your weather is warming up for spring!  It sure has been a long, cold winter!