Six Fresh Ideas for Using Poetry in Your Classroom

April is National Poetry Month, and this year can be your best year with poetry and your students! With so many fun ways to use poetry every day, your students will always remember this fun time of year.

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Nonfiction Poetry to Enhance Everyday Instruction

I can't believe April is almost here! That means so many things as spring draws near. One of the things about April is that our school year starts to wind down a bit. Testing begins, but we can also focus on the lighter side of school too. I love that poetry month falls in April because we take advantage of some of the down time and just enjoy some great poetry. This week I bring TWO books that feature nonfiction poetry and a glimpse into main idea.

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Two of our Virginia Readers' Choice books are poems that give us great insight into some nonfiction. These books both offer two different types of nonfiction and allow students to find the main idea. The books Animal Ark by Kwame Alexander and A Poem for Peter by Andrea Davis Pinkney are both great examples of how poetry can be beautiful and meaningful.

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WonderFALL Book Talk Thursday

Affiliate links are scattered throughout this post. When you click on them, I get a small amount back at no cost to you. See my full disclosure for details.

It's finally starting to feel a bit like fall here in Virginia. OK, so we had a chilly spell and then we are back to warm temperatures, but I am ready for fall. So is Michael Hall in his fall poetry book, Wonderfall (affiliate link).

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Making Poetry Analysis Fun and Simple

It's April, which means it's National Poetry Month. Today I'm highlighting two books on the Virginia Readers' Choice lists. These two poetry books have very different types of poems that will enlighten students in various ways. Flutter and Hum / Aleteo y Zumbido: Animal Poems / Poemas de Animales can be found on the Primary List, and Wet Cement:  A Mix of Concrete Poems can be found on the Elementary List. {Affiliate links provided to fund future book purchases.} Both of the books are filled with fun poems that can be used with any age level.

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Leaf by Leaf: Autumn Poetry for Book Talk Thursday

Poetry really helps us all see the world in a different way. The "music" of it allows the mind to wander and picture the world in a different way. And I love how poetry creates images in short verse for the reader. The book Leaf by Leaf:  Autumn Poems highlights fall from beginning to end and is perfect for helping young readers see how autumn changes. {Affiliate links provided to fund future book purchases.}

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Book Talk Thursday ~ Poetry Collections

April is National Poetry Month, so I have decided to highlight two poetry collections for

I really enjoyed using Eric Carle's Dragons, Dragons and Eric Carle's Animals Animals with my second graders this week.

The books are both full of various poems by different authors.  In Animals, Animals, there are many poems written by many authors about different animals.  And in Dragons, Dragons, there are many poems about mythical creatures such as the unicorn, centaur, and minotaur.  In both books, the pictures are Eric Carle's works.  I love the way the pictures show the reader a lot about the creatures in the books.

There are many uses for the books.  Children can actually learn about the creatures in the poems.  They give background information about them and even describe them.  This makes it perfect for activities in visualizing.  There are also many great poems that would be great for main idea and details.  Though we don't always think about poems giving a lot of information, many of these tell the readers about the creatures.

I read poems to my students from the books and had them draw pictures of what they saw.  I didn't show them the pictures before reading the poems, so they could truly visualize what the poem described.  Here are their pictures of Ganesha, Ganesh.

And the actual picture from the book.

Kids really enjoy hearing and reading poetry.  What a great way to enhance their reading in such an enjoyable way!

I hope you will link up this week with a book review!



   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

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Spring is Here Poetry Hop

I am so excited to join in with many of my blogging friends as we share poetry ideas and resources with all of you, our readers!  Since all of us share a passion for all things reading, we have some wonderful ideas for helping you and your students enjoy using poetry during April, which is National Poetry Month.  

I love using poetry for so many different reasons.  I use poetry daily with my students to build fluency.  We also work on visualizing, main idea, and author's purpose as we read the poems, even in kindergarten and first grade!  They love being able to draw pictures of their poems to show their understanding of the poems.

Poetry can be used for so many different skills and ideas.  So many times we focus on just writing poetry, which helps students understand elements of poetry.  It is a great way to help students gain a true understanding of poetry since they are using many of those elements to create their own poems.

My students have been focusing a lot on understanding poetry before and after trying their hand at writing poetry.  They want to understand why an author wrote a specific poem or part of a poem.  I  worked on helping students choose poems they enjoyed reading and figuring out some different things about them.  To do this, I created my Poetry Activities for Any Poem.  Click {here} or on the picture below to grab your freebie!

We worked on using the different activities with books and poems they chose to show understanding of various different poems. What I loved the most was listening to them talk about their poems, so their friends would want to read each one.  Here are some pictures of the activities in action.

The Scavenger Hunt

Main Idea and Visualization

Reading poems and Poetry Questions Card

There are so many different places to find good poems for the students to use.  I got these books free from Scholastic one year through the book orders.  I had enough leftover for a reading group set, which I use a lot!  There are also many great websites to find poems for students to use.  My favorite is Giggle Poetry by Bruce Lansky.  There are so many fun poems kids can enjoy and print out!

After using these with success in my intervention group, I continued to add more activities I plan to do with my students during poetry month.  These include an author's purpose page, fluency activities, and task cards.  I added these to the freebie to create a paid product:  Poetry Analysis Activities for Any Poem with Task Cards.  

You get all of this when you purchase!

It will be half off throughout the hop, or you can win it by entering the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now, hop on over to Deniece's blog This Little Piggy Reads to see what she has up her sleeve with poetry and grab your freebie!

And if you want to start from the beginning, click below to head over to Comprehension Connection!

Graphics in hop buttons provided by Educlips and Epiphanous Owl.  Fonts by Jen Jones.

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Wordless Wednesday ~ Poetry

How do you use poetry in your classroom?

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Mentor Monday ~ 3/31/14: Visualizing

Tomorrow is the first day of April and the beginning of Poetry Month.  Poetry is perfect for visualizing, and I am linking up with my friend Emily from The Reading Tutor/OG for Mentor Monday.  This week is all about visualizing.

I have been looking high and low for new poetry books and stumbled upon the book Poem-mobiles: Crazy Car Poems by J. Patrick Lewis and Douglas Florian.

The book is full of great poems that describe various different crazy cars.  The pictures that accompany the poems are full of vibrant colors and lots of fun ~ perfect to help students with visualization.

One of my favorite poems is "The Dragonwagon".  With lines like

Upon its back are nasty spikes

and

Instead of wheels, it has sharp claws

That hug the road and sharply turn.

students are sure to paint a fun picture of the Dragonwagon.

Another personal favorite of mine is "High-Heel Car".  The girls will especially have fun as they draw pictures of a giant high heel car. 

I plan to use these poems with my second graders over the course of the next week.  I am going to read the poems to the students.  After they listen to the poems, they are going to draw a picture of the car that is described in the poem.  Once they have drawn the pictures, they will also describe the car in their own words.  If time allows, I will even have them write a poem about their own imaginary car.

I can't wait to see what they do!  I will have to post pictures when they do!

What are some fun poetry books you use for helping students with visualizing?

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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!

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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?

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