It's about time for Veterans' Day, teachers! Naturally, that means it's about time for a poem. And, of course, some activities to go with it.
This poem is an example of free verse; poetry free of rhyme and meter restraints. It gives a concise history of this holiday.
After sharing the poem with your class and engaging students in a discussion about the history, place copies of the poem in your literacy center. Challenge your students to find words that are homophones, highlighting them on their copies. Then ask them to list the words and their alternate spellings.
You might ask the children to add to the list with more homophones they know.
Extend the learning by reading Granddad Bud: A Veterans Day Story, by Sharon Ferry. It's an engaging book for all elementary students and provides great information about Veterans' Day.
Ask your students to write their own poems about Veteran's Day. Suggest they write haikus, traditional Japanese poetry. The stipulations for haiku are that the children write 3 lines. Lines 1 and 3 should have 5 syllables each, while line 2 should contain 7 syllables. Haiku poetry need not rhyme. This exercise will give you insight into how well your class understands the holiday.
This poem is from my unit, Fall Poetry Possibilities. It has many more poems and their teaching possibililites ready for your classroom.
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