IT'S NATIONAL POETRY MONTH!

 

It's about time, teachers, for National Poetry Month.  So let's create some poetry! 

A fun project for poetry month is to create a collage of spring things.  (It's also a good way to use up construction paper scraps.)

Once the collage is completed, invite your lower grade poets to make a 5 senses poem.  Provide a formula for the poem:

    I see ____________________________

    I hear ___________________________

    I smell __________________________

    I feel ____________________________

    I taste ___________________________

Attach the poems to the collages and display them for the world to enjoy.

Older students could write triplets, quatrains, haikus, acrostics, ... really any form of poetry you'd like. 

If you would like help with types of poetry, you may like this set of Poetry Posters --

You may also like:

SPRING TEACHING RESOURCES

 

It's official! Spring is here and to help you plan your spring lessons, I offer these resources...

FREEBIES

CRITICAL THINKING

MATH

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

MATH & LITERACY CENTERS

IT'S WHIRLYBIRD TIME!

I awoke this morning to what I thought was hail hitting my skylights.  Odd since it was sunny, calm, and beautiful outside.  Then I realized --

Watching this seed dispersal is fascinating and inspired me to write a little poem.

If you follow me, you know that I love poetry and use it extensively in the classroom.  I give focus to poetry elements and appreciation, but I use poetry primarily as a vehicle for teaching an abundance of other subject matter.  

My nod to poetic elements for this poem would be to discuss the theme.  Obviously, the theme is whirlybirds, but more importantly, it's about their movements.  I establish this through discussion.

This leads naturally to an exploration of present participle verbs.  Students are directed to highlight the present participles on their copies of the poem.  Then I challenge them to write a present particple, or -ing poem.  The most intriguing of these poems are composed almost entirely of these verbs.  Thus, I present just such a poem -

We compare the 2 poems; feeling, rhythm, flow, etc., before I launch my young poets to do their writing.

There is an obvious correlation to the science of seeds.  So we study nature's methods of seed dispersal, collecting seeds and classifying them.   

There are so many more lesson possibilities for this poem....

• fluent reading
• punctuation
• alliteration
• rhymes
• rhythm
• syllables
• parts of speech
• phonics
• and so forth

Enjoy!

If you would like more poetry possibilities, you may like

It's About Time, Teachers, for Spring!

Just in time for spring, I have finished updating and refreshing these spring products:

 

 

• Spring Square Puzzlers - an excellent activity for exercising your students’ problem solving and critical thinking skills. These puzzles provide a quick and easy activity for teachers looking to challenge fast finishers, create differentiation opportunities, and provide enrichment exercises. The challenge with these puzzles is to reconstruct the square so that all of the images match on every interior side.
• SCRATTLE: Spring Edition - a learning center activity that combines word work with computation; individual effort with competition. As in Scrabble™, students use a set of letters to create words. After recording their words, they calculate each word’s score using the letter values. Then they engage a friend in a battle wherein they compare their scores using >, <, and =. The pupil with the most >s wins the battle! (SCRAbble + baTTLE = SCRATTLE!) This product offers instant differentiation in that it provides 3 different recording sheets. SCRATTLE can be played by students with basic addition capabilities. This makes it useful for primary teachers and as an RTI resource. Students capable of advanced multiplication will be best served by the second recording sheet. Those skilled in solving mixed operations in complex equations will enjoy the third option.
• Poetry Possibilities for Spring - a collection of 20 poems about spring celebrations and activities with custom designed skill lessons. This poetry unit incorporates poetic elements, poetic forms, writing, grammar, multiple subject areas, and craftivities. There are even directions for a class play! 
• Poetry Possibilities for Animal Poems - a science and literacy unit incorporating multiple subjects through poetry. This collection of 12 animal poems provides teaching points, skill lessons, and activities custom designed for each poem. It masterfully combines language arts with science.  It even includes center activities.

If you already own these resources, please download the new version.  You'll be glad you did.  If you don't have them, try them!  I think you'll like them. 

You may also like these resources:

   

It's springtime!

So, in the spirit of spring I have been busy renewing this product:

This is the "before" picture.  It has had a facelift & augmentation.(he-he)  

Here's the "after" product:

It now provides materials for 4 centers that can be used in a variety of ways, yielding at least 18 different centers. CCSS alignment has been added.  Here's what is included:

Picture Sorts

• 27 colorful, picture cards

• 5 suggested sorts with sorting headers

• number sequencing

• addition and subtraction within 10

• picture story

M-egging (Making) Words

• 25 alphabet cards in color and black line

• 3 suggested letter sorts with sorting headers

• making words

• recording sheet master

Egg Patterns

• worksheet to color

• describe pattern using letters (A-B-A-C)

Counting Carrots

• 40 colorful cards

• subitizing within 20

• number sequencing

• addition and subtraction within 40

• even / odd sort with sorting headers 

• skip counting

• WAR card game to compare quantities

Labels for your center folder are provided.

If you have downloaded this product in the past, I urge you to download it again for the new and improved version.  (It's free to download anything you already own.)

You may also like: