Search This Blog

Sunday, September 15, 2019

USING POETRY IN THE CLASSROOM - Part 1







I {heart} poetry. 
     I read it. 
          I write it. 
               I teach it. 
I love every kind of poetry from nursery rhymes to sonnets, with one exception: Beowulf.  Just couldn’t embrace that one back in high school.

Bringing my love of poetry to the classroom is natural and no timeline or common schedule will stop me from teaching with poetry.  You see, you can work on Common Core Standards while teaching with poetry.  In fact, I believe poetry can make many lessons easier than prose because
  • Poetry is fun.  It’s fun to listen to and fun to read.  Poetry with rhythm and rhyme is simply engaging for children.
  • Poetry uses an economy of words.  Thus, it looks different.  When I was teaching Title I, my students really brightened up when I presented a poem rather than prose.  While I have no empirical data to support this, I believe it was because that economy of words and the extended white spaces made the reading less intimidating.
  • When teaching with rhymed poetry, the rhyme pattern makes the reading at least somewhat predictable.  Young children crave and thrive on predictability.
  • The structure of poetry makes it ever so much easier to teach concepts and skills.  If, for example, you wanted to teach compound words, finding them in a poem is much easier than searching through a page of prose.
  • Whether it’s because of the condensed message, or the engaging lilt of a poem, or both, I believe comprehension is easier for struggling or beginning readers.
Undoubtedly, I could extend this list of reasons, but the purpose of this blog message is to describe how I use poetry to teach.  So, let me begin by saying that poetry appreciation is NOT my primary focus.  When presented with enthusiasm, students will naturally come to appreciate verse (unless, of course, it’s Beowulf!).  That said, I consider the anthologies we construct throughout the year to be a form of poetry appreciation.  My Title I students certainly prize their anthologies and routinely hound me for reassurance that they will, indeed, take their anthologies home at the end of the year to keep forever. 

STUDENT ANTHOLOGIES
We collect our poems in 3 ring binders, aka anthologies.  The binders are stored on a bookshelf when we are not actively using them.  This keeps them from being gobbled up by the messy desk gnomes and reduces the chaos in those desks.  It also sends a subtle message that poetry is special.

At least 1 poem per week is added to our anthologies.  Frequently, we add more, or at least some students do, as we use poetry in small group instruction.  The pride with which they fetch their anthologies convinces me that my students have a love for poetry.  Then again, it could be the thrill of using the 3 hole paper punch to prepare them for the notebooks.

In general, I photocopy the poems we put in the anthologies, rather than asking the students to copy them in their own handwriting.  This reflects a respect for the timelines I am expected to follow.  As a reading specialist, I simply don’t have the time to ask my students to copy a poem.  Moreover, some kiddos can’t read their own writing.


In a similar vein, much of the poetry has clip art on it.  Again, this expresses respect for teaching time.  Nevertheless, students still want to know when they can color the pictures.  (That, BTW, is a great activity when weather does not allow them to go out to play at lunch recess.)  Some poetry, however, is art free.  There are poems that just demand to be illustrated by the students.  Those illustrations can tell me about the accuracy of their comprehension. 

Collecting poetry in anthologies is just 1 component of poetry’s role in my classroom.   In my next post, I will describe using poetry in guided reading groups.



Resources you may like:

    

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

TPT BACK TO SCHOOL SALE!!


WRITING CENTER GRAFFITI WALL

It's about time, teachers,... that I admit I am a word collector. I {heart} words. I {heart} interesting phrases. Although I do not feel a need for an intervention, I will (gulp) admit that as a child I used to read the dictionary.  

This love affair with words has continued throughout my adult life and I strive to share my passion with my students. That is what led me to create a graffiti wall in my writing center.  

My graffiti wall is simply a bulletin board dedicated to posts of interesting words and phrases. Both the students and I can write words on strips of paper and post them on the board. At the beginning of the year, I demonstrate this by extracting words and phrases from our read-alouds to post on the board. Before long, my students are pointing out the words they find interesting. I invite them to copy them and post them on our graffiti wall. Students who "catch my fever" even bring phrases in from home.


I've forged an alliance with the computer teacher to further spur our graffiti. When he introduces fonts to my class, he uses some of our graffiti wall words. Using the SmartBoard, he gives our words "life" by applying cool fonts to them. You should hear the oo-s and ah-s! Naturally, there is a marked increase in graffiti after that lesson!  

As a corollary to our graffiti wall, I have a "tired words" board. We put overworked words to bed and list alternatives on the foot board. I use a blackline picture, allowing a student to color and cut it out before adding it to the  board.


This, too, gains momentum over time. Before the year is over, we have a dormitory of beds with tired words!  

Both of these boards have improved my students' writing markedly. They are easy to accomplish and the payoff is huge. Try it. You'll like it.






Sunday, August 4, 2019

COLLABORATIVE BOARDS for TEACHERS on PINTEREST





I have 15 boards that are open to new collaborators.  It's easy to join.  Just follow the board(s) and/or me.  Then send me an email with your Pinterest profile name and the board(s) you wish to join.  Easy peasey!





















itsabouttimeteachers@gmail.com




Saturday, August 3, 2019

DOLCH WORDS for Your WORD WALL

If you use a WORD WALL, I have a new product for you -- DOLCH WORDS PK-3 WORD WALL CARDS.  These cards include all 220 Dolch Words, as well as editable cards.

Each card shows the grade level in the lower left corner to help you organize the cards.  Each grade level also has a different border.

Dolch Word Cards are currently available in 3 color schemes; red & black, green & black, and blue & green.  More color combinations are coming!  If you have a request for trim colors, just ask!  I'll be happy to create for you.

DOLCH WORDS PK - 3 WORD WALL CARDS Red Black Panda Theme Editable




DOLCH WORDS PK - 3 WORD WALL CARDS Green Black Panda Theme Editable


DOLCH WORDS PK - 3 WORD WALL CARDS Blue Green Theme Editable

The existing products will coordinate with my panda & TWEET decor products.  However, no graphics are included on the cards.  Thus, they can work with any classroom that sports those colors.


Related products:

WELCOME BANNER WORD WALL Red Black Theme Classroom DecorBEHAVIOR CLIP CHART Panda Theme Classroom Red Black Classroom Management

WELCOME BANNER WORD WALL Green Panda Theme Classroom Decor

WELCOME BANNER and WORD WALL Blue Green Theme Classroom DecorWELCOME BANNER WORD WALL Classroom Decor TWEET Bird Theme

Friday, August 2, 2019

BACK TO SCHOOL POETRY UNIT



Start the new school year with these fun poems and the many POSSIBILITIES for using them in your classroom. From allaying 1st day jitters to establishing rules & procedures for the year, these poems will get your students off to a great start!


Included are 12 poems.  Each poem has a page of possibilities for using it in classroom instruction.  This unit is NOT just about poetry!  It includes suggestions for reading, writing, & math.  The reading range is broad, making it appropriate to primary and intermediate grades, and differentiation is a snap.  It is also CCSS aligned.


You may also like these back to school resources:

COMPOUND WORDS LITERACY CENTER School Theme Compound Words ActivitiesBACK TO SCHOOL ACTIVITY Sneakers Thematic Unit ELA Math HOTS Arts






Friday, July 12, 2019

FRIDAY FLASH FREEBIE!!!

FRIDAY FLASH FREEBIE!  


Fun phonics sort for your literacy center!  Bat Blends is a perfect extension activity for a Stellaluna unit.

I'm offering this product as a freebie because I'm looking for feedback on it.  If you download it, please take a minute to leave a rating on TpT.  TYIA!

Related products you may like: