Poetry Station

Yikes! The holiday break is going by quickly! I'm starting to think about plans for next week. I'm planning for Lit Stations and coming up with some poetry to use. So I have some to share and I think I'll take this opportunity to answer some questions I've neglected to respond to. I'm no expert at any of it but here is what I do if you are interested.

How often do you do poetry? I introduce a poem about once a week. I usually do it as "Guess the Covered Word" (see previous post) which is a great way to review using context clues. Then students all get a copy which they glue into their journal. We chorally read it several times and perhaps add words from this poem in the Words to Know section of their reading journal. Sometimes we do: Actors and Reciters. This is where half the class reads it and the other half acts it out silently. Then we switch roles. My goal is to have them read it MULTIPLE times to develop that fluency. Kids just think it's fun and it allows them to get out of seats for a bit and be dramatic! Think of multiple intelligences!

What do you teach from the poem? Lots! Sometimes my grammar lesson comes directly from a poem. I can teach contractions, prefixes, suffixes, even comprehension skills like making inferences, drawing conclusions, etc. It becomes my Shared Reading time!

Where do you get poems from? All over! But I really try to have them fit what I'm teaching and many times they are content area specific. Sometimes I just google for a poem subject and usually have success.

What do kids do at the station? After we have used the poem in the whole group time it is ready for station work. When kids go to that station, they read the poem at least three times. Once with their partner, once with the earphones, and once by themselves. I have those amplifier microphones there too if they want those and can handle it! Then they illustrate their poem for meaning...I'm very picky about this part. It needs to be quality work and they are given a score for their illustration (1-5). The illustration shows meaning. They have learned that Mrs. Young loves captions and labels and often add those to their drawings. Finally they do the follow up sheet. They then do the follow up and do the search and finds etc. I also sneak some testing type questions in here. Plus it forces them to go back and reread again!
I also have other poetry books there so they can read more or collect some more for their poetry journal.

Here are two poems I will use next: The New Year's Poem fits so nicely with our study of fantasy/realism. We will add the words: distant and wondrous to our Words to Know section.

New Years Day Poem
Kids can relate to this one....text to self connections! This winter poem is great for teaching the -er suffix
Poem Winter Labels for the Poetry Journal if interested (:









Poetry Journal
Do you use poetry in your class? I LOVE LOVE LOVE your comments and emails (even if I don't respond right away)!