Back to School Poems: Setting Up a Poetry Journal

I got this super cute mug from one of my students at the end of the year. It sums up how I have been feeling lately. I am celebrating the fact that it is summer and am enjoying all that this season has to offer. 

We just returned home from this beautiful place. 

We had lovely weather and took gorgeous sunrise walks on the beach. 

Now that I am back, I am focusing some of my free time on planning a bit for next year. 

One of my projects involves writing poems and follow up activities for the poetry journal. 

I finished up a Back to School Set to begin our year with. 

My students cut and glue the poem on one side of a journal page and then illustrate their "Mind Movie" or visualization on the other side. 

Another option would be to have students complete and glue the follow up on the other side. 

This poem has to do with recess. I feel the need to conserve time and make math connections whenever I can. Since we also begin the year with our graphing unit, I will have my students work on surveying classmates to find out their favorite recess activities and then they will construct a graph to report their results. 

I love it when I can connect reading and math. 

Another poem that I love using is "Open Up a Book". I use it to introduce the types or genres of books we will be reading in third grade. Each stanza of the poem relates to a different genre. 

Afterwards, students can survey friends to find out what kinds of books they like to read. 

This time, they will create a bar graph to share the data. 

I like using "Third Grade Pro" to begin our year. This one gives great advice on how to have a great third grade year.  We will follow up this one with a "Back to School" problem solving practice. 

These poems and math activities, along with others,  are included in "A Pack of Poems" bundle in my TPT Store. Click the link below to check it out. 

 https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Poetry-Journal-Back-to-School-Poems-and-Language-Arts-Pages-2606778

I will be working on a Fall set next. Are there other poems you would be interested in?
Please let me know if you would like me to share math or science poems next.
You can comment below or email me at youngdor8@gmail.com