This Month's Theme - Poetry!

As most of you know, students in the 1^st/2^nd grade maintain a poetry anthology. Way back in September, I handed out notebooks containing a poem for each week of the school year. Each Friday, we take turns reading these poems aloud. Children decide whether they want to read the poem alone or in chorus with the other students. Some children like to try to memorize their favorites. We then brainstorm how best to illustrate the poem and use a colored pencils and/or markers to do so.

This month, we will expand upon what we’ve already learned as March is dedicated to poetry. My greatest goal for this month is for students to feel like poets. We will read a variety of poetry and develop further appreciation and enjoyment of poems. I don’t believe students should be limited to reading poetry aimed at children (although we will do read plenty of those poems, too), but should be exposed to classic poems written for all ages. Great poets and their works will be examined, especially for poetic devices and figurative language. Great poetry will provide patterns and styles for us to imitate and explore.

We will learn to write a variety of poems, including haiku, acrostic, and personification poems. We will read several examples of each poem and study them prior to creating our own. Children will get important practice of their brainstorming and organizing skills before writing, and proofreading and editing skills after writing. All finished pieces will go into making a classroom poetry book.

I will be posting some of the pieces here  - so continue to watch this space!

Keep A Poem In Your Pocket

By Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

Keep a poem in your pocket
And a picture in your head
And you’ll never feel lonely
At night when you’re in bed.

The little poem will sing to you
The little picture bring to you
A dozen dreams to dance to you
At night when you’re in bed.

So - -
Keep a picture in your pocket
And a poem in your head
And you’ll never feel lonely
At night when you’re in bed.