Poetry Week

With the new Common Core there are so many standards we are responsible to teach. Luckily, I found a way to fit in poetry! Reading Literature standard RL.2.4 states that students will describe how words and phrases supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song. With the kids surrounding me on the carpet,  I started our week by reading poetry by Shel Silverstein, Ken Nesbitt, Eloise Greenfield, Jack Prelutsky, Roald Dahl, and many others.  For thirty minutes straight my students sat in anticipation of the next poem I would read. Some made them laugh, others made them wonder, and still others brought out emotions that I don't think my students knew the written word could bring out in them.

I am still completely shocked that my students sat for a half an hour! It was such a lesson in how much children want to learn when provided with something interesting or new.  We discussed how the written word has so much power.  The words one writes can make someone feel a certain way.  My students were so excited to start their own adventure in writing poems.

Brainpop Jr. has a great short video on poetry. It introduces a few important terms and types of poems.  The kids and I made a KWL chart and picked three types of poems to write this week. On Monday we wrote acrostic poems using our names, Tuesday we wrote shape poems and on Wednesday we wrote Haiku's. Throughout the week students could add to the KWL chart themselves.

The new standards put a lot of pressure on teachers and I felt as though I had started to lose a bit of that freedom in flexibility.  I had started to lose those teachable moments that take you away from your intended lesson only to fall into a better lesson because of student curiosity and interest.  Yesterday I had one of those moments when you sit back and realize that your students were enjoying learning.  They got so into their shape poems. They started to naturally group each other by image and helped each other complete their poems.  I heard children asking each other questions, complimenting each others' pictures and poems, and generally working in cooperative groups.  I stood back and just watched for a few minutes. This was one of those moments that reminded me why I became a teacher.

It was all about ice cream for these girls! They came out great. I will post a few soon.