Poetry in the Third Grade Classroom - 4 Quick Tips

Happy Poetry Month!

While we do poetry all year long, April is a great time to really highlight this genre.

Here are a few tips for incorporating more poetry into your daily routine.

1.

Check out this introductory lesson on Learn Zillion.
This quick video introduces learners to "What Makes a Poem a Poem".
It touches on the vocabulary of line, stanza, rhyme, and title.

2.

Try any of the interactive poem tutorials on the ReadWriteThink website.

This site provides a wide variety of poetry formats to easily access.

Here is what the acrostic poem page looks like:

There are easy to use interactive templates for acrostic, diamante, haiku, shape poems, and much more!

I would suggest sending the link to your students through Google Classroom, and then have them try out the tutorials. 

Or, create a QR code of the website's URL, and post in your room if you have iPads.

3.

Scour your school's library for books by Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, and Bruce Lansky.

There are many books by these famous poets, and they are hilarious - kids love them!

You might want to check out Shel Silverstein's website, or Jack Prelutsky's website, too.

This is one my favorite poetry books  - it will have your kids ROFL!

4.

Check out the resources in my School Poetry Kit.

You will find original poems, with reflection questions for each poem.

This kit includes simple examples of a cinquain, limerick, haiku, acrostic, and couplet poems.

Below you can see an example of the haiku poem and follow-up pages.

 Students visualize and draw the poem.

 

Discussion questions are included for each poem.

Also included are templates for students to write their own poems, as well as a banner!

This kit is on sale for the month of April!  Click here to take a look!

Five For Friday - Stone Fox, Black History Month and More

Happy Weekend!  It's Five For Friday time!

Here's a look at five events from my teacher life this past week.

We started Stone Fox as a read aloud.  I LOVE this book, and so do my students.

To invoke curiosity about this book before we begin reading I put a potato, a dog collar, and a tax bill in my classroom mystery box.  I pull out each item and explain that each one is somehow important to the story.

On to number two!

I'm part of a teacher book club, and this was the book we read this past month.

I'll admit that it was hard to read, but it really got me thinking.

The author spent time living in two separate poverty-ridden areas in Milwaukee.

We had a great discussion, and all agreed there are no easy answers for solving the problem of housing in low-income areas.

We do a poem a week, and this is our poem from last week.

I created a template of the poem for students to revise, putting their own spin on the concept.

I loved their ideas.

We just don't get to do enough poetry!

I have ten iPads in my classroom, although obtained through grants.

Recently, the screen on one of our oldest iPads shattered. 

I heard about a match offer on Donors Choose from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The crux behind the match offer is that the project must support student/parent communication.

We use the Seesaw Learning Journal app to communicate with parents throughout the school day, so it seemed like a no-brainer to write the project with this idea in mind.

The wonderful parents and grandparents of my students funded this project in

LESS THAN 24 HOURS!

We are so lucky to have such supportive families. 3>

Black History Month has begun, and we will soon tackle some research about Famous Black Americans and their contributions.

My students love the projects within this packet.

There are guidelines for working through the projects, as well as rubrics for scoring.

Take a look at this product here.

Below, you can see one of the projects included in this packet.

The product also includes a colorful display banner!

If you'd like to use the poem by Eloise Greenfield to begin your study of Black History Month, 

you can find it here.

Be sure to check out all the posts on Doodle Bugs Teaching!

Five For Friday - Snow Science Experiment and More

Hi Friends!

Here is this week's update.

We are wrapping up our unit on Simple Machines, and one of the assessments I used was on Google Doc.

I created a Google doc that included a paragraph (not shown) that the students had to edit for missing periods. Then they had to use that paragraph as a model to write a new paragraph about the wedge (an axe) shown in the picture.  I shared the document with the students through Drive, and they made a copy, worked on the paragraphs, and then saved to their Drive.

I also asked them to share it back with me.

Google Drive provides an easy way to view completed work!  No papers to mess with!

I do a weekly poem, and this one was about the season of Winter.

We rewrote the poem, choosing a new topic.

Some students wrote about sports, others chose books, and this girl wrote about friends!

Our week started out with sub zero temperatures.

Here's my love bug trying to stay warm cuddled in a blanket!

As I write this I am avoiding writing report cards.

They are due Monday.

Thanks to Ryan for making the process a bit more tolerable.

Are you one of those people getting pummeled with snow this weekend?

Here's something fun to do with all that snow when you return to school.

This results collected on this tally chart are probably no surprise to those that work with young students.

 After viewing the competed tally chart, my students were instructed to go outside and fill a 100 mL beaker with snow from anywhere on the school grounds.

They worked in groups of three on this, and some wanted to find the (what they thought to be)
cleanest snow on the property.

 We then placed the snow on a coffee filter that sat atop a screen over a plastic container.

The papers noted group members' names and where they found their snow.

 After letting the snow melt overnight, the students came back to observe the remains on their coffee filters

YUCK!

Students recorded observations on a tri-fold sheet.

This fun activity, which leads to lots of great discussion, can be found in my TpT store for only $2.00.

Head on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching for more Five For Friday updates!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Gratitude in the Little Apple

I am sending out big thanks to two blogger friends today.  First, I want to thank Kim from Grade One Doodle Bugs.  I was able to get items from her TPT store as part of the giveaway I won earlier in the week. I selected her Poetry Writing Kit and Comprehension Pack, and look forward to using them to enhance my study of poetry this coming year.  Click on her button to check out her site:

Next, thanks to Mrs. Goodwin in I Live 2 Learn I Love 2 Grow for choosing to honor me with the Versatile Blogger Award!  It made my day for her to recognize my little blog.

Here are the requirements for accepting this award:

Versatile Blogger Award:
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
2. Include a link to their site.
3. Include the award image in your post.
4. Give 7 random facts about yourself.
5. Nominate 5-10 other bloggers, include their link, and let them know.

Seven Random Facts About Me

1. I love to golf but am no Annika Sorenstam.

2. I have an adorable 7 pound dog named Berkeley.

3. I grew up living next door to my grandparents.  My grandmother, who was a teacher, is my hero.

4. I have sung on Good Morning America.  It was Elvis week, and they were looking for someone to sing an Elvis song.  I started mouthing the words to "Don't Be Cruel" just to see if I could remember it, and got picked.  After singing, Diane Sawyer said something about me being an entrant on American Idol, but my singing career was over after this gig. 

5. I am teaching third grade this coming school year, but have taught everything from Kindergarten to College (oops - luckily no middle school!)

6. I think I'm getting carpal tunnel from blog stalking.

7. Tomorrow I will be attending the Mickelson ExxonMobil Math and Science Teachers Academy in Jersey City, NJ, with 200 other teachers from around the country.  I am SO EXCITED!  I am one of two teachers selected from Wisconsin, and am absolutely honored and thrilled to be part of this extraordinary experience.  Find out more about it, and how to apply here!


Now for the blogs I am nominating for this award.  They all inspire me!

     Around the Kampfire
     Fancy Free in Fourth
     Kathys Coordinated Class
     Mrs. A's Room
     Fourth and Ten