poetry national month · 2014-05-05 · celebrate the world of poetry! poetry is a great medium to...

National

MonthPoetry

PENGUIN YOUNG READERS GROUP penguinclassroom.com @PenguinClass PenguinClassroom

Penguin’s Guideto Poetry in theClassroom

Lesson Starters for Poetry CollectionsAligned to Common Core State Standards

Grades K–5 Includes author studies on Marilyn Singer and Robert Paul

Weston


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Dear Educator:Poetry can range from the simple to the complex all within a single poem. It can be a way to memorize, engage, learn, and address complex social and emotional issues. The books of poems included in this brochure range from historic to contemporary, serious to silly, and include a number of award-winning new classics. In this brochure you will find a myriad of ways to use poetry from new and favorite poets to teach a wide range of lessons.

The lessons here, and poetry for children as a whole, can be used to fit the requirements of the Common Core State Standards in Reading for Literature, Language, Vocabulary Acquisition, Writing, and Speaking and Listening. The books of poetry included provide a starting point for using poetry to develop the skills and knowledge needed while engaging with learners at different levels.

Poetry can address issues local and global, and be a way to explore the near and far, from the American history of The Earth Under Sky Bears Feet to the Japanese Haiku in One Leaf Rides the Wind. Poetry can range from the daily life of school like in Kindergarten, Here I Come to the magic of fairytales in Each Peach Pear Plum and Mirror Mirror.

This brochure contains sample lessons using specific volumes of poetry for children, but each includes a selection of other books that address the same or similar subjects. The suggested activities showcase the variety of ways poetry can be used to teach and to reach a range of learners with different interests and skills. We hope that just as with poetry, there is something here for every classroom and learner.

Celebrate the World of Poetry!Poetry is a great medium to tell the story of your city, country, or culture, or to learn about backgrounds and places that are

different from your own.

Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry that is three lines long and follows a syllable pattern of 5, 7, 5. Typically the subject of the

poem has to do with nature.

Share: Read One Leaf Rides the Wind by Celeste Davidson Mannis and Susan Kathleen Hartung.

Make sure to read the notes provided by the author that explain each poem’s topic and explore

the Japanese culture.

Activity: Brainstorm with a partner something that is special about your school, city, or state. Use the

thinking map to outline your ideas.

Now use your ideas to write a haiku poem following the pattern:

(5 syllables)

(7 syllables)

(5 syllables)

Technology integration: Use bubbl.us or mindomo.com to create the thinking map.

Extension: Interview a family member about something that is special about your family traditions. Write a haiku celebrating your

family to share with the class.

Correlates to Common Core Standards: Reading Standards for Literature 3.10, 4.10, and 5.10

Other poetry books that celebrate multiculturalism:

Our Place

Activities you could do there: Words that describe your place:

Reasons it’s unique:

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Poetry in School There are a variety of poems and poetry collections that tell the story of school. Use the poems below to reinforce school rules

and expectations or to just celebrate everyday school life!

School Rules and ProceduresShare: Read aloud the poem “Recess Rules” from the book Lunch Money and Other Poems about School

at the beginning of school.

Activity: Have students brainstorm rules for recess in their journal. Share the rules as a class and have

students choose five rules they think are important to follow at recess. Post the rules in the classroom so

students can remember throughout the year the rules they developed.

Correlates to Common Core Standards: Writing Text Types and Purposes 2.2, 3.2, 4.2, and 5.2.

Share: Read the poem “Decisions” from the book Lunch Money and Other Poems about School before teaching students the

procedures for making a lunch choice and buying a lunch in the cafeteria. To read the poem, divide the students into three

groups. Project the poem using a document camera or write it on chart paper. Each group will choral read one stanza of the

poem.

Activity: After reading the poem, walk students through the process of making a lunch choice. After lunch, have students write

in their journals about whether they enjoyed buying their lunch or whether they would like to bring their lunch like the poem

suggests.

Correlates to Common Core Standards: Writing Text Types and Purposes K.1, 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, and 5.1.

School Fun!Share: Put students with partners. Have them visit gigglepoetry.com and click on “poetry theater.” The students should read

the two poems “How to Torture Your Teacher” and “How to Torture Your Students,” alternating parts.

Activity: After students have read the poems, they need to decide if their group would like to be a student or a teacher. Then they

write an additional scenario for how the teacher could torture the student or the student could torture the teacher. Once they

have their scenario written, they will visit Voki.com to create a student or teacher character. They will design their character’s

appearance and background, and then they will add text to allow the character to explain the method of torture! (Students could

also use xtranormal.com to create multiple characters.)

Correlates to Common Core Standards: Reading Standards for Literature 3.10, 4.10, and 5.10.

Other school poetry books:

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Singing and chanting rhymes and poems helps slow down language, so children can hear the sounds that make up words. Use these books to encourage participation with lots of songs, chants, and rhythmic text!

Parts: An activity for grades K-2

Before Reading: Have students share things that have parts and list their ideas on an interactive whiteboard or chart paper (ex: cars, people, toys).

Share: Read aloud the book Parts by Tedd Arnold to students. Allow students to interact with the book by touching their hair, coughing, and pretending to wiggle a loose tooth at appropriate times.

Activity: Have students get in groups of 3-4. Give each group one piece of white paper and a package of crayons. Each student will take a turn drawing a part that you call out. For example, student 1 will draw a head, student 2 will draw a nose, student 3 will draw a mouth, and so on until each group has completed a drawing. Then the students can display their group’s person with their individual parts in the library.

Correlates to Common Core Standards: Speaking and Listening Comprehension and Collaboration K.1, 1.1, and 2.1.

More Parts: An activity for grades 3-5Idiom- an expression with a figurative meaning Examples of Idioms: idiomsite.com.

Share: Read aloud More Parts by Tedd Arnold. Then re-read the book and have students identify and repeat the idiom on each page.

Activity: Have students create bumper stickers with phrases that would be considered idioms. They can also illustrate the literal meaning of the words like the book. Students may use the website above for suggestions of idioms.

Correlates with Common Core Standards: Language Standard Vocabulary Acquisition and Use 4.5b and 5.5b.

Technology integration: Use the license plates template on imagechef.com to create an interactive license plate that can be turned into a .jpg.

Other rhythmic poetry books: Giant Children, Clap Your Hands, Shout! Little Poems that Roar, Grasshopper Pie and Other Poems, Each Peach Pear Plum

Poetry is an excellent lens for looking at different subject areas, and there are lots of great poems that talk about science and nature!

Share: Read Silver Seeds by Paul Paolilli and Dan Brewer aloud at the end of a unit on plants. Discuss the use of acrostic poetry to describe the different objects in nature.

Activity: Students will plant bean plants and watch them grow, recording their observations in a science log. As their final project, they will create an acrostic about their plants that may include what they have learned about what plants need to grow, as well as observations they have made as they observed their plants.

Technology Integration: Allow students to use digital cameras to take pictures of their plants at different stages. These pictures will be printed and presented on a poster with the final acrostic poem.

Correlates to Common Core Standards: Reading Standards for Literature Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity 2.10, 3.10, 4.10, and 5.10. Writing Standards Text Types and Purposes 2.2, 3.2, 4.2, and 5.2.

Other Science Poetry books:


Silly, Singing, & Science Poems!

Author Study: Marilyn Singer Marilyn Singer is a beloved and prolific children’s book author, whom has an especially good knack for

writing poems and creating poetry collections. Her fairy tale poetry book Mirror Mirror and the follow-up

book, Follow Follow, are written in a creative poetic form that Singer has termed “reverso.”

Share: Read the poem “Mirror Mirror” in Marilyn Singer’s book Mirror Mirror. Discuss the different

perspectives and how reversing the words changes the mood and tone of the poem.

Activity: Try your hand at writing reverso poetry using two perspectives. One side should be from your

perspective and the other side should be that of a teacher or parent. Choose a familiar topic to write about,

such as homework or cleaning your room. First, write your perspective going down, and then try to reverse

the lines to make it sound like your teacher or parent. Start by doing only 3-4 lines, then play with the words

until you get what you want.

TITLE OF REVERSO Your perspective

An ADULT perspectiveYOUR perspective

Once you have your poem, try to draw an illustration similar to the ones created by Josee Masse in Mirror Mirror. On one

side, illustrate your view of the topic, and on the other illustrate how the adult views your topic.

Extension: Write a persuasive essay about your topic. Be sure to include valid points to support your opinion and defend your

position.

Correlates to Common Core Standards: Reading Standards for Literature Range of Reading and Level of Complexity

3.10, 4.10, and 5.10. Writing Standards Text Types and Purposes 3.1, 4.1, and 5.1.

Other titles by Marilyn Singer: Learn more about Marilyn Singer on her website: marilynsinger.net.

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Author Study: Robert Paul Weston Author Robert Paul Weston’s first book, Zorgamazoo, is a favorite of many classrooms and libraries, as

its fun verse and catchy rhyme is perfect for a read-aloud setting.

Share: Read aloud a few chapters from Zorgamazoo by Robert Paul Weston each day.

Activities: Chapters 1 and 2: After reading chapters 1 and 2 and meeting the zorgle, students should design their

own beastly creature. Re-read the description of the zorgle in the last two stanzas on page 20. Have

students design and color a creature and then write a short poem that describes their creature, using the

same AABB pattern that Weston uses in the book.

Chapters 4 and 5: Divide students into groups of 3-4. Give each of them one of the vocabulary words

below. They will write the word using colored pens or markers in a large creative font like those seen in the book and then work

together to create a short poem that describes what the word means. (See pages 62, 72, 72, and 74 for fun font ideas.)

Vocabulary words: bizarre, acrid, smoldering, inscription, renowned, bellowed, intricate, nary, befuddled.

Chapter 8: Have students visualize and draw the scene at the cottage that is described on page 117. Then have them write about

the inference that Katrina has made about what has happened and whether they agree with her, being sure to support their

conclusion with details from the story.

Chapters 12 and 13: After reading about the Graylians and their plot to steal Tedium Steam, have students design their own machine

for stealing Tedium Steam. Provide students with several items such as toilet paper rolls, tape, aluminum foil, popsicle sticks, etc.

Students will work in groups of 2-3 to design a machine that will steal the steam. Then they will present the machine to the class

explaining how it would be the most effective to help the Graylians steal Tedium Steam.

Chapter 15: Katrina’s escape plan includes chucking an ogre’s eyeball at a small, distant target. After reading the chapter,

throughout the day allow students to chucking a small ball at a target every time they answer a question correctly. When they hit

the target they can earn privileges determined by the teacher such as a chance to sit with a friend at lunch or a homework pass.

Chapters 17 and 18: Katrina figures out that Enchantium Steam proves to be a better fuel resource than Tedium Steam. Have

students research different types of fuel resources and decide what they believe is the best resource for producing energy and protecting

the environment. Have them write a persuasive paper to present their research and support their opinion.

End of the book: At the end of the book, Morty returns to the newspaper where he writes all of his stories in verse. After finishing the

book, have students work as a whole group to sum up their day in a few lines of verse. Do this for a week and then print it for students

to read their “week in verse” news report.

Correlates to Common Core Standards: Writing Standards Text Types and Purposes 3.1, 4.1, and 5.1.

Writing Standards Research to Build and Present Knowledge 3.7, 4.7, and 5.7. Speaking and Listening

Standards Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas 3.4, 4.4, and 5.4.

Also by Robert Paul Weston:


Penguin Celebrates Poetry


CELEBRATE POETRY MONTH TH IS APR IL!POETRY MONTH

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Poem Depotby Douglas Florian978-0-8037-4042-6$16.99 ($18.99 CAN)

A Poem Canby Douglas FlorianA Poem Canby Douglas FlorianA poem can sing!A poem can dance!

Across the

page a

poem can

prance!A poem can SHOUTA poem can sigh.A poem can pout.

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Penguin CelebratesPoetry!Penguin CelebratesPoetry!

Enjoy this Poem in Your Pocket.

Carry it around for a day and share it with people you talk to all day.

Put it in your pocket this April for Poem in Your Pocket Day, or

make any day a pocket poem day.


poetry national month · 2014-05-05 · celebrate the world of poetry! poetry is a great medium to...

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