"The "#1 Lunch Choice for School Kids" (from J. Patrick Lewis's A Burst of Firsts: Doers, Shakers, and Record Breakers) with its ISN'T and IS lists is a natural for students to use as a model for creating their own poems. You might begin by creating a poem with the whole class and then have students work in small groups to write poems about their "#1 Choice" for books, dinner or breakfast or snack, holiday, song, school subject, hobby, . . ."
"In Read a Rhyme, Write a Rhyme, by Jack Prelutsky, choose any of the topics, and read aloud one of the three poems. Discuss it with students, beginning with things they notice about it—interesting words, fascinating phrases, reactions such as funny or sad, format—wherever their impressions take them. Next read the poem aloud again, asking students to listen for what they like about it. You may want to chart their responses to have a record of their ideas. Repeat this process with the other two poems, comparing and contrasting discoveries. Then invite students to complete the 'poemstart' provided by Prelutsky, or invite students to write a poem of their own on the topic."
"Students can write their own poems based on Brian Cleary's book A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink: What Is a Noun? Explore with the class the rhyming format the author uses in this book. It might be helpful to create a template for those students who need scaffolding for this type of activity."
More Ideas to Try
You'll find specific suggestions for using poetry as mentor texts to inspire students to write original pieces of their own in
Writing Poetry Like Pros (ORC #1076). See especially the activities in Group 1 and Group 3.
Poem in Your Pocket Day. Participate in a nationwide celebration on April 14 by carrying a favorite poem in your pocket.
Encourage students to share their work by entering a
poetry contest or by reading their poetry and sharing it online. Try VoiceThread to record students' poems. See
examples of "Where I'm From" poems created by a fourth grade class.
Share information about Ohio's children's poets:
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Rimshots: Basketball Pix, Rolls, and Rhythms by Charles R. Smith, Jr. (Puffin, New York, 1999) |
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Sports Pages by Arnold Adoff (Lippincott, New York, 1986)
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Try these books for poems to read aloud:
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Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleishman (HarperCollins, New York, 1988) |
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Bing Bang Boing by Douglas Florian (Harcourt, San Diego, 1994) |
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Dinosaur Dinner (With a Slice of Alligator Pie) by Dennis Lee (Knopf, New York, 1997) |
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It's Raining Pigs & Noodles by Jack Prelutsky (Greenwillow Books, New York, 2000) |
Rely on these great poetry anthologies for classics and new favorites:
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I, Too, Sing America: Three Centuries of African American Poetry by Catherine Clinton (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, 1998) |
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Talking Like the Rain: A Read-to-Me Book of Poems compiled by X. J. Kennedy and Dorothy Kennedy (Little, Brown, Boston, 1992) |
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The Place My Words Are Looking For by Paul B. Janeczko (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1990) |
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Good Books, Good Times compiled by Lee Bennett Hopkins (HarperCollins, New York, 2000) |
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Families: Poems Celebrating the African American Experience by Dorothy S. Strickland and Michael R. Strickland (Boyds Mill Press, Honesdale, PA. 1996) |
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Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School by Georgia Heard (Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH, 1998). In this text, teachers will find practical, yet motivating, ideas for teaching the art of writing poetry.
Poems Please! Sharing Poetry with Children by David Booth and Bill Moore (Pembroke, Markham, ON, 2003, 2nd ed.). This comprehensive guide—complete with sample poems—offers teachers ideas to encourage students to write and experience poetry as they build language skills.
Poetry People: A Practical Guide to Children's Poets by Sylvia Vardell (Libraries Unlimited, Westport, CT, 2007). This poetry reference book provides a comprehensive introduction to more than 60 contemporary young people's poets.
Encourage students to share their favorite poems by creating video productions. There are two very good examples of students' versions on the Favorite Poem Project site: a student's recitation of Ernest Thayer's
"Casey at the Bat" and a student's recitation of
Theodore Roethke's "The Sloth."At
Tips for Teaching Poetry, you'll find tips for preparing to teach poetry, for reading and writing poetry, and much more.