Workshop Wednesday: Easy Resources for Teaching Students to Write Poetry

I am linking up with Jivey's Workshop Wednesday for Writing Poetry.

One of my favorite resources for teaching writing poetry I bought several years ago.  It is this Poetry Writing Handbook for Grades 4-6.  It has examples of lots of different kinds of poems with graphic organizers to help them plan and publishing paper to write the different types of poems.

I also have this Easy Teach Poetry Unit from Mr. Hughes that I got in Educents' Grades 6-8 bundle over the summer. This has similar easy examples and forms to teach different types of poems.

What I like about both of these resources is that they are versatile.  You could easily incorporate any of these types of poems into another topic.  You could write them about novels, animals, Science topics, etc.

I also have Laura Candler's Writing Powerful Poetry.  This is a great resource to really get your kids to work on free verse poetry, creating imagery, and really thinking about creating meaning in poems.

I had decided that for the rest of the year we were going to a unit on surveying the different genres followed by a novel unit based on their genre interests, as well as cover some poetry and review over nonfiction text structures.  I asked my students today if they would rather do a couple weeks of poetry and then a couples weeks of text structure, or if they would rather do like one poetry type and one text structure each week over a longer period.  They decided they liked the idea of doing one text structure type and one poetry type each week.  We will pair this with them having longer to read their novels as well.  I will have them read the entire novel, and then we will discuss the novels and do some projects when they finish the novels.  This way they can read at different paces without feeling like they have to slow down, but we can also squeeze in the text structure and poetry while they read their novels independently.

I am thinking about tying in the nonfiction text structures and poetry together by having them make an autobiographical anthology.  We are working on personal narratives now, so those could be included. Then, their different poems they write could be about their lives, family, and friends.  They also could choose different aspects of their lives to write problem-solution, cause-effect, compare-contrast, etc. paragraphs.  I think it could make a fun project to send home at the end of the year with a great way to review over a lot of things but also encourage some self-reflection.

Mentor Text for Metaphor: Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge

I am linking up with Collaboration Cuties' Mentor Text Linky.

April is National Poetry Month, so I love incorporating poetry and figurative language.  We just started a Mystery Unit, so I may push more of our poetry for May or the end of April.  (We did some poetry in February and March.) My favorite site for Mentor Text lessons is www.writingfix.com. All of their lessons are fabulous and can be used to incorporate reading strategies as well.

One of the lessons from this site I have enjoyed most was for metaphors. Click to pull up the lesson here. The lesson uses the mentor text Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox. 

This book really lends itself to not just discussion of metaphor, but the idea of extended metaphor. The story is very sweet and would also be great for discussing theme. After reading the book, students write a four metaphor poem.  To accompany this book I would also have my students read the poem "Hope" by Emily Dickinson.  It would flow well with the topic of extended metaphor.

I am also going to link up with Sabra at Teaching with a Touch of Twang for her Monthly Market linky that focuses on Poetry.

What is your favorite Writing Fix lesson or poetry mentor text?

I also am trying to get back to blogging at my personal blog "Balancing the Backpack" as I work toward better balance spiritually, mentally, and physically.  I will be focusing a lot on what exercises I am doing, what I am eating, and what I am thankful for. Stop by if you also are working on balance. :)

World Poetry Day and Point of View

One of the things I love most about teaching is the way kids surprise you.  They surprise you with their honesty, their clarity, and their over-simplicity. I have a couple friends with young kids whose one-liners are the highlight of my Facebook newsfeed. Kids see the world so black and white and sometimes have the hardest time seeing that so much of the world is gray.  We see the world through our own eyes and through the lens of our experiences.

This is one of the things I love most about teaching history.  I love helping kids develop a deeper understanding of how our experiences affect the way we understand circumstances and events.  Almost every topic you discuss in History comes down to the idea of point-of-view, which is why it is such a vital concept for students to grasp.  I love discussing point of view when teaching reading or writing.  (My ultimate goal as an educator is to create History curriculum for elementary students that they can relate to and that helps them build the conceptual foundations they need to be successful in later grades.)

Next week I look forward to using my March Poetry Practice with my students and continuing poetry into the month of April for Poetry month. Thursday, March 21st is World Poetry Day.  This is a fabulous way to introduce poetry as you approach the month of April.  It is also a fabulous way to incorporate discussions of point of view.  You can discuss how an author's country, language, and experiences would affect the way they write poetry and the topics they choose.  You can discuss how different people interpret a poem, and why they might view them differently. How does our world view affect the way we read texts and see the world?

Here are some ideas for World Poetry Day from Read Write Think. One lesson idea for World Poetry Day is to have your students read two different English translations of a poem and discuss differences.  If you have students who speak multiple languages, you can even bring in a poem in a language they can read.  Have them look at the difference between the English version and the original version. You can go to www.poetryfoundation.org and select poems by region to find some translated poems. Here are some poems that have been translated through a Poetry Translation Workshop.

For writing poetry, you could have everyone write a poem on the same topic and discuss the differences and similarities in their poems.  (This also ties to Common Core because students are supposed to be comparing and contrasting texts with similar themes or from different cultures.)

I was thinking earlier about some fun hand-on activities for thinking about point of view:

• Have everyone bring sunglasses and then switch with someone.  You could discuss how you might see the difference with someone else's "eyes." 
• You could do the same by having them switching shoes. What is it like to "walk in someone else's shoes?"
• Bring disposable cameras or a digital camera.  Have them take pictures and then write a poem about a picture they took or someone else took.  This gets them thinking about seeing the world "through a lens."
• Bring old pictures, paintings, postcards,etc. and have them write a poem about the picture or from the point of view of a person or object in the picture.

Using hands on ideas like these will get your students thinking more metaphorically or visually, which helps them think about poetry.  I love reading poems and having students discuss and draw what they visualize.  Younger students are often more creative and less inhibited than older students and adults.  They are not so molded to fit in a box yet, so they often surprise you with their creativity and metaphoric insight. Poetry is one of my favorite things to teach with students when you make it fun, creative, and challenging.

Here are some World Poetry Day resources I found on Pinterest as well:

Source: lookingglassreview.blogspot.com via April on Pinterest

Source: tes.co.uk via April on Pinterest

Source: examiner.com via April on Pinterest

Source: classroomfreebiestoo.com via April on Pinterest

Source: tes.co.uk via April on Pinterest

I think the book Every Day's a Dog's Day sounds like the perfect way to introduce this idea of discussing point of view with poetry.  I intend to try and pick up the book at the library tomorrow.  Another fun way to introduce World Poetry Day or your poetry unit is through reading the poem "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins.  How do you teach poetry and point of view?

Monthly Poetry Practice for Common Core

I have decided I want my students to start essentially having a poem of the week that we will analyze, and they will use for writing inspiration.  We are going to analyze the poems in small-groups, more as a guided reading text so that I can encourage more students to be actively engaged and discuss. I have created my first monthly poetry practice set for March.  It has a March poetry word wall and activities for 4 poems.

"The Rainbow" by Charlotte Richardson
"The Echoing Green" by William Blake (a Common Core Grade 4-5 Exemplar Text)
"Fireflies in the Garden" by Robert Frost
"Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room" by William Carlos Williams

You can get a copy at my store here if you are interested.  Poetry is a fabulous way to get your students to practice metaphoric thinking, higher-order thinking, and using their imagination.

I am off to Florida for 4 days to visit my grandparents.  When I get back, I am finally going to set up two giveaways for you.  One will be a 500 follower giveaway and one will be for the 1 year anniversary of my blog.  I hope you have a fabulous week!

Writing Inspiration for Thanksgiving and Poetry

I have been a little absent the last few days.  We finished up school on Friday.  The last day before a break is always chaotic.  I thought I would magically get packed Friday night, pick up some stuff from the store for when I got back, clean my house, and you know...write some posts to schedule for my break.  I flew out Saturday morning to  Vegas. (I am here visiting with my mom and brother.  My mom lives in Utah, and I live in Texas.  We decided to meet up in Vegas for a few days.) I did pack and the house got vacuumed.  That's all.  So the laptop came with me, and I sit here in the Starbucks to give a brief post.

If you need some other last minute Thanksgiving ideas (not that you haven't seen a million of them by now).  If you are like me though, great ideas get tagged in your google reader for next year.  Here are some fun things we did last week related to Thanksgiving. 

We read the poem "Thanksgiving" by Edgar Albert Guest.  It is a great poem for this time of year and discussing mood and theme.  It is a relatively simple poem.  We read through the poem and underlined unfamilar words.  Then we discussed what the words might mean using context clues.  Then we labeled each stanza with the main idea of the stanza.  We followed up by using a graphic organizer I had created called "Poetry Accessories" to analyze the poem. We looked at things like visualization, sound, comparisons, mood, author's purpose, and message. It is from my Analyzing Poetry pack. My students then had to write a paragraph to show their analysis of the poem using the elements of the graphic organizer.  We completed these tasks together.  Going forward I am going to analyze our weekly poems in small groups as more of a guided reading lesson.  I think they will get more out of it in small groups.  Poetry is hard, but it really can be fun with elementary and middle school students to see them open up to thinking more metaphorically. I would like to follow up with writing more poetry.

I am trying to get back to my weekly writing inspiration series on my blog and with my students.  Each week I want to analyze a poem, quote, and picture.  Then, they use each of those items to inspire their writing.

For our quote last week, we used the following quote:

Source: heartbeatoz.tumblr.com via April on Pinterest

We used a form I had created to analyze the quote. They had to copy the quote down, write what they thought it meant, write how the quote made them feel, and write any connections they made to the quote. You can get a copy here.  After analyzing the poem and quote, they use the ideas from them to inspire their own writing.  They can write essays, poems, personal narratives, creative stories - all during their journal writing time.  I really like how our journal writing is going.  I am still struggling to figure out how often I want to publish pieces and really edit.  I have been using a lot of computer resources lately, so I am thinking we will save these more for publishing.  I am trying a lot of free technology resources right now, so they can learn how to use them.  Over time, they will have more choice and then I can conference more with them to work on the editing and revising.  Sometimes, technology is hard because you are having to teach the content as well as the technology.

We did a lot of letter writing last week.  On Friday, we read You Wouldn't Want to Sail on the Mayflower.  Then, we watched the Charlie Brown version of the Mayflower voyage on the "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" DVD. They followed it up by writing a letter from the point of view of a pilgrim describing their journey and the first winter.  The funny thing is that my students are doing fabulous with RAFT writing tasks where they write from another point of view, but really struggle with a basic summary.  So, I am thinking our next approach will be to write a summary from the point of view of a book character or person in history or something.  Not sure.  How is your writing workshop going?  Okay...back to Vegas.  (I know this post was not that brief. Mine rarely are. Hopefully, you don't mind too much.  If I am going to share an idea, I feel the need to explain it).

Weekly Inspiration: Stress and Relaxation

I am excited about my giveaway and my new followers. For those of you that are new, I thought I would summarize one of weekly posting traditions.  Each week (usually on Monday), I post my "Weekly Inspiration."  This was something I did in classroom.  I had a Weekly Inspiration wall where each week I posted a picture, poem, and quote.  We would discuss these and the students used them as inspiration for their writing.  (You can see where I posted my "Weekly Inspiration" in the corner.)

I did this to foster creativity and critical thinking.  I believe it is important for students to be able to respond to different sources of inspiration and not just always use writing prompts or a summary of their day. We used the inspiration for our daily journal writing.  We still also completed larger writing projects throughout the year.  Here was my original post on my Weekly Writing Inspiration.

Here on my blog I have continued the tradition.  Each week I post a quote, a picture, and a poem (often around a central theme) I hope some of you will use in your classrooms.  I offer different things you could discuss with your class for each one.  Part of the reason I also feel passionate about my weekly writing inspiration is that I think it is important for students to be exposed to poetry.  I think often we have students write poetry, but do not spend enough time reading poetry.  Part of the difficulty is finding poems that are appropriate for children.  Poetry is a wonderful tool to teach imagery, visualization, fluency, and figurative language.  One of my goals is to start making more handouts, activities, and questions to accompany the poems I share each week.

For this week since many of you are out of school or finishing up, I chose the theme of stress and relaxation.  Make sure you take some time to take a deep breath and unwind before conquering all those summer projects.  I have been keeping a gratitude journal lately (most of the time) and it has really helped me let go of so much stress.  (For tips on joy and gratitude, I follow Ann Voskamp's blog: www.aholyexperience.com).

Weekly Inspiration: Stress and Relaxation

Quote: I found this little collection of quotes on stress and relaxation and liked them all, so I have decided to share all of them.  You can download a copy here.

Poem: "I Left My Head" by Lillian Moore
This is a super cute poem.  I would definitely have my students draw what they visualize with this poem.  It could definitely prompt some great discussion on what the poet meant "when she left her head."  When have we all felt this way?  (FYI: I provide links to the poems, but don't copy the text because I don't want to violate copyright laws.)

Picture: I love the idea of just going for a bike ride and enjoying the day and the sunshine.  Just let go, breathe, and enjoy. (Source: Pinterest)

For the rest of the summer, I may not exactly post the writing inspiration for students each week.  I might try to focus on sharing inspiration for teachers.  I will still probably include some quotes and pictures, but I want to share some great ideas and inspiration for planning for next year.

I think another great source of inspiration this summer is going to be the "Monday Made It" linkies at 4th Grade Frolics.  Check it out for some great ideas!  I know I am looking forward to scoping them all out.

Don't forget about my giveaway and my linky party for teaching with themes.  I really would love to hear how others are using themes in their classrooms.

Laughter as Inspiration and Read Alouds

Weekly Writing Inspiration: Laughter

For the weekly writing inspiration this week, I wanted to focus on laughter and happy thoughts.  I have been keeping my own gratitude list and it has been amazing.  I wrote a post about how my mom gifted me with the joy of laughter at my personal blog for Mother's Day.

To continue the theme, Laura Candler had a happy thoughts journal post recently.  Check it out.  I think using gratitude journals in the classroom would be awesome!  Why not make an end of the year list of all the things to be thankful for?

Poem:  "The Teachers Jumped Out of the Windows" by Ken Nesbitt

This is a cute poem that is sure to get your students laughing.  It has about how all of the staff ran out of the school on the last day of school.  This might spark some interesting class discussion.  It might even be fun to write your own funny class poem about how the teachers at your school will act on the last day.

Quote:  "A good laugh is sunshine in the house."

Click on the quote for a printable copy of the quote.

Picture: Laughter at the Beach

Well, I finally am branching out and trying to use Pinterest.  I found this picture on Pinterest and thought it was wildly appropriate for the topic of laughter and summer both.  Have your students consider why is the baby dressed as a shark.  What is making him laugh?  What might the baby be seeing?  How does this picture make the students feel?

Source of the picture

All Time Favorite Read Alouds

I am linking up with Miss Nelson to mention my all time favorite read alouds. I never realized how much older students still love being read to until my 3rd year of teaching. 

It makes sense, though; I firmly believe my love of reading was fostered by my dad reading to me and my grandmother mailing me books.  My mom wouldn't touch a book, but she could drop me off at B Dalton at the mall for hours and I was good to go!

My Favorite Read Alouds:

1) Junkyard Wonders by Patricia Polacco

I love this story.  I can't get through it without tearing up, though.

2) No Talking by Andrew Clements

Such a great story.  It is great for when the boys and girls aren't getting along.

3)  Loser by Jerry Spinelli

Zinkoff is one of the best characters I have ever met!

4) Sideways Stories from Wayside School

Check out my post on fun activities to go with this book.

Pictures of the books from Pinterest.

Laughs and blessings,

Writing Inspiration - Gratitude and Spring

This week I decided that the theme for the writing inspiration should be gratitude.  Thanksgiving is long gone, and sometimes we forget to stop and think of reasons to be thankful.  I have been keeping a list of things I am thankful for the last two months, and it has really changed my attitude.  I was actually thinking that this would be fun activity with students.  (Especially, this time of year).  You could have them keep a gratitude journal for a week, write poems about thanks, write an ABC book of thanks, focus on things they are thankful for about the school year, or make a giant list as a class.  I made some Spring themed graphic organizers on thanks to get them thinking:

Best Buds: Write about why you are thankful for your friends.

Drops of thanks:  Count your thanks on raindrops.

Sunshine smiles at school:  Find reasons to smile at school.

Now this week's writing inspiration:

Quote:
 

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder

Poem: "April Rain Song" by Langston Hughes

Since April is half-way over and I was thinking about counting drops of thanks, this poem seemed appropriate.  This poem would be a great chance to talk about personification.  What types of human actions does Hughes give to rain?  Consider the imagery and the tone of the poem.  We often think of rain as dark and gloomy, but does this poem seem dark?

You can play a little video where Langston Hughes is reading the poem aloud.

Picture: I am including a picture I took when I was out driving one night right before a big rain storm.  (The picture is a little blurry.)  Even though it was very dark, I thought the sky was beautiful.  I would discuss with my students how nature even when dark and fierce can be beautiful.

Have a wonderful week full of gratitude and inspiration!

Writing Inspiration - Friendship

I thought that this week friendship would be a good topic for writing inspiration.  As we get closer to the end of the year, sometimes kids and even us as adults need reminders of the value of friendship and treating each other well. 

Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The only way to have a friend is to be one."

This quote would be a great way to prompt a conversation on the importance of friendship, how we like to be treated as a friend, and how we can be a better friend.  I would probably make a 2-column chart as a class with an anchor chart and individual ones. 

Picture on Friendship
Here is a picture from my calendar. I liked this picture and saying on friendship. I would ask students to consider how friendship is like a garden.  This would be a great opportunity to review simile.
You could have students write their own similes comparing friendship to something.  You could have them illustrate the idea of friendship as a garden.

Poem by Ken Nesbitt: "I taught my cat to clean my room."
I liked this poem because it is funny, but also it would be an entertaining way to discuss how animals can also be our friend.  It could also lead to a discussion on how we as friends can do things for each other.

If you are looking for resources to help your students analyze poetry, check out my packet at my TpT store on analyzing poetry.

National Poetry Month - Analyzing Poetry

April is National Poetry Month, so I thought I would share some good resources on poetry.

Online Resources

Here are some great resources from Scholastic for National Poetry Month: http://teacher.scholastic.com/poetry/

Here are some Poetry Resources from Read Write Think: 

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/april-national-poetry-month-20478.html

Poetry 180 is for highschool students, but it does have some great poems.

I remember celebrating National Poetry Month as a kid and during the month of April we would write different types of poems. I always really enjoyed writing poetry. In fact, I wrote lots of poetry as a kid. I found it to be an authentic way to express my emotions. Somewhere along the way I stopped writing unless it was for an assignment or necessary. One of my goals this month is to try and open myself to writing more poetry again. I would challenge you to try and do the same.

As you ask your students to write, try to open yourself to the same possibilities. Sharing and modeling writing is powerful. Sharing what you are reading helps your students see that you read just like you ask them to read.

Students need opportunities to write and read poetry.  Check out your Juvenile Nonfiction section at the library.  You can find lots of great books on poetry.

Here are some taskcards I created to use for analyzing poetry and incorporating grammar.

Check out my resources for analyzing poetry. Included is a Tic-tac-toe menu, graphic organizer, poster, and taskcards.