Celebrate National Poetry Month with Free Resources and Poems.

April is National Poetry Month and a great time to get your students excited about poetry. I loved using poetry with my students. There are so many benefits to adding poetry to your classroom reading activities. Look at the poem below:

There are so many ways to use this for teaching many of the components of a balance literacy program. When students read aloud they develop expression, phrasing, and most of all fluency. Have you ever tried Echo reading? This a great way to get all your students to participate. First you read a line or stanza and then they read it. You can start by having students echo a line and then a stanza. Repeated reading helps develop fluency. This poem also helps to teach vocabulary. Look at the words blooming and waddling. Students can act out these words as they are reciting the poem. This poem describes the many signs of spring, perfect addition to a Spring Science Unit. How about comparing and contrasting what happens in spring to what happens in winter?  Depending on your grade level you could do a phonics lesson on the "ou" sound in ground and and "ow" as in town. What other phonics lessons can you think of? I always like to add a writing activity with my poems. Students can write about what they like most about spring. This poem is part of my revised and updated "Spring Poems" Unit . You can see sample pages of all the poems and literacy activities in this packet by clicking on the image below.

Here is a fun free Spring poem called "Ode to a Frog" that you can download by clicking on the image below.

Most of you know how much I love to write poems, chants, and plays and explore the different poetry forms and share them with you. Sometimes a poem just pops in my head when I go out for a walk and I have to rush home to write it down. It's not so easy for me to remember the whole poem as I just turned 67 a few months ago. Last year I put together an April Showers Poetry Unit "April Showers" and then 5 more poems about Rain. I had so much fun that I decided to put them in a new product called, "A Shower of Rain Poems."  Just click on the image below to see sample pages of all the poem and activities by downloading the Preview.

Included in this unit is a Haiku, called "Raindrops" and a Craftivity Activity where students will write their own Haiku about Raindrops and paste it to a Raindrop like the one below. Think of a bulletin board full of Raindrop Haiku.

One of my favorite poems in this packet is "Can You Hear the Rain?" It is a great poem to have students close their eyes while you read it and imagine the sounds and visualize the rain falling. Students will then find and sort plural nouns, adjectives, and verbs.

With April being National poetry month I have put together some great free resources, free lesson ideas, poetry book resources, and freebies for you to access for all your April poetry needs.

First is Scholastic. You will find so many free resources, lesson ideas, and poetry book ideas. Just click on the picture below to access them.

I love all the free resources at Reading Rockets. There are so many links to Learning through Poetry to access including lessons, different forms of poetry, and using poetry for English Language learners that you don't want to miss. Just click on the picture below.

If you are looking for some free resources of different forms of poetry to use with your students just click HERE. You can also find more forms of poetry with instructions by clicking on the picture below.

Finally, you will find free poetry lesson plans and resources at Education World by clicking on the picture below.

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. Hope you don't have too many April showers!
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November Poems and Free Activities

I can't believe that we are at the end of October! November is filled with wonderful holidays and celebrations. So I cooked up a November Poetry Unit with 10 original poems about Election Day, Veterans Day, Football, Native Americans, Pilgrims, Turkeys, and Thanksgiving.

Look at the poem below. There are so many ways to use this for teaching the 5 components of a balance literacy program.  It is the first poem in my new November Poetry packet. I see compound words, proper nouns, and plural nouns. You could also use it to teach syllables as there are 1, 2, 3, and 4 syllable words. There are lots of verbs and adjectives to find and short a words. Look at the words season and weather. Learning the different sounds of ea is a great phonics lesson. After learning the poem,  ask students about things that happen in November. This is a great way to check for understanding. As a writing activity, I included one in my packet.

Poetry is a great way to help students build fluency, even when you have struggling readers or ESL students. It is a great way to get all your students to participate. When students read aloud they develop expression, phrasing, and most of all fluency. For your struggling readers try  Echo reading.  First you read a line or stanza and then they read it. You can start by having students echo a line and then a stanza. Repeated reading helps develop fluency. You can also Choral Read the poems. Another strategy is Pair Unison. This is where the teacher and student read the poem together. You can also send the poems home so that parents can read them with their child. The more fluent they are the more confident they will be.

Here are the 10 original poems included in this packet.

Here are the Poetry Writing Activities in the packet. Students will write 3 different types of poems: A "How to be" Poem, A "5 Senses Poem" about Thanksgiving, and Acrostic Poems. There is one for Turkey, Veteran, and Pilgrim. When you download the Preview file you will see sample pages of all the Poems and many of the literacy activities for each one.

There are also 3 different literacy activities and Informative text, Opinion Piece, and Narrative Writing Activities with Graphic Organizers. If you would like to check it out please click on the image below.

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Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students.

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Purring About October Poems and Freebies

It's hard to believe it's already October. Here in northern Florida it still feels like summer but hopefully cool weather will be on its way soon. Last year when my computer crashed I lost my October Poetry Unit and I really wanted to revise it. So I decided to remake it just in time to get it uploaded today. There are 8 Original Poems about all the October happenings like Columbus Day, Fire Prevention Week, Pumpkins, Scarecrows, Popcorn (It's National Popcorn Popping Month), Football, Baseball, and more. Here's a sample of all the poems.

There's a fun "My Special Pumpkin" Design and Write Activity.

Each poem has a writing or literacy activity like the 2 you see below. Popcorn Punctuation and Contraction Match and Sentence Writing.

You can see all the materials and activities by downloading the Preview file and also get a free Acrostic Poem Writing Activity. Just click on the image below.

There are 2 more freebies about Pumpkins and Popcorn which you can access by clicking on either image below.

I hope you will follow me on Pinterest. Just click HERE. There are lots of new ones.

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. Hope October is beautiful where you are.

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National Poetry Month Free Resources

April is National Poetry Month and a great time to get your students excited about poetry. There are so many benefits to adding poetry to your classroom reading activities. Look at the poem below:

There are so many ways to use this for teaching many of the components of a balance literacy program. When students read aloud they develop expression, phrasing, and most of all fluency. Have you ever tried Echo reading? This a great way to get all your students to participate. First you read a line or stanza and then they read it. You can start by having students echo a line and then a stanza. Repeated reading helps develop fluency. This poem also helps to teach vocabulary. Look at the words blooming and waddling. Students can act out these words as they are reciting the poem. This poem describes the many signs of spring, perfect addition to a Spring Science Unit. How about comparing and contrasting what happens in spring to what happens in winter?  Depending on your grade level you could do a phonics lesson on the "ou" sound in ground and and "ow" as in town. What other phonics lessons can you think of? I always like to add a writing activity with my poems. Students can write about what they like most about spring. This poem is part of my "Spring Poems" Unit.  You can see sample pages of all the poems and literacy activities by clicking on the imYou can read more about it and get a free poem by clicking HERE

Most of you know how much I love to write poems, chants, and plays and explore the different poetry forms and share them with you. Sometimes a poem just pops in my head when I go out for a walk and I have to rush home to write it down. I'm thrilled when I can remember it since I just turned 65. A few days ago I was thinking about rain as we had so much of it in March and at the beginning of April. All of a sudden I wrote "April Showers" and then 5 more poems about Rain. I had so much fun that I decided to put them in a new product called, "Showers of Rain Poems." Here is a sample of the 6 original poems. Just click on the picture to see some samples and download the Preview to see all the poems and writing activities.

There is a Haiku, called "Raindrops" and a Craftivity Activity where students will write their own Haiku about Raindrops and paste it to a Raindrop like the one below. Think of a bulletin board full of Raindrop Haiku.

One of my favorite poems in this packet is "Can You Hear the Rain?" It is a great poem to have students close their eyes while you read it and imagine the sounds and visualize the rain falling. Students will then find and sort plural nouns, adjectives, and verbs.

With April being National poetry month I have put together some great free resources, free lesson ideas, poetry book resources, and freebies for you to access for all your April poetry needs.

 First is Scholastic. You will find so many free resources, lesson ideas, and poetry book ideas. Just click on the picture below to access them.

I love all the free resources at Reading Rockets. There are so many links to Learning through Poetry to access including lessons, different forms of poetry, and using poetry for English Language learners that you don't want to miss. Just click on the picture below.

If you are looking for some free resources of different forms of poetry to use with your students just click HERE. You can also find more forms of poetry with instructions by clicking on the picture below.

Finally, you will find free poetry lesson plans and resources at Education World by clicking on the picture below.

Of course I have a freebie for all my followers and viewers. It's a poem and writing activity from my new "April Showers Bring Rain Poems" packet. Just click on the picture below to download your free poetry product. Hope you will leave some sweet feedback.

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. Hope you don't have too many April showers!
Don't forget to checkout all my Pinterest Boards by clicking HERE. Hope you will follow.

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October is for Poems, Popcorn, Rainbows, and Freebies

October is a great month. It really starts to feel like fall. Did you know that October is National Popcorn Popping Month? Believe it or not January 19th is National Popcorn Day. There are so many fun things to do with popcorn. If you are looking for some fun Read Aloud Books about Popcorn just click on the picture below. 

If you are looking for some free Language and Math worksheets for grades 1-6 then just click on the picture below.

I just uploaded a K-1 thematic unit called, "It's Popcorn Time" with a Shared Reading book called "Popcorn, Popcorn, What Do You See? , 2 Emergent Reading Books and 1 Emergent Level Reading Books, Literacy Center Activities, a Song and Chant about Popcorn, and a "My Popcorn Book" Writing Activity. How fun to write a book shaped like a popcorn!

There is a Word Wall, Picture/Word Cards, Differentiated Literacy and Writing Activities. If you would like to check out my unit just click on the picture below. Be sure to download the Preview to see all the materials and activities and get a free activity. This unit is perfect for any time of the year, not just for October. 

In case you would like more October Poetry you can check out my October Poetry Unit by clicking HERE. It is all new and revised. When you download the Preview you will see sample pages of all the poems and many of the activities and materials in this packet.

And last but not least Rainbows. Yes rainbows. I added one more Pumpkin product just for K-1 called "The Rainbow Pumpkin Patch." It's all about learning the colors of the rainbow.

Here are samples of the Guided Reading Books.

There are 2 Differentiated Plays:

Also included is a Word Wall, Picture/Word Cards and Literacy Activities.

 It was a lot of fun making this and hope you will check it out by downloading the Preview File to see all the materials and activities in this packet.  Just click on the picture below.

Here's a free Make and Take book called "A Rainbow of Colorful Pumpkins"

 You can download this freebie by clicking on the picture below. 

Here's are some great new Pinterest boards to follow.

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Hope you have a Popping Good October! Hope you enjoy all the freebies. Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students.

What other fun activities do you do with popcorn?