Rainy Day Poetry Celebration with Kindergarten

This rug was full of jumping, moving, and singing kindergarten students.

The were jumping, moving, and signing a song about a rainy day, because today is another rainy Wednesday.

We started this month with April Rain Song, so why not end it on a rainy note?

We've been reading and talking about different kinds of poetry. Today we focused on poetry following a theme and explored a few of them more deeply.

First we connected with how we feel about the rain using this poem:

We talked about how hard it was raining today using this poem:

Next, we talked about what happens when it rains using this poem:

Then we talked about the benefits of rain using this poem:

And moved into rain gear using this poem:

We finished by exploring one of my favorite poems:

With our minds full of rainy days, it was time to jump in the puddles. We finished our Rainy Day Poetry Celebration with a song. A great movement activity on a rainy day. This is Hugh Hanley performing Jump in the Puddles. The students watched it once, performed it with Hugh once, and then did it all without him. 

It's the first song on this video:

If you are looking for more music, this Hugh Hanley Concert at a town library is also fun.

Let's hope these April showers 

bring some May flowers!

Langston Hughes helps first grade students learn about using your five senses when writing poetry

My first graders have been celebrating Poetry Month by listening to poems and identifying how the poet used his or her five senses to help the reader feel, see, hear, smell, or taste the experience. 

Starting this unit off with Langston Hughes' April Rain Song (especially during a very rainy April) always engages the students. After listening to and thinking about how he used his five senses to write the poem, the students created an illustration for it. I think their pictures demonstrate the strong imagery he created for them. I am particularly taken with the students that included musical notes within their raindrops, like the one above, but I love all their still pools, and running pools, an sleep songs on the roof at night.

Fourth Graders Get Creative with Poetic Form

As part of a poetry unit, the Fourth graders had fun creating Book Spine Poetry and Blackout Poetry. I created this poem to get them started:

They used the iPads to capture their creations. 

I think they did a fabulous job!

And some good old shape and free verse poetry.