I like to spend a couple weeks each year teaching my students about poetry. We do a number of fun activities in addition to reading and writing different poems. We have a poetry battle, rank poetry, make a poetry journal, and much more!
Here is a look into my poetry unit....
To kick off my poetry unit I have my students each complete this KWL Chart about Poetry.
We then discuss what poetry is, what a poet's purpose is, what poems can have, etc. I use and display these posters during my unit!
Over the years I have found poems that are great for young children to listen to. Instead of having multiple books that I have to search through to find the poem I want to read, I have typed the poems on individual pages and compiled them together.
Each day I choose two different poems to read to my class. After reading the two poems, my students each vote on which poem they liked the best. We fill in the Poetry Battle bracket together. By the end of my poetry unit my class has found their all-time favorite poem (which is usually Brod Bager's poem Booger Love)!
I also like for my students to fill out the Ranking Poetry page after listening to a poem. I like for them to fill these out after listening to poems that have the different parts of figurative language in them that we have learned about.
Here are some of the different figurative language topics that I cover during my poetry unit. Each poster has the term, definition, and example.
If you are looking for Figurative Language Posters click HERE to download my 23 Figurative Language Posters from my TpT Store!
Each student makes their own Poetry Journal throughout my unit. They choose the cover of their journal. They color, cut, and glue it on the top of a brad folder. Each poem the student writes gets hole-punched and added to their folder!
Each student also fills out the "About the Poet" page and adds it as the first page to their poetry journal.
Here's a look at the different poems we learn about and write throughout the unit. I usually pick one poem a day to teach and have the students write during our allotted writing time.
Word Picture Poem
Who, What, When, Where, Why Poem
Triplet Poem
Shape Poem
Quatrain Poem
List Poem
Limerick Poem
-ing Poem
I'm So Smart Poem
Important Poem
If It Weren't For You Poem
If I Were...Poem
I Wish...Poem
I Like...Poem
I Am Poem
Holiday Poem
Haiku Poem
Free Verse Poem
Diamante Poem
Couplet Poem
Color Poem
Cinquain Poem
Bio Poem
Alphabet Alliteration Poem
Adjective Poem
5 Senses Poem
2-Worder Poem
Acrostic Poem
By the end of the unit each student has a wonderful collection of poetry they have written. I slip a parent note in the first pocket of the folder and send each student's poetry journal home. The parent note tells the parents all the wonderful things we learned during our poetry unit and invites them to sit down with their child and read each poem their child has written.
To make teaching your own poetry unit simple, easy, and fun...download my complete poetry unit on my TpT store by clicking HERE!
