Poetry Classroom Activities

Poetry in the Park
Reading/Writing Use the following poem to reinforce alliteration, rhyming and making sense. After completing this activity, ask the children to make more suggestions of things at the park that go together.

At The Park

by Heidi Bee Roemer

What goes together at the park?

Picnic and park
Puppy and bark

Fountain and spray
Springtime and May

Sunshine and sky
Hot dog and pie

Duckling and waddle
Baby and bottle

Ice cream and lick
Camera and click

What else goes together at the park?

The Experience
Writing/Poetry Read the following poem several times to the class. Ask your students to think about how they feel when they're reading. After discussing, give them the starter "When I..." and ask them to fill in the blank with a favored activity and what it is like to experience it.

When I Read

by Beverly McLoughland

When I read, I like to dive
In the sea of words and swim,
Feet kicking fast across the page Splashing words against my skin.

When I read, I like to float
Like the gull that trusts the sea,
The ebb and flow of tidal words
Easy under me.

Today's Words
Poetry/Writing Discuss the hurting and healing power of words. After reading the following poem and/or placing it on the overhead projector, talk about the words your students have heard so far today. How did the words make them feel? Ask the students write a response about how much of those feelings are under their own control. How do they plan to change the tone of the day/school/class with the words they use?

Words For Today

by Heidi Roemer

Today is a page
without any words.
A song unsung
that no one has heard.

The words you speak
can hurt or heal.
Before you speak – think
how others might feel.

Today is a page
on which you'll write.
Will you speak words
that are good and right?