Poems

Expose children with a wide range of poetry ( some educators suggest a minimum of 100 poems a year .)

A, B, C

1. •All Around the Baryard -poems and fingerplays
   

2. •Alligator Theme
   

3. •Alligator Songs, Poems, & Finger Plays
   

4. •Animals Farms/Songs & Finger Plays
   

1. •Poetry 4Kids
   

April Showers

There’s a drip

And a drop

And a trickle

And a plop

And a drizzle

And more,

There’s a splash

And a pour-

And then

    There’s the  sun and the shower

is done

Leland B Jacobs

1. •Autumn Poems
   

2. •Bear /Can Teach
   

3. •Bear Hunt Song (change to “Going to find an alligator” Crawl out of tent, cross a field, tall grass, climb a tree, cross a swamp etc. )
   

4. •Going on a Bear Hunt UTube scenes from nature
   

5. • Going on a Bear Hunt told by a puppet kangaroo U Tube
   

6. •The Bear Hunt/Timmy Abell I Old Know An Old Lady 7 Songs, A Story, 4 Old Ladies, A Poem and the Bear Hunt
   

BIRDs

1. •Bird Poetry
   

2. •Lady Bug Poetry
   

                  Caterpillar by Christina Rossetti/ Story-It

Caterpillar

author unknown

Ever crawl under your blanket

And felt all warm in the dark of your bed?

Imagine you sprouted your very own wings

Then leapt right up with your arms outspread

Chorus

Just like a caterpillar

In a cocoon - so shy

Then in secret darkness

Turns to a bright-winged butterfly.

Ever crawl into your closet

Shutting out the streamers of sun

And dressed yourself in your brightest clothes

then popped right out and surprise someone?

Just like a caterpillar in a cocoon so shy

Chorus

Ever feel that no one could see you

That maybe the folks in the world are blind?

But one day your colors will all take hold

And people will see you flutter and shine.

Chorus

Climbing by Amy Lowell

High up in the apple tree climbing I go,

With the sky above me, the earth below.

Each branch is the step of a wonderful stair

Which leads to the town I see shining up there.

Climbing, climbing, higher and higher,

The branches blow and I see a spire,

The gleam of a turret, the glint of a dome,

All sparkling and bright, like white sea foam.

On and on, from bough to bough,

The leaves are thick, but I push my way through;

Before, I have always had to stop,

But to-day I am sure I shall reach the top.

Today to the end of the marvelous stair,

Where those glittering pinnacles flash in the air!

Climbing, climbing, higher I go,

With the sky close above me, the earth far below.

1. •Collection of Poems by Christina Rossetti  /hundreds of poems
   

2. •Color Poems/ with notebooks /Wolfelicious
   

3. ★Color Poems/ Chalkboard /Brokers of Expertise
   

4. ★Christopher Columbus Poems
   

5. ★Chicken Soup and Rice Poems for Kids with lesson plans
   

D,E,F

1. •Down by the Bay
   

2. •Duck Songs, Poems & Finger Plays/Child craft and activities
   

3. 

   •
   

Elephant Appreciation Day

September 22nd every year

1. ★Elephant Poems
   

2. ★Songs & Poems/Elephants/ CanTeach
   

End of the Year Poetry    

1. •End of the Year Poems & Songs
   

Farm Poetry

1. •Songs & Poems -On the Farm/Can Teach
   

2. •First Day of School Can Teach
   

1. •Five Little Fishies
   

(Original Author Unknown)

Five little fishies swimming in a pool, (Wiggle 5 fingers.)

The first one said, “This pool is cool.” (Wrap arms around body.)

The second one said, “This pool is deep.” (Speak in a deep voice.)

The third one said, “I want to sleep.” (Rest head on hands.)

The fourth one said, “Let’s dive and dip." (Hand dives and dips.)

The fifth one said, “I spy a ship.” (Form eyeglass with hands and peer through it.)

A fisherman's boat comes, (Fingers form V and move away from body.)

The line goes KER-SPLASH, (Pantomime throwing fishing line.)

And away the five little fishies dash. (Wiggle 5 fingers away from body.)

Frogs

1. •Five Green & Speckled Frogs
   

2. •Five Green & Speckled FrogsElm.teacher resources
   

3. •Five Green & Speckled Frogs/Story It
   

4. •5 Green& Speckled Frogs/En chanted Learning
   

           Five Little Witches See Below

Friendship Poems/Can Teach

1. ★Funny Poems for Kids UK
   

G, H, I

1. •Hand Print Poem and More/Activity Library
   

1. •Halloween Songs and  Verses
   

2. •Halloween Poems
   

3. •Halloween Poems
   

4. •Halloween Poems/and activities
   

J, K, L

1. 

   •Jump Rope Rhymes
   

2. •Kite Poems and Songs/PreSchool Ed.
   

1. •Kittens,Two Little/ed Helper
   

M,N,O

Ocean

by Gwyneth Higgins  Age 8

        Oceans are incredibly deep

        Collecting shells is so much fun

        Electric eels really sting

       Atlantic ocean is huge!

       No place like the wild sea

       So many fish in the sea

1. •Ocean animals - songs and rhymes kidsparkz
   

1. •MaryWore Her Red Dress
   

2. •“To be a Mouse”
   

      The Happy, Happy Monkey

The happy, happy monkey

Swings form tree to tree.

He’s swinging near, he’s swinging far

He’s swinging by the sea.

The happy, happy monkey

Hopes to have some fun

Or bunches of bananas

Or lots and lots of sun.

                             Phonics Manipulatives Kit

1. •Ocean Songs and Rhymes Kidsparkz themes
   

activities and printables

1. •One, Two, Three, Four, Five-Enchanted Learning
   

2. •Nursery Rhymes and Silly Stuff   Jacksonvill University
   

P, Q.R

1. ✤Poetry for Children /Syliva Vardell
   

2. ✤Popcorn
   

Pumpkins

1. ✤Pumpkin Patch/ Mrs. Silverman’s Second Gr. poetry
   

2. ✤DLTK’s Pumpkin Poetry
   

1. ✤Five Little Pumpkins
   

2. •Five Little PumpkinsDLTK
   

3. ✤Pumpkin poems and songs/Lesson /Teacher Net
   

I’m a Little Pumpkin

“I’m a little pumpkin fat and round.

Growing in the cornfield on the ground.

I’ll be a jack-o-lantern with 2 big eyes.

Or maybe I’ll be baked into some  pie.”

1. ✤Songs & Poems About Pumpkins/Can Teach
   

2. ★Rain Poems Collection/Bethany Roberts
   

1. ★Read Along Poetry (English, Spanish, Chinese)
   

S,T,U

1. •Seasonal Poems/Story I/ Poems to Write
   

1. ★Seeds Tooter 4Kids
   

1. •Shadow, My by Robert Louis Stevenson
   

Songs, Poems, and Rhymes about zoo animals for preschool and K/ kidsparkz

1. •Sounds and Hearing Poems/tooter4Kids
   

2. 

   •
   

1. ★Space Poems/Can Teach
   

Wake Up Spring

Wake up, flower

Wake up, weeds

Wake up, frog eggs,

Wake up, seeds

Wake up, bars

Wake up, bees

Wake up, Spring

Won’t you please

Jean Marzalla

1. •Barking Spiders by Heck
   

2. •Spiders
   

1. •St. Patrick’s Day /Can Teach
   

2. •St. Patrick’s Day Poetry/Little Giraffes Teaching Ideas- scroll down
   

3. •Story It: Stories to Read - Stories to Write/a collection of classical poems for children to read online  with a selection to print.
   

4. •Swing, The by Robert Louis Stevenson
   

5. •Swing, The /You Tube
   

 

1. •Sing a Song of  Popcorn:Every Child’s Book of Poems
   

2. 

   •
   

1. •Theme Poetry by Tooter 4Kids
   

2. ★This Land Is Your LandWoody Guthrie
   

1. •Train Theme

   

   
   

1. ★Train Wheels by All Aboard The Virtual Vine Express
   

2. ★Train Songs and Poems /Child’s Play Family Daycare
   

3. ★Turkey Can Teach
   

V,W,X

1. •Weather Poems
   

2. ★Weather Unit including weather poems.
   

3. •Poem: When I Get Stuck on a Word
   

1. •Wind, The /Robert Louis Stevenson
   

2. •Wind Poems/Bethany Roberts
   

3. •Winter poems-  70 poems with suggested tunes to use
   

Y,Z

Yellow Marshmallow

Deep down in my pocket I reach in and find

A magical something that’s one of a kind.

This thing can turn me into anything yellow-

So please say “Hello!” to my yellow marshmallow.

Hello there, Marshmallow. Don’t you look

Yellow today! Are you ready? Here’s how it works!

Yellow

Let’s all yell for yellow

YELLOW, yellow

Yellow is for chicken legs

Daffodils and scrambled eggs

Creamy butter and jiggley lemon jello

Let’s all yell for yellow

Yellow

Train Song

Out in back

railroad track

clickety-clack

clickety-clack

great trains

freight trains

talk about your late trains

the 509

right on time

straight through to L.A.

whistle blows

there she goes

slicing through the day.

Trains with faces in a row

going places: Buffalo

New York City, Boston, Mass.

slowing ’neath the underpass

engineers with striped hats

head-of-the-line aristocrats

up in front, sitting high,

wave at me as they go by

Southern Route

Sante Fe

Cotton Belt

on their way

boxcars

flatcars

going-to-Norh-Platte cars

grain trains

Maine trains

going-through-the-rain  trains

long trains

strong trains

singing-clickety-song trains

cars with lumber

cars with cattle

clickety-clacking

to Seattle.

Detroit to Chicago

departing at five

whenever we get there

is when we arrive

Midnight special

to Cheyenne

get a sleeper-

if, you can

ALL ABOARD! say good-bye

heart the railroad lullaby

                Diane Siebert

So much you can do with the above poem:

- enjoy the sounds

1. -good for map study and for visualizing
   

2. -choral reading
   

3. -ight study
   

4. -long a
   

5. -ack
   

6. -comparison
   

7. --etc. etc. etc.
   

8. -
   

9. •Down by the Station-music
   

10. •Train Songs for Children and Adults
    

1. ★Fingerplays & Activities Susan Dailey
   

2. ★Fingerplays by Dr. Jean Freedman U Tube Great! See Dr. Jean in person
   

3. •Happy Hand Finger Plays/Dr. JeanGreat!
   

4. ✤Nursery Rhymes & Silly Ones for each letter of the alphabet from Smart Central
   

All inclusive/ Don’t Miss

1. •Songs, Chants, Fingerplays, and Poems for Transition Times
   

2. •Duck Songs, Poems & Fingerplays -/Child Fun
   

3. •Angelfire Finger Plays
   

4. •Fingerplays and Action Songs/EFLPlayhouse
   

5. •Songs and Finger plays-/South Riverdale
   

6. ✴Jump Rope Rhymes
   

7. ✴Storytime to Go by Karma Wilson/ fingerplays, puppetsAlphabet Soup
   

8. ★Chants, Finger Plays, Street Rhymes-
   

by Brian P. Cleary

Read Along Rhymes with Inkless Tales:

1. •Hey Diddle Diddle                        
   

2. •Lady Bug Lady Bug
   

3. •If A Sheep Can’t Sleep
   

4. •Beatrice Bee
   

5. •Fanny Doodle
   

6. •Moogie the Messy Beastie
   

7. •Barnyard Babies
   

8. 

   •
   

1. ★Choral Reading Poetry

Morning Chorus
by Zheljko Stanimirovic

Twittering, warbling and chirping, and more,
Croaking and laughter, and that is not all,
All kinds of voices that in birds are known
They give out in chorus, just before the dawn.

The morning chorus rings through the wood
And the suburban neighborhood,
The meadows, the marshes, the trees facing lawn
Vibrate with music just before the dawn.

Twittering, warbling and chirping, and more,
Croaking and laughter, and that is not all,
All kinds of voices that in birds are known
They give out in chorus, just before the dawn.

Some sing from places where no one can hear,
From boulders in stream beds -- you have to be near.
From city buildings sing those who don’t fear
Or from the bushes of prickly pear.

Twittering, warbling and chirping, and more,
Croaking and laughter, and that is not all,
All kinds of voices that in birds are known
They give out in chorus, just before the dawn.

    When Grandma Morin’s children were little she had a Nursery School for them and others at her home. She used to play songs on the piano to accompany their dancing.

    Years later she taught remedial reading and used her musical talent to teach her students many things including the importance of practicing and perseverance.

Ahhh! I discovered where the sneakers go at night!

I snapped this as I was passing a shoe store  in NY City; she was posing live in front of the store.

Poetry

What is poetry?  Who knows?
Not a rose, but the scent of a rose;
Not the sky, but the light in the sky,
Not a fly, but the gleam of the fly;
Not the sea, but the sound of the sea;
Not myself, but what makes me 
see, hear, and feel something that prose 
Cannot: and what it is, who knows?
                                             Eleanor Farjeon

 

If little mice had birthdays

    (and I suppose they do.)

And have a family party

    (with guests invited too)

And have a cake with candles

    (It would be rather small.)

I bet a birthday  CHEESE cake

   (would please them most of all.)

Use the above to teach sequence, as an attention getter  change words to reinforce a concept....

1. ★Seeds Tooter 4Kids

1. ★How to Make Finger Puppets for Kids - YouTube
   

2. ★How to Make Finger Puppets: 12 Steps (with pictures)

Master List:

1. ★Storytime Katie
   

2. ★KIds Songs: Complete List  KIDiddles
   

3. ★150 Nursery Rhymes & Children Songs- Muffin Songs-YouTube
   

4. ★Songs for Teaching - using music to promote learning
   

5. ★Tell Me a Story , King County Lib. System 1756 poems & songs; each poems and songs are accompanied with videos and story tellers.
   

6. ★Josie’s Poem Don’t Miss “...my poetry website which is the largest poetry website in the world containing 99% of my poems.  (JOSIE'S POEMS)  There is only about one third of my poems on there and in my books for I’ve written about 900 new poems in the last five years, and four yesterday and today...” 12/3/11

Working with Poetry

ideas from Daily Poetry  by Carol Simpson

Mon. : Introduce the poem, read it at least twice , and let the class join in when they are ready to read it with you.

- Discuss the poem’s story. 

- Read related poems and a related trade book.

1. -Brainstorm a list of related ideas on the poem’s main subject.
   

Tue.:,Reread the poem and listen for and mark the rhyming words. Find and mark words with specific  phonetic elements

1. -Select a word from the poem that has a common word family e.g. -ack and list as many words as you can with that pattern/family.
   

2. -Share another trade book if there is time.
   

Wed.:-Choral

1. -Grammar Study- find all the words with a specific aspect of grammar being studied: verbs, adj. adverbs., contractions etc.
   

2. -Share another trade book
   

3. -Writing activity
   

Thurs.: Choral reading

1. -List concepts embedded in the poem
   

2. -Read other related poems and another trade book
   

Fri.: Read the poem one more time and display the poem. Reread some favorites of the past.

Bill Matin’s I See A Song encourages us to feel the rhythm in his books. Children read, write, draw, and sing as they interact with their world. Books that have repetitive and /or additive texts enable the teacher to reinforce the concepts of sequence, refrain, and tone color. Students can chant recurring refrains, add sound effects with instruments, and even dramatize these stories. (Jacobi-Karna Rdg.Teacher 11/’95)

Music and reading go together. Singing fosters a love of reading. Repeat the singing of a song until they know the melody and the words. Introduce the song-picture book. Choral reading also helps connect the song to print.

Letter the lyrics on chart paper for shared reading. At the emergent level, point to each word with a pointer as it is sung. Find words that rhyme, are repeated, etc.

Using word cards, have the children match the card to specific words on the chart etc.

Using sentence strips, have the children place them in order.

Prior to Common Core Learning Extended into many areas.

Our Outstanding Poet

of the Past

Sing a Song of People,

Lois Lenski                                       

Sing a song of people

Walking fast or slow;

People in the city,

Up and down they go.

People on the sidewalk,

People on the bus;

People passing, passing,

In back and front of us.

People on the subway

Underneath the ground;

People riding taxis

Round and round and round.

People with their hats on,

Going in the doors;

People with umbrellas

When it rains and pours.

People in tall buildings

And in stores below;

Riding elevators

Up and down they go.

People walking singly,

People in a crowd;

People saying nothing,

People talking loud.

People laughing, smiling,

Grumpy people too;

People who just hurry

And never look at you!

Sing a song of people

Who like to come and go;

Sing of city people

You see but never know!

1. 1. 1Seashell, James Berry
      

   2. 2Sing a Song of People, Lois Lenski
      

   3. 3Skyscrapers, Rachel Lyman Field
      

   4. 4Smells, Kathtryn Worth
      

   5. 5Smells, Marta Lopez
      

   6. 6Solution, Leland B. Jacobs
      

   7. 7Spring Is, Bobbi Katz
      

   8. 8Spring, Karla Kuskin
      

   9. 9Sunrise, Frank Asch
      

   10. 10Sunset, Lillian Moore
       

   11. 11Tent, Deborah Chandra
       

   12. 12The Crocus, Walter Crane
       

   13. 13The More It Snows, A.A. Milne
       

   14. 14The Night Is a Big Black Cat, G. Orr Clark
       

   15. 15The Storm, Dorothy Aldis
       

   16. 16The Tickle Rhyme, Ian Serraillier
       

   17. 17The Tiniest Sound, Mel Evans
       

   18. 18The Toaster, William Jay Smith
       

   19. 19The Wind, James Reeves
       

   20. 20Things to Do If You Are a Subway,Bobbi Katz
       

   21. 21Things, Eloise Greenfield
       

   22. 22Tiger, Valerie Worth
       

   23. 23Toaster Time, Eve Merriam
       

   24. 24Trees, Sara Coleridge
       

   25. 25Welcome…
       

   26. 26White Cat Winter, Tony Johnston
       

   27. 27Zebra, Judith Thurman
       

   28. 28** Welcome **
       

   29. 1st Grade Poems
       

   30. 2nd Grade Poems
       

2. 2ARCHIVE
   

1. 1A Circle of Sun, Rebecca Kai Dotlich
   

2. 2All We Need, Steve Turner
   

3. 3April Rain Song, Langston Hughes
   

4. 4Brooms, Dorothy Aldis
   

5. 5Building a Skyscraper, James S. Tippett
   

6. 6Can I, Can I Catch the Wind?, Pat Mora
   

7. 7Cats, Eleanor Farjeon
   

8. 8Crickets, Valerie Worth
   

9. 9Dust of Snow, Robert Frost
   

10. 10First Snow, Marie Louise Allen
    

11. 11Flowers At Night, Aileen Fisher
    

12. 12Fog, Carl Sandberg
    

13. 13Giraffes, Mary Ann Hoberman
    

14. 14How to Get There, Bonnie Nims
    

15. 15I Speak, I Say, I Talk, Arnold L. Shapiro
    

16. 16Lazy Jane, Shel Silverstein
    

17. 17Lessie, Eloise Greenfield
    

18. 18Mice, Rose Fyleman
    

19. 19Mix a Pancake, Christina Rossetti
    

20. 20My Tooth Ith Looth, George Ulrich
    

21. 21Rain Sound, Lillian Morrison
    

22. 22Rhyme, Elizabeth Coatsworth
    

23. 23Riding on the Train, Eloise Greenfield
    

24. 24River Winding, Charlotte Zolotow
    

25. 25Rope Rhyme, Eloise Greenfield
    

Repeated  Reading of Poetry

Reading along with a Read-Along CD or tape until the reader can read the story fluently is one way to develop confidence and in turn fluency.  Repeating  a passage 50 to 150 words in length for 15 min. a day, helps develop confidence and improve fluency especially with second graders.

Varying the rereading, a poem is an effective and more enjoyable way of developing fluency. Instead of drilling sight words or the alphabet, reinforce vocabulary with a poem that has the new voc. word. Children don’t tire of reciting poetry over and over; the poem will help them remember their new voc.

Sherri Faver suggests  5-10 min. a day for rereading a poem!  Read it with the entire group first and then break up into small groups. Assign new partners and every month or so. The first day introduce the poem and discuss it. Each morning for the next four days, practice reading with the whole group and then break up and circle the room. Students take the poem home and practice. Once a student feel secure enough the student reads it for the entire class but only once for each poem so that everyone has the opportunity of reading the poem to the class.( Ideas for repeated reading of poetry were attained from Sherri Faver.)

There  is so much you can do with a short poem. All reading skill can be taught via a poem. Besides the usual such as discussing theme and choral reading,  high light with a marker new voc. Highlight rhyming words - just one pattern a day.  Cut the poem apart and reassemble....

1. ✤Five Poetry Teaching Tips for New Teachers/Edutopia
   

2. ✤Introducing and Reading Poetry with English Language Learners/colorin colorado!

Nursery Rhymes

1. ★Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes Zelo.com
   

1. •DLTK click on Children’s Songs, Fairy Tales & Nursery Rhymes - hear the songs sung.
   

1. ★Nursery Rhymes and Silly Stuff /Smart Sentinal Super Site
   

2. ✤Little Girl Skipping RhymesClapping Songs,All Inclusive Nursery Rhymes
   

Kinesthetic application: draw a picture of each rhyming word in the story, laminate, and back with a piece of magnet. Let the children find words that rhyme and place them on a magnetic board

1. ✤Nursery Rhymes at The Virtual Vine

Taken while driving along the Belt Parkway on LI.

           Five Little Witches

Five  little witches flew through the air

Looking for children they could scare.

(Move 5 fingers with finger puppets as if flying.)

This little witch peeked under a hat,

                                     (Shake thumb.)

But she flew away when out popped a bat.

                                  (Fold thumb down)

This little witch looked behind a post ,

                                    (Shake index finger.)

But she flew away when up soared a ghost

                                   (Fold ring finger down.)

This little witch found haunted homes,

                                    (Shake middle finger.)

But she flew away ‘cause of rattle bones.

                                      (Fold middle finger down, shake body.)

This little with stirred up her brew,

                ( Shake  ring finger, make stirring motion with other hand.)

But she flew away when an owl said, “WHOO!”

                                        (fold ring finger down.)

This little which looked in a tree,

                                        ( Shake pinkie.)

But she flew away when she saw me.

                       (Fold pinkie down , say me loudly and jump forward.)

So the five little witches flew out of sight,

                        (Raise hand and move fingers as if flying away.)

But they’re sure to come back on Halloween night!

Variations:

1. Teach the poem to the children. Pause at t he end of every other line to let them say the rhyming words as you read the poem.

2. 2.Reproduce the finger puppet heads, making enough copies for each child to have a set of five. Let the children cut out the heads and paste them to construction paper. Then have them color the heads and draw bodies to go with them. They can add other creatures form the poem to their pictures, such as a ghost, a skeleton, an owl, etc.
   

3. 3.Finger Puppets: cut 2” x 3” rectangles from black construction paper. ( Another witch poem below)
   

4. 

   
   

Up Dated 6/ 14/19

The Unknown

by Donald Rumsfeld
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.

Dronald Graves  urged the use of poetry throughout the curriculum. He stressed the idea that poetry is for thinking and feeling.

1. •Poetry Notebooks/Shared Reading

Third Grade

Luca Third Grade

Luca Third Grade