Acrostic Poems

Well, we have been working on building our poetry notebooks and trying our hands at writing a little poetry.  We tried some acrostic poems about Spring and had some great results!

What do we know about poetry?

This is one of my favorite lessons during poetry month!  I love to hear what the children think poetry is.  They are always surprised when I say there are NO writing rules and that poems can be about ANYTHING. They also thought that it was great that anyone who writes a poem gets to be called a poet.

We did this lesson right before lunch and on the way to lunch I heard them talking.  I was just about to reprimand when I realized that as they were walking, they were brainstorming things that they could write poems about.  

"We can write a poem about chicken nuggets!" 

"We can write a poem about wood chips!"

"We can write a poem about the computer lab!"

It should be fun when we do our rythm lesson tomorrow and start writing our own poems!

Freebie

Hey Bloggy friends....my friend and colleague, Heather, is re-venturing (is that a word? It is now!) into this crazy word of blogging and is starting with a great freebie.  Consider following Heather.  She is a phenomenal teacher and is incredibly creative.  She is the better half of our TPT store Primary Divas.

Click here to VISIT Heather!

Click here to VISIT Primary Divas!

Poetry Notebooks

I am still on Spring Break but was in my classroom for a little while today and started getting things ready for our return on Monday.  I have been so excited about sharing and writing some poetry with my first graders.

The first thing that I did was to make a little poetry notebook for them.

The next big decision was which poem to put on page 1.  I wanted a poem about poetry and found a great one at  Amy Vanderwater's Poem Website. It is copied (in color of course) and cut and ready to go for Monday!

What is everyone doing to collect poems with the kids?

Maya Angelou

I am quoting one of my favorite poets today.  It is how I feel about my role as a teacher. 

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

~~Maya Angelou

I am going to see her speak at the end of the month. SO EXCITED!

Progressive Poem

Hello all!

Today I was busy being Mom (took a bunch of kids to see Oz The Great and Powerful!) but still wanted to get a post in so I decided to share a really interesting project that is going on out in blog land. Some very great teachers/poets are participating in a Progressive Poem experience.  I had the great opportunity to participate in a progressive poem once and it was a fun endeavour.   I am thinking about giving this a try with my faculty when we return from break.

Take a minute to check out this web site and watch this poem grow over the next month!

The Poem Farm - Progressive Poem

Happy Poetry Month

I realize that life has been quiet over here at Bee the Change.  I have found myself to be lacking inspiration.  With Comon Core and APPR requiring so much of my time, I feel as though I have not been the best blogger.  

April arrived and gave me exactly what I was craving.....poetry!

Two very special poets have caught my eye here in early April. The first poet is a friend of mine who has a brand new book. You can also visit Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's site The Poem Farm for terrific poetry-related inspiration!

I ordered it today and am grouchy that I actually have to WAIT to receive it!  I cannot wait to share it with my firsties next week.

The other poet that has a special place in my heart is this little known poet who published a book of her own poetry in 1953.  Her name is Ruth Cornelius Volk and she is my great-grandmother!  Later this month I will share her scrapbook of original writings.  My mother and I will be working on getting all of her work transferred digitally.  Many of the poems that she wrote were about my mother (her grandaughter) and her other grandchildren as well as her children and soldiers that were fighting oversees.  In reading her work, so many of these poems are relevant to the feeling that we encounter today.

I think that to kick off poetry month, I will share one of great-grandma's poems that helps me to be hopeful that spring will soon actually arrive.

Brown Musician by Ruth Cornelius Volk

Oh, lovely thrush, so brown and soft,

You spread your wings and fly aloft

To yonder tree and gentle mate

Who now has flown to garden gate.

Your throat is filled with song sublime;

And female thrush , who swings on vine,

Will leave you breathless in her flight.

Call out to her a fond "good night."

Happy Poetry Month all!!!! I hope that you all will be inspired to share beautiful words!