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Friday, December 30, 2011

♥ New Year means New Weekly Poem (with a FREEBIE) ♥

After reflecting over the first half of the school year I have really thought about poetry and a zillion other things. Not only is poetry going to show up on our new State Assessment (STAAR in Texas) but I was amazed that very few of my students have really been exposed to a lot of poetry.  Poetry can be so fun and it is obviously necessary for Texas students now.

I have decided to choose a  different simple poem each week to read aloud to my class.  We will do a variety of activities with each poem depending on the poem and time of year.  I may have the kids memorize and recite the poem, students may have to rewrite the poem in cursive, the class may have to write a poem themselves mimicking the one I read aloud, etc.

The first poem I will use is called January Starts the Year by Risa Jordan:

January, February, March, April, May.
The first five months are A-OK.

June and July, August, September,
How many summers can you remember?

October, November, December’s the end,
Any month’s a good time to make a new friend.

Fifty-two weeks or twelve months in a year,
As each month ends, a new one is here.

Winter and fall, summer and spring,
These are the seasons that each year brings.

The days in a year come to three hundred sixty-five.
Isn’t it great to be alive?
I will use this poem on the first day back (Awwwwww  Monday, January 2, 2012).  I know the students will not all be wide eyed and bushy tailed and the teacher who has slept in every single day of vacation may not be either so I have created some simple questions to go with the poem.  You can get the questions (and the poem) FREE by ♥ clicking here ♥

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  May all of you have good luck, good health, and lots of laughter in 2012!

11 comments:

  1. I used to do a Poem of the Week in my class. We would take 10 mins a day, discuss rhyme scheme, poetic elements, theme, etc...as well as start to memorize it. My students LOVED it. They would never let me forget to do the poem each day. On Fridays they would recite the poem (part of the ELD grade...kill two birds) and by the end of the year they had close to 30 poems memorized. It was wonderful. Good luck with your new venture into poetry!
    ~Stephanie
    Teaching in Room 6

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  2. Thanks for the poem. We go back on Tues and the kids go back on Weds.

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  3. I do poem notebooks and this will be great! I love that it has all the months of the year for my little first graders to practice reading! Thanks so much for sharing!

    Rebecca
    Teaching First

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  4. What a cute poem!! I love it! I do a poem each week with my 2nd graders! Thanks for sharing!!

    Ali

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  5. Thanks so much! I have just started incorporating more poetry in my reading program and this will make a nice warm-up for the return in January.

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  6. I might teach this to my Pre-K class to recite at commencement in May! It is a great way for the kids to memorize the months of the year!

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  7. We do a new poem each week and I love it. Good luck with yours.

    Barbara
    Grade ONEderful

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  8. THANK YOU for the poem and follow up questions! I love poetry, but have not really been able to get started since coming to 3rd grade last year. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear more about the poems that you use with your students!!!

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  9. I am bestowing upon you the Versatile Blogger Award! Come on over and pick it up!!

    ~Stephanie
    Teaching in Room 6

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  10. I would love it if you would link up to my New Year Linky Party at http://teachingisagift.blogspot.ca/2012/12/2013-new-year-linky-party.html. Let's ring in the new year with lots of great ideas to share and celebrate!

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