Vocabulary
Minilesson
Explicit instruction about literacy procedures, concepts, strategies, and skills that is taught based on the students' needs.
What happens when children experiment with words, create images, play with words, and evoke feelings?
They laugh with language, experiment with rhyme, and invent new words.
What do children have a natural affinity for?
Verse, song, riddles, jokes, chants, and puns.
Why is poetry important to teach?
Reading and writing poetry are effective ways to address many standards.
Who wrote The Raven, The Valley of Unrest, and A Dream within a Dream?
Edgar Allan Poe
Free Verse
Unrhymed poetry in which word choice and visual images are important characteristics.
What do children gain confidence in when playing with words?
Choosing the "right" word to express an idea.
What is the most common form of poetry?
Rhymed Verse
Reading Aloud
Read poetry out loud in order to appreciate the cadence of the words.
Who wrote Daddy, Lady Lazarus, and Tulips.
Sylvia Plath
Simile
What is an important precursor to creating true riddles?
Wordplay
What is a three lined poem that contains 17 syllables?
A haiku
Expression
Teach students how to read a poem expressively, how to emphasize the rhythm and feel of the words, and where to pause.
Who wrote Hope is the Thing with Feathers, Because I Could Not Stop for Death, and I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Emily Dickinson
Metaphor
A comparison expressed directly, without using like or as.
What are short rhymes that take the form of an answer to a riddle?
Hink-pinks
What kind of poetry does not have rhyming lines and focuses on images?
Free Verse
Song Tunes
Have children sing poems to familiar tunes.
Who wrote Harlem, Mother to Son, and The Weary Blues.
Langston Hughes
Poetry
Literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature.
What are two common things that introduce kids to rhyme?
Dr. Seuss and Nursery Rhymes
What are the most popular types of poetry according to the students?
Limericks and narrative poems
Memorization
Encourage students who are interested in learning a favorite poem and share with their classmates.
Who wrote And Still I Rise, I Shall Not Moved, and On the Pulse of Morning.
Maya Angelou