Poetry Fun!

Poems are a wonderful resource for literacy instruction. I introduce two new poems a week with the students I tutor.

One fun activity students  love is what I call "The Mixed Up Poem"

During my introduction of the poem, I use a form of choral reading. I read a line and I have the student repeat the same line while tracking each word with a pointer. Then I read the poem a second time so the student can stop me when he/she hears any rhyming words. During the rest of the week, we reread the poem and work on "The Mixed Up Poem" Activity.

I provide the student with a bag full of words. The student works to reassemble the mixed up poem. I have even timed the student, so each day he/she can play "Beat the Clock" when reassembling the poem. It is possible to even make this a center or activity with a timer so students can track their own progress.

As the year progresses and the students improve, I give longer poems! I make sure to use this activity every other week, so students look forward to it and it never becomes boring for them!

Happy Reading!

Earth Day

Celebrate Earth Day !

Earth Day is April 22 !! I love to be green everyday. Here is a fun book to share with any elementary classroom!

The Earth Book by Todd Parr
A story of environmental protection and conservation in this eco-friendly picture book. I love that this book has a circular die-cut Earth on the cover, and is printed entirely with recycled materials and nontoxic soy inks. The book includes lots of easy, smart ideas on how we can all work together to make the Earth feel good by planting a tree, using both sides of the paper, and reusing old things in new ways

Happy April

April... So Many Possibilities !

Two of my favorite things about April:

Poetry Month!! Take some time and have a random "Poetry Break" in your classroom. Read aloud some funny Shel Silverstein poems or spend some time writing and publishing a poem! One of my favorite website for funny poems is Giggle Poetry


D.E.A.R. Day on April 12! Take some time to drop everything and read on this day! This can be a classroom activity, a reading buddy activity, or even a school wide event!

Happy Reading!!

The 2.00 Summary

I took a workshop last week and one of the ideas presented was so neat. It can be adapted in many different ways! I plan to use it in my book clubs in the upcoming weeks!

The $2.00 Summary:
A way to retell a lesson or write a summary in a quick and short manner using words and a little math. You have to use specific details because each word is worth money. You cannot go over $2.00!

Each word is worth 5 cents!
Free words: the, and, of, is, a, an

Example:Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny used to live in a boxcar, but now they live with their grandfather. He takes them on a cruise in the Caribbean and suddenly a mystery begins. The children work together to solve the mystery.

The total summary is $1.60.

This can be used in a lot of classes! In reading, children could write after reading a short story or various chapters in a book. Have partners write one together the first few times!

Happy Reading and Writing!

Bears! Bears! Bears! A Read Aloud

I blogged about this author once before (here). Since then I have been searching for more of Karma Wilson's books.


Bear Wants More (2003)
Bear wakes up in spring hungry as can be, so he searches for food while meeting friends on the way. This story has a cute twist and a funny ending!

Teaching Ideas:

1. There is rhyming text which lends itself to a lesson about how words can rhyme without being spelled with the same patterns.

2. Themes of friendship, helping one another, bears, springtime, sharing.

3. There are wonderful illustrations to use for making inferences. Cover up the words and discuss what could possibly be happening in those pictures. Make a class chart or have kids write their own inferences before reading the book. Then read the story and discuss if the inferences
were correct.

4. There are great descriptive verbs in this book: waddles, nibbles, scampers, tromp, shuffles,romps, gobbles, snuggles. Go on a verb hunt and then talk about how these words help you visualize the story.

Happy reading!