Poetry activities for kids support reading development and joy in reading. Poems are magical! Have you ever noticed how much fun kids have when you read poems to them or you read a book that is written in a poetic form? I love reading a book that has a poetic form. Almost always, a student will raise their hand after a page or two (or call out because they are excited) and say, “Hey, this rhymes!” as though you never knew!
Kids just love poetry! I have quite a few silly poem books that the kids love and sometimes I just pull them out and we read and laugh and it’s great!
So what is it about the poem that kids love?
For one, kids are taught poems very early in life in the form of nursery rhymes and songs. This is usually at home or at preschool.
Kids’ poems have a strong oral language component. Whether it’s for primary learners or older students, listening and speaking to the rhythm of poetry is not only appealing to the ears, I have found it promotes an enjoyment of words and language and therefore, increases the motivation to read. Poetry can be taught in conjunction with learning to write too!
As a teacher, I want to be able to teach poetry all year not just a “unit” on poetry. For this reason, I created a new poetry set that I will be using with my students this year to integrate into all aspects of their learning. Poetry activities for kids needn’t be just for reading time. Poetry can be integrated into all aspects of your curriculum. In fact, “non-fiction” topic poems may appeal to more readers than the creative fiction type poems. Shape poems may appeal to your more visual learners and/or art students.
The power of poetry is a WIN WIN for everyone!
This set has original poems for all seasons – Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. It even has special event poems like the Super Bowl! This set not only contains original poems but it also contains instruction on specific poetry skills (such as alliteration) and types of poems (Such as Haiku) and has practice pages for students use. Click on the Superbowl poem to pick up a free copy of this and a few other samples. Please leave me some feedback on TPT and let me know what you think. It’s helps me to shape future resources.
Check out Poetry For All Seasons here.
Here are a few poetry books I use in class:
I haven’t used this one but saw it and thought it looked like a fabulous companion to this poetry set.
Do you teach poetry? Let me know some of the ways you teach or introduce poetry to your students. I’d love to hear from you!
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