School Based Speech TherapySeasonal Activities

April is National Poetry Month!

By April 17, 2012No Comments

Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? I just found this out the other day actually.  The English major in me just can’t help but do something to celebrate it with my students! I’m almost positive we will be doing something fun with poems this week.

Since the lovely lilacs are in full bloom right outside my speech room window, I may suggest we write our poems about the Spring!! I also happen to believe that it is never too early to introduce kids to poetry!  Reading, discussing, and writing poems is a great way to build language skills.
Why Use Poems?

  • Poems are full of rhythm and rhyming patterns (good for phonemic awareness)
  • Poems are full of great vocabulary words and ideas for discussion (can be used to target definitions, descriptions, synonyms/antonyms, figurative language)
  • Poems are vehicles to express feelings/ideas about anything (seasons like Spring, Summer, etc.) (can help target expanding sentences, use of descriptive sentences, morphemes/syntax)
  • Writing a poem draws on background knowledge and experiences (can target memory, sequencing of events, story retell)
  • Encourages imaginative thinking and critical thinking
  • Poems can be serious, silly, long, short, rhyming, etc.

I created these two simple poem templates to use with my students.  Here is one for a Spring Acrostic Poem and one for a Cinquain!  Enjoy!

 

 

  • Free Poem Templates

    Here a few of the different types of poems:

    Acrostic Poem

    What is an Acrostic Poem?
     
    Example:
    S eason of the year
    P retty flowers
    R ainy days
    I nsects crawling
    N ests in trees
    G rowing plants

    Cinquain

    Cinquain poems must have the following pattern:

    Line 1 – One word (a noun) naming the subject of the verse.
    Line 2 – Two words (adjectives) describing the subject.
    Line 3 – Three words (verbs) describing the subject’s actions.
    Line 4 – Four words giving the writer’s opinion of the subject.
    Line 5 – One word (noun) giving another name for the subject.

     Example by C.Alfonzetti:

    Violin

    Brown, shapely

    Singing, shrieking, sobbing

    A moody music maker

    Fiddle

    Haiku

    Haiku is Japanese poetry that reflects on nature and feelings.  There are three lines with five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second, and five syllables in the third.
     

    Examples by Paul McCann

    Fog

    On the mountain top

    The fog fell down thick and fast

    It was like pea soup.

    Rain

    Tip-tap goes the rain.

    As it hits the window pane

    I can hear the rain.

    Hail

    They fell in showers.

    Like diamonds upon the ground

    Big hailstones were found.

     

    Limerick

    A limerick has five lines. The last words of lines one, two, and five rhyme.
    The last words of lines three and four rhyme.
    A limerick has to have a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
    U S U U S U U S
    U S U U S U U S
    U S U U S
    U S U U S
    U S U U S U U S
    (Anybody feel like they are back in Phonology 101!)
    Limerick Examples here!

    Old Man with a Beard

    by Edward Lear

    There was an Old Man with a beard

    Who said, ‘It is just as I feared!”

    Two Owls and a Hen,

    Four Larks and a Wren,

    Have all built their nests in my beard!

    Couplets

    Couplets are made up of two lines whose last words rhyme. These are sometimes silly!
    Example:

    The rain has fallen all day

    I think I will go outside and play

     

    Triplets 

    These are made up of three lines. The rhyming pattern can be AAA or ABA.
    Example of an AAA rhyme pattern:

     Oh how I love the spring

    It makes me want to run, jump, and sing

    After all that I will probably swing

     
     

    Quatrain

    These are made up of four lines.
    The rhyming pattern can be AABB or ABAB.
    Example of AABB rhyme:

     The baby ducks splash and play

    In the pond at the park they stay

    Curious and clumsy they are

    I will just watch them from afar

    Check out some of these poetry websites.  They have lots of ideas for poetry activities as well as many free resources!

    Poets.Org
    Scholastic National Poetry Month Activities
    Springtime Poems and Rhymes for young kids
    Silly Poems for Kids
    Free Spring Poem Printables
    Springtime Poetry
    The Importance of Children’s Poetry
     

    Happy National Poetry Month!

     

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