5 fun ideas for poetry month.

RHYME TWISTER

HELP KIDS IDENTIFY RHYME THROUGH MOVEMENT. First read aloud several poems and point out rhyming patterns. (Simple nursery rhymes like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" work well.) When the class is familiar with different patterns, label three different pieces of large construction paper A, B, and C. Tape the letters in a row on the floor. Invite children to take turns moving from one letter to the next to step out the rhyming pattern of different poems. Afterward, ask them to use one of the rhyming patterns to create their own short poems. Have children exchange poems and try to identify the pattern used in their classmates' poems.

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HAIKU ZOO

WRITE YOUR OWN ANIMAL HAIKU. Read and discuss the haiku in Jack Prelutsky's If Not for the Cat. Then reread each poem, counting the syllables of the 5-7-5 pattern. Next ask children to imagine they are zoo animals. What animal might they be? What would the animal say about itself? After children develop an idea of their chosen animal, ask them to write a haiku from the animal's perspective. Then have them draw their animal and cut it out. Use the haiku and animal cutouts to create a poetry zoo display.

SOUND CHARADES 

EXPLORE THIS NOISY VERSION OF CHARADES. Read Barnyard Banter, by Denise Fleming. Ask children to identify words in the story that represent sounds, such as cluck, squeak, and caw. Explain that some poems contain words that sound like animals, objects, or actions. Write the names of different sound-making animals, objects, or places on index cards (duck, train, pond, etc.). Invite children to pick a card, read it, and then make as many different sounds as they can to represent the word. Once classmates guess the word, ask them to suggest other sounds that might work. As children perform their charades, write down their sounds on the board. Then ask them to create a poem using sound words from the list.

WORD-FAMILY LIMERICKS

CREATE WORD-ENDING RHYMES. Tell children that a limerick is a five-line rhyming poem that is often funny. (Share a few of our favorites from the March/April Links on www.scholastic.com/instructor.) Then write several word-family endings on chart paper (such as -at, -ing, -ight, and so on). Have children list words belonging to each word group and write their responses under the corresponding ending. Afterward, instruct them to make up their own limericks, using words from the chart to create an AABBA pattern. Share each limerick with the class!

"ALL ABOUT ME" SIMILES

BUILD SELF-PORTRAITS IN WORDS. Using Quick as a Cricket, by Audrey Wood, explore the many examples of simile. Explain that the words as or like are used to compare one thing to another. Invite students to use a rhyme pattern similar to the one in the book to write a poem about themselves using similes. Next ask them to draw a self-portrait on a sheet of paper. Have them cut out four shapes and write each line of their poem on a cut-out shape. Finally, ask children to glue the cutouts around their self-portrait. Display the portraits in a class exhibit!