POETRY MONTH

When your give children a song and rhyme,

You give them a gift that will last for all time!

It’s true! We keep songs and poems that we learn when we are young in our hearts and minds all of our lives. Since April is National Poetry Month, I’m going to focus my blogs this week on poetry.

Here are eight great reasons for integrating poetry in your classroom:

Poetry develops oral language.
Poetry develops auditory memory.
Poetry helps children make print connections.
Poetry develops phonological awareness (rhyme, rhythm, alliteration).
Poetry enhances fluency.
Poetry develops vocabulary.
Poetry sparks children’s interest in reading.
Poetry helps children fall in love with language.

With all the emphasis on standards and assessment, poems can be like a breath of fresh air. They can add joy, imagination, creativity, and FUN to your classrooms!

Here are some ways to celebrate poetry month in your classroom or in your school.

Poetry Club
Write “Poetry Club” on a poster and decorate with glitter. Explain that anyone who stands up in front of the class and recites a nursery rhyme or poem can be a member of the poetry club. (You might want to model reciting a poem for them.) After they’ve recited their poem, let them sign their name on the poster.



*Design a membership card for the poetry club and run off on card stock. Present one to the children after they’ve recited a poem for their classmates.

Poetry Café
Plan a poetry party for your students called the “Poetry Café.” Involve children in planning refreshments, making decorations, writing invitations, etc. Encourage each child to learn and practice reciting a poem. Explain that in the coffee houses instead of clapping, the audience would “snap” their fingers for the poets.


Parents and Poems
Ask children to interview their parents about poetry using some of the prompts below:

Do you like poems? Why? Why not?
What’s your favorite poem?
Do you have a favorite poet?
Did you learn any poems when you were a child?
Do you have a poetry book?


Visiting Poet
Invite a poet from your community to visit and read poetry. Encourage the children to generate questions to ask the author before her visit.


Poetry Wall of Fame
Decorate a bulletin board in the front hall or lunchroom and encourage teachers to display their students’ poems on it.


Poetry Detectives
Challenge the children to be “detectives” and locate the poetry section in your school library. Learn this rhyme:

For an emergency call 911 any time.

In the library 811 for a poem or rhyme.

Poetry Hunt
Cut out magazine pictures of different objects and glue them on index cards. Place the cards in a sack and have each child draw one. Can they find a poem to go with their picture? Where could they look to find a poem?

IT'S RAINING! IT'S POURING!

Rainy Day Reads

Make a special place to read on rainy days by opening a large umbrella and putting it in a cozy corner in your classroom.  Put some books and stuffed animals under it and your children won't be able to resist!  
Note!  Limit two at a time and they'll be lining up for their turn!

                            

The Water Cycle (Tune: “My Darlin’ Clementine”)
Evaporation (Push palms up.)
Condensation (Hands together in air.)
Precipitation all around (Wiggle fingers down.)  
Accumulation (Sweep arms in circle.)  
Evaporation (Push palms up.)  
The water cycle goes
Round and round (Make circles with arms.)


Rain in a Jar Experiment

Fill a large glass jar with very hot water. Set a pie pan full of ice cubes on top of the mouth of the jar and observe what happens. Encourage students to draw observations.


Story Bracelet

Children will be able to retell the water cycle with this bead bracelet. Have them string on the following beads as they repeat the water cycle:
Evaporation - clear bead
Condensation - white bead (cloud)
Precipitation - blue bead (rain)
Accumulation - brown bead (puddle)

Sun - yellow bead

Evaporation - clear bead

                           

Make Rain
Make “rain” as a transition activity to quiet children. Hold up one palm and tap with one finger from the other hand. Next, slowly add another finger and tape with two, then three, four, and five. (At this point you can also stomp your feet to make thunder.) Reverse the process by tapping with five fingers, then four, three, two, one. Quietly place your hands in your lap. It will really sound like a rain storm is coming and then going away. 

HE IS RISEN

As a Christian, this is the most amazing day for me! Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and because He died for me I know I'll be in Glory Land one day with all my family members, friends, teachers, and others who have touched my life. (Yes, I'm smiling because I think I'll get to see some of my dogs as well.)

Isaiah 55:12 is one of my favorite verses because today I want to "burst into song" and share the good news! Hallelujah! Jesus is alive!

For you shall go out in joy, and be lead back in peace; the mountains and hills 

before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

I CAN LAY EGGS

Are you busy dying eggs, hunting eggs, or laying eggs today? Here's a true story about how I used to lay eggs for my kindergarteners. 

In the old days we had a "snack" that we provided. We tried to encourage the children to try healthy foods and so one day we had hard boiled eggs. I think the kids groaned when they came in from recess and saw the hard boiled eggs on the table. While they weren't looking I took an egg, tucked it in my skirt between my legs, sat down on the floor, and started flapping my arms like a chicken as I made a clucking sound. I released the egg, stood up, and they all thought I'd laid the egg. They said, "Do it again! Do it again!" I explained that I was all worn out from laying their eggs for snack, but the next time we had hard boiled eggs I'd do it again. Well, guess what? They wanted hard boiled eggs for snack every day. As time went on they became much wiser and made me turn around to make sure I didn't have an egg behind me...yes, I became wiser as well...but I can't tell you all my secrets!

Here's another funny story about an egg hunt. I was visiting a Head Start when a mother brought in a big bag of duck eggs. They were brown and green and beautiful. The teacher remarked, "They are still warm. Wasn't that nice of her to boil them for us?" Well, the next day the teachers hid the eggs on the playground, but this story doesn't have a happy ending. Apparently, the eggs were not cooked. They were just warm from being under the ducks or in the car. They cracked all over the children, their baskets, their clothes...you get the picture.


Bird Nest Snack
Give each child a Rice Crispie treat to mold into a nest. Put a few jelly beans in the nest and place a marshmallow “peep” on top. (Yeah, I know this is total junk and you probably can’t do it at school, but my grandkids enjoyed making these for our Easter dinner last year.)

       

Blessings for a beautiful weekend wherever you are and whatever you are doing!

SENSES

Senses are like pathways to the brain, and children can learn about them with this song.

Senses (Tune: BINGO)
There are five senses that we use to help us learn each day.
See (Point to eyes.)
Hear (Point to ears.)
Smell (Point to nose.)
Taste (Point to mouth.)
Touch (Hold up hands.)
See, hear, smell, taste, touch,
See, hear, smell, taste, touch,
We use them every day.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-jMyDR6kSQ


Sense Walk
*Go on a walk and have children touch various objects. “How does it feel?”
*Have them close their eyes and try to identify objects by their sense of touch.
*Take a listening walk where children close their eyes and try to identify different sounds in the environment.


Descriptive Writing 

Give children a clipboard and encourage them to explore the playground as they fill in the blanks (write or draw pictures). Let children share their findings with classmates and then put their pages together to make a class book.

BLOCK BOOK AND PLAY DOUGH BOOK

These books are a perfect way to integrate literacy in practical ways in learning centers. Children will be engineers and mathematicians as they develop small motor skills and eye-hand coordination.


BLOCK BOOK
1. Cut small squares and rectangles similar to unit blocks out of construction paper.
2. Arrange on file folders to make structures similar to the ones shown.



3. Punch holes and bind together to make a book.
4. Place in the block center and challenge children to look at the designs and then make them with the blocks.
5. Can they look at the design and then turn it over and make it without looking?


PLAY DOUGH BOOK
1. Write “Can you make lines?” at the top of one folder.
Make lines similar to the one shown.

2. Draw curves on another folder and write “Can you make curves?” at the top.

3. Make shapes (square, rectangle, circle, triangle) on another folder and write “Can you make shapes?”

4. Draw simple objects (nest and eggs, hotdogs, bunny, etc.) on the last folder and write “What else can you make?”

5. Punch holes in the folders and attach with book rings.

6. Place the book in a center with play dough and challenge the children to roll the dough and place it on top of the lines and shapes.

ENGINEERS

Engineering is the design process used to solve problems and build things. Children are natural engineers as they play with blocks and Legos, create things in art, or build a fort outside with their friends. Here are a few other activities that will give your little “engineers” a job. 

Engineer Planning Book
Write “Engineer Planning Book” on the cover of the notebook. Explain that engineers draw a plan and then try to build their design. Place the book in the block center along with a pencil and encourage children to draw their idea and then try to build it.

Cups and Plates
Little guys to big kids will be challenged to build structures with simple materials like plates and cups.

Lunch Bag City
Buildings and houses from lunch bags are fun to construct and use to create a community, reproduce a scene from a book, or design a city of the future. Take 2 lunch bags and open them up. Fill one with crushed newspaper. Insert the second bag on top and then decorate with markers, construction paper scraps, etc.