Using poetry in a reading and writing workshop can help students to develop their understanding of literary devices and techniques, as well as their own writing skills. To teach poetry to older elementary students, you can follow these steps.
How to Begin Teaching Poetry
Introduce the concept of poetry. Explain what poetry is, its different forms, and why it is an important form of expression. Have students examine the poetry and write down the text features. What do they notice and how is poetry different from a story? This is a lesson from the first day of the reading workshop that introduces poetry. Students can record the features on the note-taking sheet.
Reading Poetry
Read poems together. Have a wide variety of poems to choose from. You can use the mentor texts that are provided in the workshop or poetry books from the library. Choose poems that are simple, engaging, and age-appropriate for the students. Ask questions and encourage them to share their thoughts and feelings about the poems.
Writing Poetry
One of the best ways to get students to understand poetry is to have them copy poems from books they have read. This helps them to get a feel for poetry and create a collection of poems. When they are comfortable, they can move on to becoming authors of poetry. Have students write their own poems. Give students time to brainstorm, write and revise their own poems. Encourage them to play with language and explore different forms of poetry.
Analyze poems. Teach students how to analyze poems by looking at elements such as imagery, rhyme, meter, and figurative language. Write their noticings down on an anchor chart for reference.
Celebrating
Share and celebrate student work. Allow students to share their poems with the class and offer positive feedback. Consider creating a poetry anthology or hosting a poetry reading to celebrate the students' work. Remember to keep the activities and lessons interactive, engaging, and fun. Poetry can be a great way to foster creativity and self-expression in students. Below is a list of the lessons included in the poetry workshop.
Poetry Reading and Writing Workshop is available for grades 2-6. Click on any of the pictures to go to the TpT store.
Learn how to get every student writing poetry in just 4 days. Click here to visit this webinar.
Tier 1 is known as the start of literacy instruction. It is the time when educators teach the entire class a lesson. It is almost always based on a specific grade level standard that needs to be covered and is appropriate for the average reader at that grade level. So tier 1 instruction is the overarching blanket of instruction that every reader at that grade level should receive. Often time for the majority of students, this is the most instruction that they need before going off to practice the skill on their own. However, some students are reading below grade level, or beyond their grade level, and these students require additional support.
Students reading 1 or 2-grade levels below their matching grade level need additional support on top of their tier 1 instruction, this is known as tier 2 instruction. In a tier 2 level of instruction, students meet in groups of 3, 4 at the most, to receive additional support on top of their whole group tier 1 instruction. This instruction will target a specific skill that students have demonstrated a lack of understanding in. Typically a research and evidence-based intervention program is used to provide instruction. Usually this happens about 3 to 4 times a week here. Again, this can vary based on schedules and student needs. Tier 2 interventions last approximately 20 minutes. They can be led by the classroom teacher, a specialized teacher, or maybe even a trained aid, tutor, or school volunteer. To be effective the intervention program must be implemented with fidelity. Often times the teacher collects data in the form of running records and comprehension checks. On average, in a tier 2 intervention, the teacher conducts a running record on each student either weekly or bi-weekly to track reading progress. This also allows you to monitor whether the student is making gains with this intervention.
When a student does not show enough progress through data collection in a tier 2 intervention, he/she may require a more intense form of instruction. This is known as a tier 3 intervention. In tier 3 interventions the instruction is often more intense, it lasts longer, and it is more individualized. It will happen on a one-on-one basis. More data will be collected in a tier 3 intervention as well. This is often for students who are 2 or more years below their grade level. Running records are typically taken weekly and more data for progress monitoring is collected. The type of instruction in tier 3 is often the same research or evidence-based curriculum being used in tier 2 but at a more intense one-on-one support level. If a student still is showing no signs of progress after going through all tiers of instruction, it may be time to explore more alternative options for instruction, such as testing for special education services.
Several teachers have approached me before asking how they can revive or motivate their reluctant readers. This issue seems to be a common problem for teachers alike. So I thought I would take a minute to share some ideas on reading motivation. Today I'll be sharing 4 ideas and mindsets to help even the most reluctant readers in your class. These strategies have worked for me over my years as a classroom teacher and I'm sure they can help you and your students as well!
You’d be surprised at how often our kids are simply responding to our own attitudes. If we come into class tired and really down, they're probably going to follow our lead. But, if we come super excited they’re going to hopefully follow that lead as well. So be really excited about the books that your reading. Get really into it, even dramatic. I promise you, its okay.
One year when I was teaching fifth grade, I had a group of students that got really into the Bermuda Triangle. They couldn’t understand what was happening to all the boats and the planes. It turned into a huge mystery within our class. So guess what I did, I collected as many books about the Bermuda Triangle as I could find: informational books, option books, magazines, articles, chapter books, picture books, personal narratives. Any type of book, realistic or fiction, that I could find about the Bermuda Triangle, I collected. This got my kids, who originally weren’t very motivated, really interested in reading those books. Because we were socially engaging in conversation so much around the Bermuda Triangle, they wanted to read about it as well. They were really motivated. We also got really into Bigfoot that year, whether the Sasquatch was real or not, so I also collected a bunch of books about that. So whatever your class gets really involved and into, start collecting books and articles around that topic and build it up.
So if you have kids who are reluctant readers but know they are really into video games, look for articles or books, about cheat codes or how to win a video game. Get them excited about those types of readings. When you have a reluctant reader but have a book they’re interested in finding out about, it changes their whole demeanor.
When you are talking to your students about books that their reading, sometimes we can get caught up in collecting grades or taking notes from them, but let's just try to pause for a second. Have a conversation about books just for fun. Model to them what real readers in the real world outside of your reading workshop class do when they talk about books. Ask questions like “Did you like the book? Was it fun? Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing!” And if you only are getting one-word answers from them, be really engaged and interested. Make good eye contact and just focus on that conversation. I know as teachers we have 1000 things going on, but just slow down, and take a minute with those reluctant readers. Tell them that's fascinating. If they mention something about a boat getting lost in the Bermuda Triangle, tease their interest. “You're kidding me?! It got lost? I need to know more about this.” I use this specific three-word phrase all the time: “Tell me more.” And they’ll reply with “Well the boat just never got back.” You know, because they don't really want to talk, they’re reluctant. So I'll say “It got lost? How in the world did it get lost? Tell me more!” And I'll change the way I phrase “tell me more” so that they stay engaged and I slowly begin to peel the reluctance back layer by layer. That simple phrase gets them thinking intrinsically to want to say things about the book they're reading.
If you’ve ever struggled to keep your mini-lessons in reading and writing actually mini, trust me, you are not alone. I've lost count of how many time I've walked into class thinking I could finish the lesson in 10 – 12 minutes and next thing I know, 20 minutes had gone by and I wasn’t even close to being done. When I realized how long my mini-lessons were really taking I sought out on a mission to find a way to keep them actually mini so my students had more time to practice reading and writing independently each day. Heres 5 quick steps that I've followed for years to eliminate all kinds of unnecessary time and keep my mini-lessons super focused and intentional.
These are the three BIG questions I get asked all the time!
I a great book about teaching kids the beauty of living in the moment.
is a super cute book about a little dog who is teased by a cat who tells him no one loves him. The dog is sad, until one day he meets another dog just like him.
is a great book about learning to be yourself. Stephanie goes to school and everyone copies her ponytail style. She gets so mad she plays a trick on her whole class and even her teacher that no one will forget!
is a fascinating true story of courage and bravery as one woman makes the daring and illegal decision to put herself inside a barrel and go over Niagara Falls!
is a great book to help young writers who struggle. Every student has a story to write, and Ralph learns this by the end of the book.
is a true story of a librarian who hides all the books in her hometown library 9 days before troops burn the building down.
is a beautifully written story about a girl named Farah who moved to America
is set in the Savannah safari and told from the perspective of a young, impatient monkey and his mother, both waiting for their safe turn to get water at the water hole. There are lots of opportunities to make inferences about why the monkeys must be careful and wait!
is a wordless picture book about frogs leaving the pond and taking flight through the town at night! Without words, it's a great book to teach inferring skills!
is a wonderful story about a refugee boy who moves to America with his mom and little sister after losing his father in war. They learn how to live in a brand new scary world, and Sangoel comes up with a creative way to be sure that everyone can say his name correctly and keep honoring his home country.
is a fun story that kids can use their background knowledge about their family visiting.
is a true story about how kids all over the world can get their hands on library books. It's very fascinating to see how different kids lives all over the world!
is an incredible true story about a woman living in Kenya who realized she needed to save her land when thousands of trees were cut down with no new ones planted.
is a cute book about friendship that has many idioms and themes. It's also a great book to teach inferring.
is a wonderful story based on real events. It's about a boy who lives way up in the mountains with his family. No one is nearby, including schools. A woman rides on a horse to bring the family new books every two weeks, and from her long journeys, the boy discovers joy in reading.
is a true story about a boy who overcomes all odds and proves that living with a disability doesn't mean you can't do big things!
is a book about the young life of Malala as she fought to have the right to go to school and keep her family safe from the Taliban.
is a great book to help kids who worry too much.
is the story of how a young girl kept a tiny lotus seed her entire life to remember her childhood and homeland. When her grandson plants the seed she is devastated. But, as the seed blossoms, she's reminded of her early years.
is about an old lady who had outlived everyone she loved. So, to keep from being lonely, she named her things. Her chair had a name. Her car had a name. One day she finds a dog and is scared to name it because she doesn't want to outlive him too. The story of friendship is wonderful.
proves that a little girl can be just as good at caring from beehives as the big strong men in the village. The story is a tale from Africa with great cultural lessons and many themes to analyze.
is such an awesome book! It's about a little girl who seeks to create the most magnificent thing, but she struggles to find all the pieces she needs. She uses her imagination and perseveres to make it all happen!
is a memoir from the author's childhood. It's a beautiful story of a young girl and her father who go on a crow hunt and reconnect after he'd been away in the war for so long.
is a story of fantasy, where a little girl goes on a wild imagination journey, requesting her bunny rabbit be returned to her.
