GigglePoetry.com

I found this site with a lot of resources for poetry activities for the classroom.  Giggle Poetry offers many ways to learn about and have fun with poetry.  The site includes ways to help students write their own poetry, tongue-twisters, reader's theater poems for students to practice reading poetry together, and tons of other poems to read just for fun.  Many of these poems can inspire your students to create their own.

image: microsoft

Writing Activities: "Swamps of Sleethe" (Poetry)

If you haven't ventured to the Swamps of Sleethe, you may be missing out on an excellent opportunity for writing lessons and activities.  This picture book by renowned author Jack Prelutsky touts itself as "Poems from Beyond the Solar System."  It's a perfect accompaniment to science lessons about space and poetry activities.  The book is a 2009 Parent's Choice Silver Honor Book, and it really is a delightful read aloud (be prepared for a mouthful!).

The book can help students learn about alliteration and figurative language as they journey through space to imaginary locations.  Dangers lurk in every corner of the undiscovered reaches of the galaxy:  there are the murky swamps of Sleethe that hide "abhorrent" creatures, the icy discomfort of Drifig Prime (where visitors must beware lest they freeze), and the inhabitants of Gazook like to consume children in their chowder!  There are 19 poems in all, describing different places that present different dangers to the reader. They are fun to read, like tongue-twisting Dr. Seuss stories, as they warn the readers of various perils of planets beyond our solar system.  There is good reason to use the book for vocabulary practice as well; words like "expire," "unabated," "mucid," and "eviscerate" are throughout the book.  The author cleverly disguised certain locations by making them anagrams, and provided answers in the back of the book.  Can you guess why a cold planet might be named DRIFIG Prime?

After reading this book, I would assign students to design a poem and illustration in the style of Swamps of Sleethe, but focused on a planet in our solar system.  Or, they could make up their own planet and use an anagram to disguise its name.  I think students would have fun being creative modeling their poems after Prelutsky's.  They could describe the physical characteristics of their planet by making them sound dangerous and threatening, like the places in the picture book.  They could even make up alien inhabitants, like those of Gazook.  

Random House's Teacher's Guide contains a crossword and visualization activity that may also be useful for this book.

A Week's Worth of Poetry Activities

Check out this wonderful resource from Kevin Cummins.  This is a "digital literacy activity" that shows examples of several types of poetry and even provides a rubric for grading your class' poetry activities.  You can simply follow along and introduce many facets of the genre to your students.

Digital literacy activity – a weeks worth of poetry

View more presentations from Kevin Cummins

source:  Fiona Beal

Activities and Resources for Learning Outdoors

I've compiled a list of activities that you can do with your class on great weather days.  Inspired by the sunny, cloudless skies and idyllic temperatures I've been experiencing lately, I thought it would be a good idea to think of some ways to take learning outside the classroom.


These activities take advantage of great weather in any season, but are especially useful for end-of-year lessons.  After exams are taken and students begin to get restless, it may be just what you need to get outside in the sun and do some of that active learning that's beneficial for the brain.


Try these on for size:

• *BUILD AND FLY KITES*

This is a really awesome activity shown in detail on Mr. Salsich's classroom blog.  He has two videos describing the kite-making activity.  You can really see all the time and effort placed into this project, which encouraged kids to use their math skills to design, test and perfect their kites.

In the first video, you can see them working together on the kites.  In the second, you can see all their hard work pay off in their fun kite-flying session.  They had a ball and applied their math skills.  Love it!

• *DESIGN BUBBLE PRINTS*

This cool craft activity can be done inside, but playing with bubbles and paint could be a great opportunity to take kids outdoors.  The video shows how simple the process is, and recommends using the finished products for things like book designs.  The colorful prints would make nice book covers for some of the students' creative writing, which could also be done outside.

• *CREATE SOLAR OVENS*

This is an activity I found on Scholastic's Classroom Solutions Blog.  Stacey's class used pizza boxes to construct solar ovens and cook s'mores.  A lesson on solar energy and a tasty treat!  Her blog contains some information about her activity, as well as links she used.

Another Scholastic link gives Beth Newingham's ideas for going green at school and references a similar activity with solar ovens.  She used a great resource at FamilyFun for Solar S'mores.

• *SCHOLASTIC'S SUN ACTIVITIES*

Speaking of the sun, Scholastic also has a great list of activities to do outside using the sun's energy.  They suggest taking a "solar stroll," complete with a reproducible, making a shadow play, using solar kilns, and more.

• *IDENTIFY LINES, ANGLES AND GEOMETRIC FIGURES AROUND THE SCHOOL*

Ms. Jessica White's classroom blog has a great video that shows her class embarking on a journey around campus during a math lesson.  Check out some of the places where they found parallel and perpendicular lines, plus a lot more! 

• *CREATE NATURE COLLAGES*

Have the class walk around outside to collect some of nature to add to an Alphabet Collage.  This blogger added beans, couscous and a few other items to her kids' leaves, pebbles, flowers and other findings so that they could create letters of the alphabet.  You can also turn this artistic activity into poetry practice by making the letters smaller so that students can make acrostic poems.

• *ORGANIZE ACTIVITIES WITHIN A CAMPING THEME*

This idea comes from Victoria's Scholastic Blog.  She came up with a camping-themed event at her school where students could go outside and participate in several math and science activities.  Check out her blog and see pics and explanations of the event, where kids did fun things that helped them practice measurement.

• *PLAN A VOCABULARY PARADE*

Another great idea from Scholastic classroom blogs:  Angela Bunyi wanted her class to demonstrate their understanding of vocabulary words by creating costumes representations.  Next, they went outside and held a parade to show off their cool creations.  Visit her blog to see pictures of the event.  She planned this parade in lieu of a Halloween activity, but dressing up for vocabulary would be a neat activity any time of year.

Angela adapted this activity from Debra Frasier's books and ideas.  Visit her site for more ideas on how to plan a vocabulary parade.

• *READ OR WRITE OUTSIDE*

Keep it simple and take your students outside to read, write prose or poetry, or observe nature and the action outside.

• *TRACE AND MEASURE SHADOWS*

Here is a activity that gives students a chance to explore the relationship between the sun and shadows.  Try this as a guide to the activity.

In fact, using sidewalk chalk and concrete is a good basis for many outdoors activities.  You can design a lot of review games based around hopscotch or drawing with sidewalk chalk.

Creating a sun dial may also be a good way to examine the sun and shadows.

• *MAKE A VOLCANO ERUPT*

That's just what Mitch Squires' class did on a nice day for a science lesson.  They went outside and used their play dough and plastic bottle creations to simulate volcanic eruptions.   Watch the video and go to his blog for details.

• *CREATE A GAME, OR DEVISE A TREASURE HUNT*

These activities are listed on Scholastic and even include printables.  Students will love coming up with their own outdoor games and creating all the rules, or going on a treasure hunt as a fun challenge.

I hope you're enjoying the glorious weather!  Use it as an opportunity to teach and enjoy learning!

images:  microsoft

Two Creative Poetry Activities

School Library Journal's Fuse 8 blog encourages us to use some creative activities to celebrate Poetry Month.  These ideas would be ideal in an advanced classroom.  They use techniques some may find unfamiliar and unconventional, but that could manifest as fresh appeal to students and broaden their interest in poetry.  If you're looking to journey beyond the haiku, try out these two Fuse 8's tips:

• The Newspaper Blackout Poem, created by artist Austin Kleon.  His website shows tons of examples.  The basic idea is to build your own context to words in newspaper articles by obscuring all the other words with a dark marker.  This activity allows students to reveal their own short poems, proverbs, aphorisms and other messages.

• Fibonacci Poems, which creator Greg Pincus affectionately calls "Fibs," are a good way to integrate math in a poetry lesson.  This challenging activity requires students to use the Fibonacci sequence to construct their poem.  If math and numbers appeal to your students, I think they'd like this!  

I like these activities because they help students focus on using a few words to great effect.  

Fuse 8 has other creative poetry activities listed (including poems about food and daunting 20 consonant poems), so check out the link!

Poetry Activities: Shel Silverstein

Shel Silverstein’s books (which include classics like Falling Up, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and others) are excellent resources to have for exploring poetry.  Since April is National Poetry month, a simple visit to Silverstein’s official site provides several ideas for using his work in the classroom over the next few weeks.

Here are a few suggestions:

·      Here is a list of Poetry Month activities.  You can work with students to uncover rhymes, deciphering mood, identifying personification and much more by using some of these ideas.

·      Students can examine poetry and illustrate their visualizations in these two amusing printable booklets. 

·      There is also a lesson plan for Silverstein’s Runny Babbit book.  More poetry exploration and practice for fluency is encouraged.

·      Even more poetry printables! 

           

Check out the site for more information on the author and his work.  His books and activities are always a great way to inspire a love of poetry within students.

-Veronica