Poetry Friday

A few years ago when Karen from Literate Lives was teaching 5th grade with me, we had numerous conversations about Language Arts, but I really changed my poetry instruction after our conversations.  I began to implement Poetry Friday.  Poetry Friday for my class is when the students have at least 15-20 minutes to explore our class poetry books. The students are able to sign up to share the poem aloud to the class while standing on  “potty stools.”  After the students share, I then lead the class in a mini lesson starting the year with looking at different types of figurative language using the poems that the students just shared.

This year I will start Poetry Friday with a newly published book that I bought at my favorite teacher’s bookstore called Fundamentals in Delaware, OH.  The owner, Tami, is extremely knowledgeable about children’s books.  Her store reminds me of the small independent bookstore in the movie You’ve Got Mail. There is nothing better than going there to just hang out to discuss and read some great books.

 I purchased There’s No Place Like School: Classroom Poems are selected by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Jane Manning. I already have many Jack Prelutsky books so I will love adding it to his tub.  I chose this book for several reasons.

First of all I love the colorful illustrations, which are bright, funny, and the character’s facial  expressions are wonderful.  You could use the book later for a mentor text for inferences by having the students look into the character’s eyes and use the text to support their inference.


Next, the titles are amazing and really caught my attention

     *Not Fair (perfect for 5th graders)
    *Why the Class Frog is Purple (and it really is)
     *When the Teacher Isn’t Looking (you can only imagine)

Lastly,  I am extremely excited to introduce my new class to a new book and start with some funny poems.  I think I will start with " The Drinking Fountain"  by Kenn Nesbitt which starts with these opening lines:

The drinking fountain squirted me.
It shot right up my nose.
It felt as if I’d stuck my nostril on the garden hose.

Perhaps this poem will lead to some funny summer stories-you never know in the classroom.  That is the fun part of being there!

** For more Poetry Friday fun, check out Szofia at the Stenhouse blog this week.