Hello Readers!
This
week I want to talk about National Poetry Month and Poem in Your Pocket Day. As
a 5th grade ELA teacher, I make it a point to introduce my students
to various genres of literature. This month there will be a focus on poetry.
Earlier in the year, my students were exposed to a short mini-unit of poetry
introducing them to five common types of poetry and some of the poetic
elements. For this month, our focus will turn more towards sharing and reading
poems.
My students are
familiar with reading poems fluently because they have practiced and performed
during our class Fluency Idol competitions in November and January. During
April, I would like my students to participate in Poem in Your Pocket. The
actual date is set for April 27th, but since my class has state
testing that day I plan to make it a full week from April 3rd
through April 7th. Each student will have the opportunity to
self-select a poem from a collection of poems I have gathered. Students will
need to keep their poem with them at all times during the school day because
every time they pass an adult, they will read their poem aloud with fluency. In
order to prevent redundancy, students will only need to read their poem to the
same adult once per a day. This will be my first time experimenting with this
assignment, so I am looking forward to seeing how it all pans out!
In addition to having
my students share poems with adults in the school building, I will share poems
with my two ELA classes. I hope to read a poem every day for the month of April.
This will provide my students with a model of fluent reading and will potentially
open up the dialogue for poetry analysis. I can’t wait to show students the fun
of poetry!
Until Next Time,
~A
