Poetry Read Alouds

a blog post about poetry read alouds

Hello book lovers and friends! My name is Alisha and I blog over at Missing Tooth Grins. I love reading all of Jen’s blog posts (she is seriously so creative!) and I feel so honored to be able to write a post on her blog about my favorite things-books! As I’m sure you know, April is National Poetry Month. I always love to line my whiteboard with my collection of poetry books and I try to read a few poems a day, whenever we can fit it in. I think it’s so important for my kids to hear me read all types of text at various times, not just for lessons, but for them to just enjoy hearing literature.

I always like to tell my firsties that the great thing about poetry is that they can make you laugh, cry, and think! They like to tell me what the purpose of the poem was, “Oh Mrs. G, that one was written to make us laugh.”

I’m excited to share with you my favorite children’s poetry books!

The very first one I’m introducing is one that makes you laugh. I bet $100 (not really, I don’t have that kind of moolah…I’m a teacher) that you have this book and that you know it like the back of your hand. If you don’t, maybe that’s just me and I’m crazy. The book is Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. The poem I’m going to bring up is Sick. I had this poem memorized when I was 8 years old. It’s always the first poem I read to my class. It opens up a lot of dialogue too.

“Why did she say she was sick if she really wasn’t?”

“Would you ever make up those symptoms so you could stay home from school?”

“Why did Peggy Sue go outside to play?”

This book is filled with so many other wonderfully hilarious poems that your kids will love! Our class favorites are: Recipe for a Hippopotamus Sandwich (I have a little boy obsessed with hippos this year), Spaghetti, Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out, The Crocodile’s Toothache, Hector the Collector, Boa Constrictor, etc.

The second book is Hi, Koo! A Year of Seasons by Jon J. Muth. This is such a sweet book. Each page in the book has a haiku. I love how on the first page, the author explains what a haiku is and how poetry has evolved. Before this book, I really had no idea that poetry has evolved so much that many poets do not restrict themselves to the 5-7-5 syllable pattern. Did you?

When reading this book, I like to have the kids point out the words on each page that follows the ABC pattern that the other mentions (hint hint: the alphabetical words are capitalized). I also like to read this book when talking about season. It is great at capturing the senses and using sensory language.

The last book is Every Day’s a Dog’s Day: A Year in Poems by Marilyn Singer. Apparently, I like yearly poem books. If you follow my blog, then you know I love my doggie so this poetry book is a no brainer for me. I love how this book leads you through the year. Another great book for seasons! It takes you right through the holidays, in order, and has a sweet doggie poem for each one. I love the details that the author mentions in each poem that really hits home if you have a sweet pup.

I also like this one for making connections because most of the kids in my class have a dog at home. The poem above is a great one to read on the first day of school when your kids, even you, have mixed emotions about losing summer and being back a school. You can remind them how their pets feel too-how they’re sad to see you go, but they knew summer had to end.

It also opens up great discussion for the holidays that are written about, but not named…

“What holiday would the first/last cookout of the summer be on?”

“What season is Leaf-Kicking Day?”

If you are a dog lover, or your kids are dog lovers, then this book is a must-have in your classroom.

I could share so many more (seriously, my whiteboard is completely lined with them)! These three are my favorites and they’re always the first ones I read when April comes along. What are your favorite poetry books?