A Child's Garden of Poetry

Good morning, reader!  What a fun time of year this is at school.  I know my students so well and they know my expectations, goals, routines, and sense of humor.  I just love it and try to take moments to appreciate how far we have come as individual learners and a classroom community. 

Specifically, it's been really fun to rejoice in these moments throughout our poetry unit.  I love the little poets that are growing before my eyes! 

Yesterday we watched "A Child's Garden of Poetry."  It's a 24-minute special from HBO and just lovely.  It's basically children talking about the power of poetry and sharing their favorite verses, which are then read by actors such as Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Dave Matthews, and more.  Check out more or order your own copy here.

You can also preview some of my students' favorites below.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

Question Blitz & Quick Research

We're doing a Document-Based Question (DBQ) this week on Westward Expansion. (Check out my page on Teachers Pay Teachers for your very own copy!)

The last two days we looked at the documents and I was struck by how many great questions the students asked. So today we explored these questions in a "Question Blitz." I gave the students five minutes to see how many questions they could come up with.

Then we took about ten or fifteen minutes to find as much information as we could to answer our question online. I mean, isn't that how we do research these days anyway? Have a question...ask google!

It was awesome to see the students so engaged and eager to see what they could find. And I learned a TON, too!

Poetry Stations

We had lot of fun last week doing SEVEN poetry stations, including discovery, interpretation, creation, and performance.

One of the favorite stations included magnetic poetry. I bought my set of "Really Big Words" on Amazon.

Some students even added the twist of combining magnets with written words.

Mood Music

This week we've been learning about mood in writing.  I introduced the concept with a tweaked version of this anchor chart.

Then we practiced finding the mood in our own texts and used this graphic organizer, a clever play on "Mood Rings," to add in text evidence.

The next day we watched this short animated video and talked about how music is often used in movies to convey mood.

"The Piano"

To practice, students have been given one of twenty passages to find accompanying music.  Here's my sample (text from Ray Bradbury's short story The Long Rain).

Where did I get that awesome somber music you may ask??  Freeplay Music is perfect for this assignment.  It's a database of free instrumental music that's searchable my genre, tempo, instrument, and feeling.  Perfection.

I can't wait to hear what my students share!

Show Me

Have you heard of the app "Show Me?"  It's rocking our world at school.

Before SB my students and I tried it out for story mountains.  I am in L-O-V-E.  It was so fast and easy and a great way to informally assess each kiddo.  Follow us!  http://www.showme.com/Amy-Sheets

There are so many great ways to use it.  I'm excited to try integrating it into our poetry unit soon.

So jump on the bandwagon!  You won't be sorry.

April Fools

Today one of ATP's sweet students brought in cupcakes for her birthday! 

They sang and wished her a great day, and then she said, "April Fools!"  I was so impressed with the wit of this fifth grader!  What a fun (and yummy!) way to play a clever joke.

Any other teachers out there have a great April Fools story?  I'm always stumped!

Whole Class Journals

A few weeks ago I came across this blog, and her brilliant and EASY idea of whole class journals, including FREE printables and directions.

So I created this quick set of eight notebooks to get it started right away in my classroom.

 

So far they have been a big hit and gotten students excited about writing.  Plus, stickers are involved:)

Each writer signs his or her name and then puts a sticker on the cover to show how many entries the journal has.  I'm hoping they last a few years and develop a great collection of student work.

Plus I'm counting on them being worth a good deal of money when my little authors start publishing books someday!