Fun Poetry Activities for Elementary Students

When I first started teaching it was very common for students to start school with lots of background knowledge of nursery rhymes and tongue twisters. It was almost as if these were a rite of passage through the preschool years. However, times have changed along with "norms" that we may have come to expect. 

Our students don't start school with the same knowledge and skills as in previous years. So, how do we make sure our students are getting exposure to poetry today? I'm going to share some of my favorite fun and engaging ways to teach poetry your students will love.

Why Is Poetry Important?

Teaching poetry has many different benefits which is why it is a language arts standard in grades 1 - 5. 

Poetry helps children to build early literacy skills. It helps emerging readers as they develop rhyming skills and phonemic awareness.  It encourages students to play with words and their meanings. It exposes students to varying sentence structures and writing styles.  And . . . poetry sparks creativity and helps with memory.

Aside from literature, poetry also teaches children about the world. It introduces them to the ideas and feelings of others. It teaches students how to look at the world from different perspectives.  

This is so important in today's world. Poetry can help us to respect and understand each other and our viewpoints. It can essentially teach us how to be better people. 

Teaching Poetry

The idea of teaching poetry can seem like just another standard to check off your list, but with these ideas to teach poetry that your students will love I think your mindset will change.

There are many different types of poems we can introduce to our students. The depth and content of the poems will, of course, depend on the age of your class. 

I like to teach poetry by providing tons of examples and allowing my students to create poems of their own. Because of this, I provide them each with a poetry book.

As we work through our unit, we fill out the pages in their poetry book together. After they complete the poetry book, they end up having a definition and an example of each type of poem we study. The book serves as an awesome reference guide for them to use throughout our poetry unit and even afterward. 

Once we've learned about one type of poem and explored some examples, then we always try our hand at writing that type of poetry.

You may want to consider teaching poetry throughout the year. Choosing one poem type to focus on each month allows you to really explore each type of poem at a deeper level than doing one unit on poetry. It also ensures your students have a solid understanding of each type of poem.

Acrostic Poems

I like to begin with Acrostic poems. Using our school mascot, I like to work with my students as a class to complete an example on the board. We come up with words to describe the mascot based on each of the letters in the word. After they get the hang of it, students write their own acrostic poems using their names. This makes it so much fun and helps them make a personal connection to the poem. They write their final version of the acrostic poem in their poetry book.

Teaching Poetry Just Got Easier

What if I told you ideas to teach poetry that your students will love are in one place? 

Yep! My Poetry Writing Unit contains everything you need to get your students excited about poetry. Using their own poetry books, students will learn about the elements of 12 different poetry types. The unit is available in both print and digital forms which makes the prep so easy! 

The unit includes:

• Anchor Charts for each poem
• Student Poetry Book
• Lesson Plans
• YouTube poetry videos
• Examples of Poems
• Digital and Printable versions
• Culminating Activity

I know this Poetry Writing Unit will inspire you and your students to explore different types of poetry in your classroom. Your students will be pros at reading and writing poetry before you know it!

Save these Poetry Ideas for Later

Be sure to save these tips for teaching poetry to elementary students to your favorite classroom Pinterest board so you have plenty of ideas for teaching poetry that your students will love.

Helping students fall in love with poetry is just...

My Kind of Teaching!

Engaging St. Patrick’s Day Activities Your Students Will Love

Holidays are always such a fun and exciting time in the classroom. Students are eager to celebrate with classroom parties, treats and games. That is all good and fun, but I also like to use holidays as a time to learn as well! Incorporating holidays into everyday lessons gets students excited to learn and helps them to stay focused and engaged. During the school year, we celebrate many fun holidays, which means tons of opportunities to turn the fun holiday season into an educational moment as well. March is here, Spring is in the air, and it is time to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Here are some of my favorite ways to incorporate the lucky Irish holiday into classroom learning your students will love!

We all know how much our students love using technology in the classroom. Digital resources can help keep students engaged during learning which is always a good thing in my book. Google apps are a fantastic digital option for teaching in the classroom, doing virtual e-learning, or for homeschooling students! They are simple and easy to use for both teachers and students. One of my favorite Google apps is Google Slides. Students can work through the slides one by one interacting with text, images and/or videos. They also get experience using the mouse, typing, and other technology skills. It's a great platform for digital learning activities.

Let’s dive into some of these fun St. Patrick’s Day activities you can use on Google Slides! 

All About Ireland

You can’t talk about St. Patrick’s Day without talking about Ireland! This Ireland country study makes a great social studies lesson to use around the Irish holiday.

I love using teaching my students all about Ireland by using these interactive research activities. Then students are provided with related writing activities to help them assimilate the information they learned.

My students love learning in a variety of ways and this digital lesson has it all. With clickable buttons, they can watch videos, read information, and listen to songs all about the country of Ireland.

They love learning facts about the country, history, and cultural activities like Gaelic football. Traditions like kissing the blarney stone and watching Irish dancing are also fun for students to learn about! It is a great way to teach about a different country and make comparisons with our own.

Learning All About Ireland is the perfect way to kick off your St. Patrick's Day study or activities.

Let’s Learn About Potatoes!

Typically when we think of St. Patrick’s Day we think of all things green, shamrocks, blarney stones, and leprechauns…not potatoes!! But truthfully it is a part of Irish culture that brings with it lots of great learning opportunities for students.

I love to include it in my St. Patrick’s Day lessons and students enjoy learning about the starchy vegetables they love to eat mashed or covered in butter and sour cream!

In this resource, students will learn the history of potatoes (yes, they have a history!), how they grow, how to cook them, and about the great potato famine in Ireland.

After they learn all about potatoes there are some great writing activities for them to complete including facts and opinions and summaries using can, have, are.

You could even expand on this fun lesson by showing students how to grow a potato in the classroom. They are really easy to sprout using just a potato, some toothpicks, and a cup of water. This article from Sciencing.com will tell you everything you need to know!

St. Patrick’s Day Fun

St. Patrick's Day is a holiday that most of our students are aware of, even though they don't have Irish ancestry. And while most love to jump into the fun of wearing green, they often don't know a lot about the history of this holiday. That means it is the perfect topic for digging in! Take students on a deep dive into the holiday itself. St. Patricks Day is a holiday rich with history and fun traditions.

This activity is a fun way to explain to students the background of this holiday and why we celebrate like we do.

My students love learning about why we wear green on St. Patrick’s Day, the history behind the holiday, and all about those mischievous leprechaun creatures! There are also a variety of extension writing activities for students to complete based on what they learned.

Pull out students’ creative side and see how much of the lesson they comprehended with writing prompts like “What I learned about St. Patrick’s Day. . .” and “What traditions take place on March 17th?”. These are engaging activities for students that are both educational and fun!

Let’s Talk About Rainbows!

St. Patrick's Day has a science connection too! Rainbows! When we think of traditions surrounding St. Patrick’s Day we think about leprechauns and a big pot of gold at the end of a colorful rainbow.

This is the perfect timing to dive into all things about rainbows and what makes them so cool and magical including the science behind them! Students will learn cool facts about rainbows and how a rainbow is made.

They also get to see fun experiments and even go on a virtual field trip!

Like the other St. Patrick's Day activities, this one also includes some extension activities so students can apply what they learned.

This is a fun and interactive way to learn all about rainbows and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the same time!

The Magic of St. Patrick’s Day

There is so much fun and learning that can happen around the St. Patrick's Day holiday. With these easy digital research and writing activities, you can cross off those social studies, science, and writing standards. So break out your best green outfits, set your leprechaun traps, and get your students excited to learn all about St. Patrick’s day.

Be sure to grab all of these digital St. Patrick's Day activities in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

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Save these engaging St. Patrick's Day activities to your favorite Pinterest teacher page so you can come back any time for fun and exciting digital St. Patrick's Day activities your students will love!