Today is a furlough day! ๐ And tomorrow is Veteran’s Day! So I’m beginning a four day weekend. The possibilities are endless. HOORAY! Now I don’t feel so jealous about all of you who got a Fall Break. I’ll call this my Fall Break. (and we will ignore the pay cut that I took for this furlough day, along with eight other days. I barely even feel it. It’s like a bad sunburn. Or a broken arm. You pick.)
Believe it or not, I’m still getting to centers twice a week. This is HUGE. My kids LIVE for Wednesdays and Thursdays and were quick to point out that we wouldn’t be at school on Thursday this week so what in the world would we do??? After wiping their tears and patting their little wee heads, I told them I didn’t really care because I was going to be at home, on my couch, enjoying my DAY OFF . . . Oh, stop! Of course, I didn’t say I didn’t care. I think I said something like Thursday is a DAY OFF so I didn’t care. Er. Wait. That’s not right, either. Well, it doesn’t really matter what I said because I have the DAY OFF. ๐
Another popular center my kids are loving (besides Post Office) is Poetry Center. It’s a little different this year because I can’t do Poem of the Week anymore. Well, I guess I actually COULD do it, but I’m not allowed to do it during my two and a half hour fidelitytothecore (say it enough times and it becomes one word) Language Arts block because the poems I have are not from Houghton Mifflin. So if I wanted to do Poem of the Week, I would have to do it during lunch or recess. And call me crazy, but I prefer to nap during those times. So the Poetry Center is very new to them because they haven’t really seen the poems before and they don’t have them in their Poetry Folder. They actually don’t have a Poetry Folder. I have their Poetry Folders. I bought them when folders were on sale in the summer and then I added cute labels to them and they are just collecting dust in a cabinet at school. People, if that’s not sad, I don’t know what is (well, it’s sad that there is no Bachelor or Bachelorette on TV right now but that goes without saying).
Anyways, the kiddos go over to the Poetry Center which is a fancy schmancy pocket chart and a basket full of ziplock bags with poems and word cards inside.
Here’s one:
This isn’t new, obviously, but my friends just love putting the word cards into the pocket chart to rebuild the poem. One of my talkative rambunctious no self control nice boys made me stand there and listen to him say each word from the poem one by one as he pointed to each matching word card. It was excruciating magical!
I organize the poems by using construction paper. For example, this particular poem is glued onto blue construction paper and laminated. All of the word cards are also blue. So if a first grader does not put all of the word cards back into the ziplock bag (this NEVER happens in my ship shape classroom), and we find a blue word card just hanging around somewhere (for example, by the sink or hiding in someone’s desk because it said the word “but” and he said student thought it was hysterical), we know where it goes. I have other poems on their own color of construction paper to keep it all straight. Students can choose which poem to build. Click the pics above to grab this if you’d like it. I’m also offering you a black and white version if you’d like to save ink (and your marriage). Get the b&w poem {HERE} and the b&w word cards {HERE}. (it looks like there will be a turquoise border around the poem but there’s not. It’s awfully strange and I’ve never had this problem with Scribd before. ???????)
Two or three times a trimester, students also have to memorize a poem for their Sharing topic (oral language). They had this one a couple of weeks ago. One of my boys dressed up in a torn shirt and funny hat. And one of my girls sang it (think “I’m a Little Teapot”) and the kids spontaneously clapped for her instead of doing a Dr. Jean cheer. LOVE IT. Memorizing poems seems to be important to our second grade team so we do it. You can check out my Sharing program {HERE} if you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about. You’re not alone.
I have no idea what floats your boat but I am wondering if you’d like more of these? Do you need some Thanksgiving poems? I have two or three, I believe. And then all kinds of others, too. What do you do in your Poetry Center? I’d love new ideas.
Did anyone see Survivor last night? That Branden kid is on every last nerve in my body. I want to sit him down and set him straight. And tell him to be quiet. Just shush up already.
Jennifer says
I would looove some poems for centers!! This looks like a great new addition to my centers. Thanks for sharing!
Jennifer A.
Tanya says
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the comment about the word "but" missing from the poem! My little boys love that sight word too. โบ Thank goodness for a sense of humor, both yours and those naughty little boys! LOL
โบ Tanya
First Grade is Fantabulous!
PS I would love some poems!
Lori Faas says
I love that poem! Thanks for sharing! We have poems from our Rigby series that the kids put into their poetry notebooks and I also like to add a seasonal one here and there. I have a bunch of high frequency word poems too. I have these written onto sentence strips and the children have to first match the poem line by line (sentence strip to sentence strip) then they have to match the poem sentence fragment to whole strip and the final stage is individual word to sentence strip. They see this as a puzzle and LOVE it! I have been thinking about making these into Smartboard files…..in my spare time (insert sarcastic laugh here)
Lori
http://bee-the-change.blogspot.com/
Mrs. Mac says
Thanks for the poem – I think my little ones will really enjoy it. Yes, please, more poems! I agree with you about Branden – hush, already, kid! Maybe he'll get voted off! ๐
Kristen says
Happy 4 day weekend Kristin! That poem is adorable!!
Kristen
Jen R. (The Teachers' Cauldron) says
haha! cute!! And yes to saving the marriage!! I've just succumbed to printing my colors at Office max..lol. Looks better anyway since I don't have a laser printer. but my husband almost had a canary when he saw all my prints one day and thought I had done them at home! lol
Lacie Harris says
Poetry center? What poetry center? I need to get on board with this. I've always been trained in fidelitytothecore, but now I'm at a school that has a little wiggle room. Thanks!!
Miss T says
Looks cute! The class I was in today had a poetry binder with all the poems they've learned so far and the kinders were 'reading' them. Too cute!
And I watch Survivor too!
Journey of a Substitute Teacher
bc says
You are hilarious! Made my day. I'll keep reading even though I teach third…..they love "buts" too but I am hoping the spelling program kicks in soon.
Holly says
Do you know one terribly rough year – I opted out of putting "but" on my word wall? Yes, I did.
Cute poem – I have poetry collection folders that I fill at the start of the school year with two poems per month. I put those poems on chart paper and we read them every morning during Morning Meeting. Find spelling patterns, use pointers to read, and they become part of "read the room". We illustrate the poem we are focusing on and keep their poetry collection in their "bookshelves" to read during read-to-self.
That's actually one of my projects right now – retyping my poems in super cute fonts, adding cute(r) clipart, changing up my cover for the folder…I'll get back to it one of these days and share! ๐
Holly
Crisscross Applesauce in First Grade
Jennifer says
You crack me up girl! Seriously- y'all can't do poems that aren't right out of your curriculum? That sounds like something MY district would say. Love your stuff!
Rowdy in First Grade
Amy says
I would love to have some other poems like that. I am currently printing the scarecrow one. Do you have any good for December? That would be GREAT!! Thanks for sharing:) I love your humor!!
Mrs. "Bossy" says
I just became your newest follower! I L.O.V.E. your blog! You are such a talented writer, I feel like we could be great friends! I am fluent in sarcasm. It is my first language. I teach Kindergarten and spend a LOT of time saying things that are funny only to me. The kids totally don't get it. Like we play simon says to get everyone's attention and I say "put your hands in the air" Then I add "wave them around like you just don't care." I smile, and it just makes my day better for me. And THAT is what gets me through the day sometimes. You make me smile, I love all your inner dialog. Thanks for sharing! Michele
canary Ha!
Chrissy says
YES! More poems, please!
I'd love to hear your opinion on my latest post….you are the voice of reason, ;-), and I know you'll give me good advice!
ReadWriteSing
Kristy says
I would love more poems. I've tried to do a poetry center in the past, but I just can't find good poems that the kids can handle. What else do you do with the poems? Do the kids look for certain words, glue a copy in a notebook, etc? Thanks for sharing!
Teachin' First
Sandy says
Love your poetry center idea…but LOVE your Survivor comment even more. I totally agree that he is the most annoying person ever!!!!
Miki says
I LOVE your blog!!! I get a big smile on my face when I see an email in my box for a new post ๐ I would LOVE any Thanksgiving poems that you have to share!!
Yes, I too agree that Brandon is a little crazy…I think Cochran is loving every second of his time on Survivor….I don't have a favorite yet…do you think Ozzie will be coming back into the game?? ๐
MJ @ Teaching in Heels says
I love using poems in the classroom! I'd love to see more of yours. Great idea having the cards too…
Lisa says
thank you! i love this โฅ
Meghan G. says
I'm new to your blog, and I must say you're sense of humor kills me! (in a good way). I love the idea of poem centers, and I really appreciate your ideas on how to keep them all together! Sometimes it's those little things that really help keep the sanity ๐
Crayons and Curls says
I love your poems and would love more! Thank you so much for sharing! Boys are the same no matter where you live… my boys can't help "but" snicker at that word too! ๐
Cheryl
Crayons and Curls
shellyx6 says
Love your blog! ๐ I literally lol when I read the part about saving your ink (and marriage!) And here I thought I was the only one. Love the poem, love the blog, thank you for bringing more smiles into my life!
Shelly