Poetry, Plays, and Picture Books

I try to expose my students to different kinds of writing formats.  I share a variety of texts that I read from week to week.  Sometimes I'm reading a novel, sometimes I'm reading a graphic novel.  I listen to books on CD and I read book on my Nook Color.  I have been showing them how text is presented in many different ways.  

Lately we've had fun reading poems by Shel Silverstein.  He has been my favorite poet since I first read his poems in 2nd grade.  We read poems like "Jimmy the Jet and His TV Set" and "Sarah Cynthia Silvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out".  We even listened to Shel Silverstein himself read the poems which was a lot more interesting and fun than the way we read them.  

It's important for kids to realize the different kinds of writing formats and to be able to recognize them.  This is different from deciding what genre a book fits into, this is all about recognizing the way the author/publisher chose to represent the text.  

If you child can come to school and tell me who is my favorite poet, he or she will earn one sticker towards a sticker reward.  

Poetry Fun!

This month on Mrs. Whelan's Hearing News Blog she invited us to write an acrostic poem about our favorite holidays! If you haven't checked it out yet, the poems are really fun to read!

Since we are writing poems, how abou reading some poems? I think poems are great fun. The language is awesome. We can learn a lot about rhyme, alliteration, onomatopoeia, similes, and metaphors from reading poems...not to mention lots of cool new words!

Sometimes I Wonder If Poodles Like Noodles By Laura Numeroff

is a great collection of poems about silly things in life.

Dogku By Andrew Clements

is a book about a sweet dog. All the poems together tell a story but each poem is a haiku. A haiku is a special poem that has three lines. The first line has 5 syllables, the second has 7 syllables, and the third has 5 syllables.

My Dog May Be A Genius By Jack Prelutsky

is a collection of funny poems. Jack Prelutsky is a famous author who has written many books.

Where the Sidewalk Ends By Shel Silverstein

is one of my absolute favorite collections of poetry. I remember reading this when I was young and loving the poems. Shel Silverstein is anothe famous poet who has many different poetry books. This one is my favorite. Some of his poems are icky or gross but I think that's what makes them fun!

Have you read the poems in these books or other poems? Which are your favorite(s)???