Welcome to the next hop of your Poetry Blog Hop. If you follow the link at the bottom of this post, you’ll get another poetry idea. Keep following links and collect many, many lesson ideas to add to your poetry unit, no matter the level.
Shared Reading in Kindergarten
Shared Reading in kindergarten is such a quick time of the day.
It’s 10 minutes. 10 little minutes.
What can you teach with 10 minutes?
If done correctly, that 10 minutes is so powerful. We use a Poem of the Week for our Shared Reading during calendar.
The results can be priceless. Linking the poems to comprehension, phonics, phonemic awareness, rhyming, concepts of words and concepts of print are just a few lessons taught through 4 lines of text.
Week 1 – Whole Group shared reading
Each week, students are introduced to a new poem during calendar time.
The poem will have a reading, math, science, or social studies connection.
While teaching half-day kindergarten (that’s right a full curriculum in 3 hours), we had to have our poems connect with another skill.
These poems are typically 4 lines.
This provides support our early readers need to be able to repeat the poem and interact with the words and lines.
In addition to reading the poem every day, students are asked to locate word wall words, cvc words, capital letters, end marks, rhyming words and more. BUT to make shared reading really count it can’t end on Friday.
Whole Group Writing
The Spring Babies poem is perfect for creating a Bridge Map.
A Bridge Map makes comparisons and teaches analogies.
I always taught my early learners to “read” the map by saying “just like” when pointing to the caret between analogies.
When completed the Bridge Map can be read, “The pig has a piglet JUST LIKE the duck has a duckling JUST LIKE the chicken has a chick…”
After the Thinking Map is created by the class, students can create their own Bridge Map in a Science Center AND can write about babies in the Writing Center.
Week 2 Independent Activities
Homework
My students know the following week they will take home the poem for homework. There is a choice board for shared reading activities. These activities are base
d on Bloom’s and are parent choice.
The students need to choose 2 activities to do with their poem for homework.
I do encourage students to choose items which are challenging, but not too hard.
Poetry Center
The following week the poem is also in the poetry center.
The students can complete one of two activities.
The first, and easiest activity is simply reading the activity, locate the word wall words by circling and coloring them yellow, illustrating the poem and reading it to a friend.
The second requires the student to fill in the missing word wall words appropriately, illustrate, and read to a friend.
Typically, the easier is done the first semester and the latter is done the second semester.
Art Center
Students will create an art center relating to the poem. The art will also have a copy of the poem on the paper. Students must read the poem to someone else before their center is complete. I believe it is important to keep art in the curriculum, but we try to make the art have double meaning.
Week 3 More Independent Activities
Pocket Chart Center (Modified)
I call this center the “Modified” Pocket Chart center because I don’t actually use a pocket chart. The poem is typed out of order, students must arrange the lines of the poem correctly, illustrate and read the poem. As you can tell the theme of our shared reading poem is practice, practice, practice. This leads to improved comprehension and increased fluency.
Independent Reading Center
Students are given a typed book to read during their Read-to-Self time.
This book can be independently read with the students locating the word wall words, pointing for 1-to-1 accuracy, and/or fluency.
Students can also use this book as a partner read or read to someone book.
As you can tell, your Shared Reading is more than a 4 line poem.
It’s the springboard to independent centers, writing topics, and plenty of activities for weeks to come.
Click the link, if you would like a FREEBIE Spring Babies Emergent Reader.
Follow the HOP to Stories and Songs in Second
Special thanks to the following for fonts and clip art for the hop.
