Poetry and the Earth

We read many Earth Day-themed books and did some fun activities last week!  My favorite was the poetry project we combined with a craftivity from A Cupcake for the Teacher.  Each week in April, I've introduced a new poem format to the class and we've practiced writing them on our own.  Last week the kids wrote Cinquain poems about Earth! 

We also wrote our own biography poems! (For privacy reasons, I'm not posting a picture since they include first and last names and residency.)  Click on the image below to download the template I created (print on US Legal sized paper).  The cute star border is from Graphics from the Pond!

I've been using the AMAZING Poetry Pack Freebie by Rachael Parlett to introduce each poem and write our first drafts.

Throughout the the month of April, my students have been participating in The Great Poetry Race to build fluency. (Many ideas and renditions of this can be found online.)  They receive a new poem each week in April and read it to as many people as they can.  The student with the most signatures on their Race Log at the end of the week wins a race car and records the Poem of the Week!  Below is our Sliderocket presentation of the weekly winners reading the poems!