Poem of the Week
| I became increasingly frustrated with my students' spelling. I presented a new list of words each week. We studied them, practiced them, marked them for phonograms and spelling rules, and entered them into our spelling notebooks. Come Friday, I gave a test over the words, and for the most part, the kids could spell them. But they were not transferring what we had learned into their own work, and were misspelling many of those same words repeatedly. While, according to tests, they were making growth in spelling, I was not seeing that in their work. I went in search of another way to present my spelling lessons in as more meaningful way. I came upon a teacher in Canada (to check it out visit http://www.geocities.com/mrmooresroom/poemoftheweek.html ) who was using poetry as the springboard for spelling, and so began the Poem of the Week... |
| Each week the children receive a new poem. The poem is posted in the classroom and we read, chant, clap, and otherwise memorize the poem. Within the poem, students highlight the selected spelling words for the week. They receive a packet with the spelling homework for the week, which is due on Friday. The emphasis of the homework is to 1) memorize the poem, and 2) have the student make a personal connection with the poem so that the content and concepts will "stick." |
| The test each Friday consists of a cloze version of the poem, with words and letters left blank for the student to fill in. There are also questions on the test relating to the concept(s) we have covered in class, ie. cause and effect, plurals, contractions, parts of speech, vocabulary, etc. |
See below for some of the poems and activities that I have used. I would love it if you shared with me any others you come up with. Just email me with your ideas, and I will post them here with your permission (giving you credit, of course!)
We have started a Yahoo group for teachers who want to use Poem of the Week for spelling. If you are interested, please join us!
Click on the link to see each page of the homework. Click your browser's BACK button to return to this page.
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Seating Trouble ( From Scholastic's The Big Book of Classroom Poems) |
There's a New Kid on the Block |
I Had a Great Day (from Reading A-Z, http://www.readinga-z.com/) |
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Lotsa Pasta (from Reading A-Z, http://www.readinga-z.com/) |
Our Earth We used this poem the week of Earth Day. |
In honor of Memorial Day... Celebrate! (From Scholastic's The Big Book of Classroom Poems) |
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A Poem Is a Little Path
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Pass the Poems, Please By Jane Baskwill |
Homework Stew By Ken Nesbitt |
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The Dentist Pulled My Tooth Out By Kenn Nesbitt |
Punctuation Marks |
What Do I Know By Neil Levin |
Backgrounds purchased from www.pccrafter.com