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Teaching Poetry in Kindergarten
and 1st Grade

Poetry in Kindergarten can be taught quite effectively with brightly colored big books using repetitive, rhyming poetry which can be easily memorized.   Even though many children will not be able to actually write their own poems at this age, encourage them to illustrate poems which you read to them.
Poetry in First Grade starts to become exciting as children begin to put words together on their own.  When you present an exercise, reassure your students that their spelling and grammar are not important -- those things are easily fixed later.  Try to capitalize on their spontanaeity instead.  The most important thing is to get the words down on the paper. 

It may be especially helpful to start with an example of what you want the children to do and then do a class collaboration on the board or a sheet of newsprint.  Brainstorming sessions always produce excitement and creativity as children play off each other's ideas.  Leave the class poem in a prominent spot as the children work and encourage them to use the ideas they have come up with as a class for their own poems.

Color Poems are fun to do with this age group.  Prepare your class by picking a color a day ahead of time and having all the children wear that color to school the next day, say red.  On the day of the poetry writing exercise, read the "red" section along with a few others from Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O'Neill, if you have it (it's a great resource -- get it if you can!).  Then ask the following questions to help the class gather lists of "red" ideas, words and phrases:

List 1:          What things look red?
List 2:          What things sound red?
List 3:          What things smell red?
List 4:          How does red feel?
List 5:          What makes you feel red?
List 6:          What tastes red?
List 7:          What experiences, sights and ideas seem red?
List 8:          Can you think of any places that look or feel red?

Next hand out copies of the following form and help the students form poetry lines, using the form as a guide.  Help the students through the form, one line at a time, telling them to choose words and/or phrases from the collected lists or to add new ones.  If you want, have the children illustrate their poems.

                              ________________________________ (Title)

Red is a _________________________ and _______________________, (list 1)

and the feeling of ______________________________________________. (list 4)

Red is the taste of _____________________________________________. (list 6)

______________________ and ______________________ smell red.  (list 3)

_______________________________________________ makes me feel red. (list 5)

Red is the sound of ____________________ and ___________________. (list 2)

_________________________________________________________ and

______________________________________________ are red.  (lists 7 and 8)

Red is ___________________________________.  (any list)


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