Poetry Unit Starter 3: Poem Sharing

Here are a few ideas about starting a poetry unit by reading poems aloud:

1. Read a good poem to students.


2. Read lyrics to a popular song that most of the kids will know. Choose a song that sounds poetic when read.


3. Ask students to bring in a poem they like to share with the class.


4. Ask students to bring in lyrics to their favorite songs to share with the class. Make sure you tell them not to bring in anything with explicit lyrics.


5. Distribute books of poetry to students. Give them 5-10 minutes to look through the books. Have each student find one poem to read aloud to the class. (This activity can be done in the classroom or in the school media center.)


6. Have the class read a poem for more than one reader such as the poems in Paul Fleischman's Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices.

Note: I had a student with low-level reading skills who appreciated the opportunity to pick a short poem from a book that he could practice with a classmate, then read aloud to the entire class. It was one of the rare moments that this student participated in a reading activity involving the whole class.