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Tip #12: Use a Prop [and 15 Words or Less Poems]

Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. Tip #12: Use a Prop Use a simple prop to help share a poem visually. When I share Elaine Magliaro’s “Things to Do If You Are a Pencil,” I hold up–a pencil. And I point to each part of the pencil mentioned in

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Tip #11: Focus on Transitions [Poetry Tips for Teachers]

Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. Tip #11: Focus on transition words. In narrative poems that tell a story, emphasize transition words, like “then,” or “first,” or “next” to help kids follow the chronology and make sense of the series of events. Or if the poem doesn’t use obvious

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Tip #10: Emphasize Important Words [Poetry Tips for Teachers]

Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. Tip #10: Emphasize important words. Sometimes when you’re sharing a poem, you might be talking about a specific aspect of it, whether that’s the rhyme or a repeated word or something else. I might include this poem, “Dancin’ (Snow)Man,” in a discussion about

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Tip #9: Speed It Up! [Poetry Tips for Teachers]

Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. Tip #9: Speed it up. Speed up a poem! When you’re repeating a poem that’s about a fast topic, speed up your reading. Often, we’ll start out reading the poem slowly, so they get to know the words and meaning a bit. Then

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Tip #8: Connect With the Poem & Poetry Friday Roundup!

Happy Poetry Friday! I’m so pleased to be hosting Poetry Friday today, and thank you for dropping in! First, I’m going to continue my month-long series of Poetry Tips for Teachers. Tip #8: Connect With the Poem Help kids connect before reading the poem. Let’s take this poem from Lee Bennett Hopkins’ charming new board

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Tip #7: Walk and Stop [and 15 Words or Less Poems]

Tip #7: Walk and Stop Walk around the room as you read, and then STOP moving at the most important, powerful part of the poem. Kids will naturally be following your progress, and when you suddenly stop, they will pay attention to what’s happening. When reading the poem draft below that is today’s 15 Words

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Tip #6: Make a Face [Poetry Tips for Teachers]

Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. [Addendum: I had a little issue with a disappearing blog post and rewriting it and–well, I’ll spare you the details. I apologize for having the same basic tip two days in a row, but this one has a bit more detail and a

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Tip #5: Make a Face [Poetry Tips for Teachers]

Tip #5: Make a face. Keep an appropriate expression. Don’t grin during a sad poem or look serious during silly verse. If you were to smile while reading this poem, for instance, your students might be a little disturbed–or think you are!      

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Tip #4: Slow Down [Poetry Tips for Teachers]

Tip #4: Slow down. Read slowly. Much more slowly than you would read prose. Poems are dense and compact and a lot to take in! Here I am reading the poem–as slowly as I can:>) [soundcloud url=“https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/198628798” params=“color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=“100%” height=“166” iframe=“true” /]  

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2015 Progressive Poem: What’s My Line?

Hi, everyone! It’s Day 4, and thus Line 4, of the 2015 Progressive Poem, created and curated by Irene Latham.? I missed participating last year and am happy to be back. OK, I confess I am a fan of short poems. And short lines. (My Ireland poem from yesterday feels long to me, and it’s

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Tip #3: Post It [Poetry Tips for Teachers]

Happy Poetry Friday! I’m hanging out with the wild Poetry 7 again! This month we wrote raccontinos–say what? I’d never even heard of them! (Make sure to go to Tricia’s post, where she explains the form a bit.) Anyway, I was in Scotland and Ireland this past month (wow), and I wrote my poem in

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Tip #2: Define It [and 15 Words or Less Poems]

Tip #2: Define it! Is there one particularly difficult word in the poem? If so, define it for kids before you read the poem. That way, not knowing the meaning of the word won’t stop them from comprehending and enjoying the poem. Before reading the poem draft below, for example, I would define Kabuki for

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Tip #1: Twice Is Nice [Poetry Tips for Teachers]

Tip #1: Twice Is Nice When you introduce a poem, read it twice. Poems are dense with language and images, and they often hold way too much info to absorb in a single hearing. Generally, read the poem through one time without any direction to your students. THEN, if you like, you can give them

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National Poetry Month and Poetry Tips for Teachers

Welcome to National Poetry Month and Poetry Tips for Teachers! I’ve met lots of teachers who feel nervous or uncertain about performing poetry for their students. And I’m the first to admit that I’m no professional performer! But I’ve gotten better and lots more comfortable with performing poetry out loud. So this month, I’m going

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Thanks for Rocking My Blog and Welcome to National Poetry Month

Thank you to all of you who stopped by during March to celebrate my launch of? A Rock Can Be…, my third and final Can Be… book with Millbrook Press! I had fun looking for rocks to fit your donated words, especially when I was traveling in Scotland and Ireland. So many amazing rocks…sigh… If

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