I love to use poetry as much as possible and Alphabet Poems for Kindergarten make poetry an integral part of each day. Here are the best ways to use alphabet poems for kindergarten students that will make teaching and learning magical.
Working with poetry helps build a culture of reading within any classroom! I love to use a poem a week to help kindergarten/1st grade students focus and play with reading and poetry.
1st Day-Listen, Discuss, and Read the Poem
I like to have the students close their eyes and imagine what they hear. No pictures allowed! Students turn and discuss what was imagined. Then I show the poem and point to the words as I reread, still no picture…no comprehension questions, just enjoyment of a simple poem.
2nd Day-Reread the Poem
I read the poem as I point to the words. Usually the students will join along and read with me. Sometimes I need to encourage them…a slight pause usually works. I usually have an image at this point. Yes, discussion usually follows.
3rd Day-Reread and Take Turns
Students get a chance to point to the words as the class chorally reads the poem. Students love to choose a special pointer. It really helps me see who has one to one correspondence and provides practice.
4th Day-Reread and Hunt
We practice reading the poem once and then student hunt for words or letters depending on the ability of the students. Once a few students practice chorally reading, the students can circle or highlight words I ask for them to find in their personal journals. I usually only let them hunt the words I ask for because they will sometimes circle all words; I really want to focus the learning. We may also look for many things that encourage print awareness. Click here to read about Concepts of Print.
5th Day-Illustrate or Color
We reread the poem in their journals as they all point to the words in journals. We hunt for special words and/or letters then the students can color and illustrate their poem. Once finished, students reread other poems or count words/ letters as they wait for their friends to finish.
Alphabet Poems Later in the Year
Later in the year, we will reread certain poems and search for phonics skills. These students use highlighters to find capital letters and we talk about why we use capital letters.
Here you can see that we talked about -ay words. We created a list of words then highlighted the words after reading the poem. This will really help students look at words.
📌THIS IMAGE FOR LATER
Check out this short, informative video on how I use these poems! So much fun and rewarding to watch the students grow as readers of poetry!
These are a few of my resources if you are interested!
I hope you’ve found this information about poetry helpful. If you have any additional tips that might help a teacher, please share below in comments!
Thanks for the comment! Blessings
Thanks! Poetry can be so much fun!
I love poetry, even as a math teacher! Thank you for these great ideas!
I have used poems in math, too!
I love teaching poetry and your ideas for each day are very helpful! Thanks!
i love using poetry with students. i especially like your Sight Word Poems!!
Thanks! The kiddos love them!
Love how you incorporate poetry!
Thanks!
Thanks so much! I like to make it fun and educational.