Poetry is Reading! February 1 & 2, 2010

1. Poetry is Reading!February 1 & 2, 2010 Presented by: Alison Schriverand Michelle Crouthamel Spring Grove Area School District

2. Paradise Elementary • Title 1 school • 368 students enrolled • Located in a rural community • One of three elementary schools in district • Highest free and reduced lunch recipients • 2 Reading Specialists (Title 1 instructors) • 50 identified Title 1 students for reading (based on three Basic or Below Basic scores on district reading assessments)

3. What can poetry do for students? • Practice reading with expression • Increase reading fluency • Build overall speaking skills • Enhance vocabulary knowledge • Reinforce basic sight words • Provide opportunities to read with/or to others • Quick reads and informal assessment

4. How we use it in our Title 1 program? • Opening activity to model fluent reading • Student will practice fluent reading with the class, a buddy, or someone at home • Identify rhyming words, vowel sounds and patterns, color words, sight words, and style of poetry • Author’s craft

5. First Grade • Focus of these poems are sight words • Poems are aligned with our intervention program • Students practice two sight word poems per week • Revisit poems for nightly homework • Share poems by reading to the homeroom students

6. Second Grade • Focus of these poems are on content and vocabulary • Riddles are also read and solved to increase vocabulary and comprehension (monthly themes) • Students read these poems nightly for homework • For extensions: students write their own riddles • Students also share their favorites by reading to the class

7. Third and Fourth Grade • Focus of these poems are on content and vocabulary • Students read a variety of poetry styles • Discussion of the author’s purpose and the meaning of the poem • Students read these poems nightly for homework • Students also share their favorites by reading to the class

8. Ways to Engage Students with Poetry • Use swizzle sticks to track words • Paint brushes to demonstrate fluency and speed • Stickers to motivate students to read with expression, phrasing, and speed • Highlight punctuation • “Swat” the focus words in that poem • Markers and crayons to add pizzazz to their poem after they have mastered it

9. The results we have seen…

10. Tracking Results of Students from Second to Fourth Grade

11. What does this data tell us? • Students are slowing down their reading rate to understand and think about the text • Students’ comprehension increases as fluency increases • Knowledge of sight words and vocabulary will increase understanding and fluency • As students develop their reading skills with poetry, their fluency and comprehension improve

12. In the future… • Poetry response journal • Poetry Club – to bring in parents and community members to read and practice poems with students and culminate with a poetry tea where students can recite some of their favorite poems

13. How do we incorporate poetry in our school? • Read and model how to write a original poems (acrostic, limerick, haiku, couplet, diamante, cinquain) • Across grade levels • Poetry breaks during reading celebration weeks • During Poetry Week – students practice and read their poem on the morning announcements

14. Professional Books and Resources • Playing With Poems: Word Study Lessons for Shared Readings, K-2 by Zoe Ryder White, Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH 2008 • The Daily 5, by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, Stenhouse Publishers: Portland, Main 2006 • Sight Word Poetry Pages, by Rozanne Williams, Scholastic: New York, NY 2005 • Riddle Poem of the Day, by Betsy Franco, Scholastic: New York, NY 2005 • Poem of the Week, by Maria Flemming, Scholastic: New York, NY • Poem A Day, by Helen H. Moore, Scholastic: New York, NY 1997 • Playing With Poems, by Zoe Ryder White, Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH ISBN -13978-0-325-01735-8 • Nursery Rhyme Mini-Book Plays, by Nancy I. Sanders, Scholastic: New York, NY 2003

15. Professional Books and Resources • Circle-Time Poetry Science, By Jodi Simpson, Scholastic: New York, NY 2005 • Circle-Time Poetry Around the Year, by Jodi Simpson, Scholastic: New York, NY 2005 • Circle-Time Poetry Math, by Jodi Simpson, Scholastic: New York, NY 2005 • Perfect Poems With Strategies for Building Fluency Grades 1-2, Teaching Resources: Scholastic, New York, NY 2004 • Perfect Poems With Strategies for Building Fluency Grades 3-4, Teaching Resources: Scholastic, New York, NY 2004 • Perfect Poems for Teaching Phonics, by Deborah Ellermeyer and Judi Hechtman, Scholastic: New York, NY 1999

16. Websites • www.poetryteachers.com • www.poetryarchive.org • www.findpoetry.com • www.gigglepoetry.com • www.readinga-z.com (membership needed)

17. How do you use poetry with your students? Discussion time in small groups Grade level, specific examples of using poetry

18. Make and Take • Choose a grade level poetry packet • Think of a way to incorporate the poems into your daily instruction • Complete the outline of how you will use the poem(s) • Gallery walk to view how others will implement poetry • Share ideas that you saw and thought were helpful

19. Let’s see what students say about poetry…

20. Where can you find our information? • https://poetryisreading.wikispaces.com

21. Thank you! • Please complete an evaluation form • Enjoy the rest of your conference!