The first step is the hardest: find some books where the cover had a large head on it. Unfortunately this isn't a subject heading so to find them we mostly went to sections that would be popular like pets and browsed through the books until we found some that worked. We found the face to face series very helpful. Then find an "I am" poem template on line that you like. There are a lot to choose from. We ended up modifying one so that it would be age-appropriate and short enough to be able to do in a thirty minute class period. Then we did some examples to show the kids what we were talking about, I like that the way I posed gives the green knight has a cute braided bun.
Then we made a template with the prompt for each line and enough space for the kids to write their poems in. Before each class came in we arranged the books facing up around the edge of the room so that they could choose one. Then we introduced the activity to them, showed them the examples, handed out the templates and let them go wild. When they finished their poems they brought it up to us and we took their picture. I think they showed a lot of creativity in their poems and I found it interesting seeing what they thought others would wonder, hope, etc. The best part was that if they got stuck writing the poem the mask was a book so they could open it up and read it to find out more about their creature and get inspiration. Some of the kids even made multiple poems and asked to take some templates home so they could do more. It was a great activity for Halloween when they were all antsy and I think I'll do it again next year. I've included examples of the student poems below:
No comments:
Post a Comment