Mochenics

A list of useful activities to use with poetry for children. Being creative and innovative in the use of poetry in the classroom can introduce the student to a different perspective. One has to be willing and motivated to use poetry in the classroom as it is much the teacher's responsibility as well as the students.

This section lends itself more to collection of links to alternative resources as we have limited time on our hands. We are still in the process of working out how to better present these activities but for now we will have to deal with what we know.

I will try my best to find as many materials and activities as I can related to using children's poetry in class as I believe children should learn how diverse poetry can be and the wonders it can bring to their expressions in life.

A fantastic resource to use would have to be 'Poetry for Kids' it is full or wonderful resources for the classroom that both helpful to students and teachers. Remember to make it fun and not like that boring teacher you had in high school that took out all the fun of reading and writing poetry.

http://www.poetry4kids.com/

This website also has a great library of fantastic resources as it is a collection of the poems from various authors, from well known in the field to amateurs who have contributed to for the benefit of children all over the world. Many themes to choose from and podcasts for in class readings or assignments.

www.poetryarchive.org/childrensarchive/home.do

Check out world famous Spike Milligans podcasts and pages on the above website, a pure delight and a resource that can be moulded into an activity for children of all ages.

http://www.poetryarchive.org/childrensarchive/singlePoet.do?poetId=7513

For Spike Milligans official website follow the link and you will find biographical information, his poems to download and print out for a class activity or vidoes clips about Spike and his famous quotes.

This is a pretty reliable source that I have found whilst looking over the internet that links to a wide variety of alternative websites with many activities for childrens poetry.

www.fwointl.com/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=22&num=559

I have the five doors to poetry center. See Georgia Heard's book Awakening the Heart  Once you read over the poem you will understand how to incorporate it into your lessons. Remember it is up to the teacher to be well informed on these topics so they can better direct students on how to use them.

Poetry free
They compose poems 'Poetry Copying' by copying down a favorite poem, or even favorite phrases in a poem and illustrate them. Have a look at "Sunflakes" by Frank Asch  as an example poem and the kids choose the words or phrases that make a good mental picture. They copy them down and illustrate it in a manner that they like, encouragement is key and paramount to the children remaining engaged in poetry.

I hope some of these ideas are useful to you. Here are some good titles: 'Animalia' is great for alliteration 'Hailstones and Halibut Bones' is wonderful. There are many good example lesson plans online as part of Scholastic publishing the book.  Attempt to  pair it up with 'My Many Colored Days' by Dr. Seuss and 'Color Dance' by Ann Jonas, then the kids can write their own color poems.