Christine A. Elmore
In this unit I plan to engage my young students in both the reading and writing of poetry. I have found that children are very open to poetry and naturally like it. They don't require encouragement to read, consider and reflect on well-selected poems read to them, or to enjoy those they themselves read. I see poetry as an effective vehicle for teaching my third-graders to develop skills in oral language, reading and writing
Within my curriculum unit I will include poems written by three popular children's poets: Karla Kuskin, Valerie Worth and Patricia Hubbell. Their poetry has great appeal for children, I think, because of the simple, everyday subjects they write about and the beautiful pictures that they paint with words. This unit will be interdisciplinary in scope, incorporating the teaching of reading, listening, writing, speaking, creative movement, music, and art skills into its design
Although I have designed this unit with my third-graders in mind, I am confident that it could easily be adapted by teachers to suit the K-2 grades, and possibly grade 4 as well.
(Developed for Reading, Writing, and Language Arts, grade 3; recommended for Reading, Writing, and Language Arts, grades K-4)
