Friday, May 5, 2023

May 1 - 5, 2023

Blog # 21

Using Poetry to Develop Reading Skills

    April was "Poetry Month", throughout the month the grade threes explored several poems to refine their reading skills.

A Little Poem for Poetry Month

by Jack Prelutsky

I'm glad we have a Poetry Month,

But still, I wonder why

They chose a month with thirty days —

Were months in short supply?

I wish that they'd selected

A longer month, like May.

I'm certain I'd appreciate

That extra poetry day.

Of course, if they'd picked February,

I would be aghast,

For February's very short

And passes far too fast.

But April's not as short as that,

So I don't hesitate

To say I'm glad it's Poetry Month.

Hooray! Let's celebrate.

Why we read poems:

• Can be humorous which may appeal to young readers.
• Many rhyme or repeat which adds a predictability and fosters self-confidence while reading. 
• Are short in length, students can practice reading the same passage numerous times.
• Work well for "choral reading" where everyone in the small group can read it aloud at the same time while monitoring their accuracy, pace and volume.
• Students can search for words that contain skills previously discussed such as letter combination sounds, synonyms/antonyms, locating nouns, verbs and adjectives or suffixes and prefixes.
• Provide an opportunity to teach new vocabulary.
• Develops retelling or summarizing skills.

A few of our favourites: