Spring is Here! Poetry Hop!

April brings us many things: April showers bring May flowers, April brings us Easter egg hunts, April brings us State Testings (Yuck), April brings us allergies, but did you know that April also brings us National Poetry Month?

I love poems. I think I really feel in love with them when I was about 7 years old and I received my first copy of Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends. I must have read this book a million times during my childhood and adulthood.

When introducing poetry to my 3rd graders I always start by reading a Shel Silverstein poem aloud and having the students just listen to it. Most of my students have never heard of Shel Silverstein and find his poems very funny and interesting, after being introduced to him. 

After reading one, or more, of his poems I go into a mini lesson on the different types poetry. One misconception that most of my students have about poetry is that it must rhyme at the end of every line. I like to introduce them to Acrostic Poems first. These are very simple poems that students can create using any word. We usually start by having the students write their name, vertically, on a sheet of paper and then creating a word or short sentence for each letter. By the time they are complete they have created an acrostic poem! We then move on to different types of poetry and the elements of poetry after making our acrostic name poems.

To help you get started with introducing acrostics to your students I am giving you 11 acrostic poem starters to use all school year long! They will be free from April 10 - April 12.

Head over to my TPT store to get your copy while they are free! But don't stop there, be sure to come back here and hop on over to the next stop, Read With Me ABC, to pick up another great poetry freebie! 

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Educents Marketplace!

A little birdie told me that you didn't know about the new Educents Marketplace! What?! A Marketplace on educents that has over 500 of the best sellers selling their resources at deeply discounted prices? YES! You read that right! Educents just opened their own marketplace.

To celebrate this new adventure I am offering my best selling Spring Writing Papers set for free! This will be a forever freebie on my Educents Marketplace only! Just click the picture below to go head straight to the product. Don't forget to follow my store, while you are there, so that you'll always be the first to know about new products and exclusive deals.

As part of the launch celebration Educents is giving away $50 worth of Edubucks to use at the marketplace and on their daily deals! All you have to do is enter below.

Educents Marketplace $50 in Edubucks Giveaway #4 - Third Grade Stores