It's Poetry Time...With a Freebie!

Although my students have been exposed to poetry throughout the year, this is the time we become poetry experts. April is National Poetry Month, so there is no better time to start a unit on reading and writing poetry. I've been teaching a poetry unit for quite a few years, and each year I add to it/refine it. Below, I listed some of my favorite poetry books that I use.
     
I received this book years ago, and it's written by Regie Routman (one of my favorite authors of educational books). She wrote a few, for various grade levels, but this one is specifically for first grade. It offers mini-lesson ideas, great information about teaching students to write poetry, and she even includes samples of student-written poems. This is a must-have for your professional collection.




 This is a book that is filled with only shape poems. It serves as a great resource when teaching students about reading/writing shape poems.


This is such a fun book to read! Kids have to rely heavily on meaning and visual cues to be able to get the humor in this wacky book of poems. When speaking "Runny Babbit" talk, the beginning sounds of words are mixed up with others. It's a riot to read and have students figure out the words. 

What are your favorite poetry books?

I added a poetry freebie here:  

I recently posted a huge poetry resource pack for teaching poetry in grades 1-3. It's packed with all kinds of goodies (poetry response sheets, a poetry notebook for students to follow along when you teach your mini-lessons on writing poetry, etc.), and it's aligned to the Common Core Standards. Although the freebie posted above is not included in the packet, it's similar to the other activities/sheets in the packet. Check it out in my TPT store.