Poem of the Week - Mentor Poems for the Year

Poem of the Week is a bundle of monthly mentor poems that build fluency and practice sight words, phonics skills, and grammar skills in a genuine and authentic way.

This resource helps students develop confidence and build fluency and comprehension. Each month, 4 kid-friendly thematic mentor poems and different engaging follow-up activities are provided. This resource can be used during whole groups, small groups, and as an independent practice activity. 

Below you’ll find a very loose step-by-step suggestion guide. 

Important: These are just simply suggestions. Please do what works for you and your students! 

STEP 1:

Choose the poem you would like your students to read. You can print the poem and provide your students with a copy (you may want to have a poetry folder for each student, like I mentioned previously). Display the poem on your whiteboard too, if possible.

Read the poem aloud multiple times as a class. Encourage students to notice the bouncy, sing-songy rhymes as you read the words together. 

Important: Some students may not be able to read the poems independently. That’s okay! These are a tool to help build fluency.

STEP 2:

Visualize the poem. Re-read the poem as a class. Have students visualize (or create a movie in their minds) as they read the poem.

Encourage students to illustrate, in detail, what they see in their mind movie.

 You can have them use a blank sheet of paper or you can use the sheet provided for you.

STEP 3:

You can read the poem with your students aloud and set a timer (the amount of time is up to you or you may choose to not set a specific time) as they hunt for sight words, phonics skills, and grammar skills. Students can highlight, circle, or underline what they find. Then, have students share their findings with the class!

Depending on your student's ability level and what skills you’ve taught them, their discoveries will vary. The activity is 100% flexible (make it super in-depth or super quick – it’s up to you!).

Note: You may want to place this copy in your students’ folders so they can easily write on the sheet.

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES:

The additional activities included can be used in the following ways:

• small group instruction practice
• independent practice
• centers/stations
• home practice (at-home sheet provided)