Teaching poetry doesn’t have to be a chore; it can be so enjoyable. Fun poetry activities will keep kids engaged as they work on their reading fluency, comprehension, and confidence in and out of the classroom. Give Poetry Mats a try during your next poetry unit, or add them to your weekly lessons.
Fun Poetry Activities Kids Will Love
Poetry is an enjoyable way to engage students in reading assignments and to help build their reading confidence. Kids find them enjoyable to learn and practice throughout the week!
Learn how Poetry Mats can be easily incorporated into your daily routines and literacy block throughout the year. The poetry activities are seasonal and relevant for kids, making reading and writing them fun!
Common Poetry Challenges
Scenario 1
Imagine this: You have a student, Hannah, who is never interested in reading (or writing, for that matter). If asked to read, they only want to dive into holiday books and refuse to touch anything else. As a result, you find reaching them where they are in the reading process difficult.
It can be frustrating.
Students like Hannah need exciting text to draw them in. A straightforward way to do this is by using Poetry Mats that give them a short, engaging chunk of text that builds their fluency and confidence and piques their interest.
Scenario 2
Imagine this: Jose has difficulty remembering what he read after the initial reading. He can’t seem to answer straightforward questions about the text and gets confused about the events he just read.
He needs more repetition.
The great thing about Poetry Mats is that they encourage repeated readings so students can fully absorb the information they read. The poems are short enough to read multiple times in one sitting or to revisit throughout the week. This allows students like Jose to soak up all the details before answering important comprehension questions.
What are Poetry Activity Mats
Poetry Mats are simple reading activities for kids to build their reading fluency and comprehension. They use common high-frequency words, seasonal themes to keep things fun, and decodable text.
There are many ELA skills covered in these poetry activities.
- poetry devices
- reading
- connecting
- sequencing
- comprehension
- vocabulary
- rhyming words
- writing
- visualizing
- illustrating
- grammar
- using context clues
- sentence structure
- phonics
- sight words
Fun Poetry Activities on Each Page
Each poem has four pages of activities to improve students’ comprehension, confidence, and fluency. First, students read a poem and then complete one to four of the activity pages.
The activities include answering questions, illustrations, letterboxes, sequencing, filling in the blanks, completing parts, rewriting the poem, and making connections.
No matter which activity is chosen, students will be recalling what was read and apply it to their work. They will answer questions about the poem read so you know if they are retaining information. They will put events in order based on what was read. Students will also fill in the blanks or complete parts to show they were paying attention while reading.
These activities help students retain and understand what is read, furthering their comprehension skills. Reading the poem is one thing, but applying it to other areas builds on their skills and confidence.
How & When to Use Poetry Mats
The Poetry Mats are incredibly versatile! It’s easy to use them in many different ways.
Here are some of the best ways to use these activities in the classroom.
- Print them for whole-group instruction.
- Assign them as independent reading work.
- Give the activities partner work for students to complete with classmates.
- Use them in small groups to build fluency.
- Add them to your morning work routine.
- Place them in literacy centers or poetry journals for extra practice.
- Give them to fast finishers who need something to do.
- Assess students with poems to see where they are with fluency.
- Keep them on hand in plastic bins as sub-plans.
- Send them home to practice with family members.
Digital Poetry Mats
In this amazing age of technology, it only makes sense to have Poetry Mats available in digital form. The digital activities and poems can be used in Google Slides or submitted on Seesaw. This makes it easy to use poems with students at home or in technology centers for extra practice.
What Teachers are Saying About these Fun Poetry Activities
This has been a great resource to use with my small group of ELL students! Poetry can be difficult to teach and these mats have made it so easy! It’s also such a nice routine as they now know what they are expected to do when we use these poetry mats. – Amy W.
I love this resource! I use it at our poetry center every week. The poems and activities are engaging for my first graders, and they had the routine down after a couple of uses. – Jessica Z.
The poems are fun and students look forward to seeing what the new poem will be. The activities are fun for the students to complete and helps strengthen their comprehension. – Stephanie S.
Try FREE Poetry Mats for Yourself!
Try these fun poetry activities in your classroom with this FREE Poetry Mats sample pack!
Click the image below to grab a copy.
Poetry Activity Mats Bundle for K-2
Try the Poetry Mats Year-Long Bundle by Proud to be Primary. It includes differentiated, versatile, and fun poems and poetry activities for the whole school year. That’s a total of 50 poems and activities in one bundle!
These poem of the week worksheets require no prep, so you can grab and add quickly to your morning work, literacy centers, or small group lessons. Try them for National Poetry Month, or use them all year long!
Kids will gain fluency and confidence through repeated, shared reading experiences for ten months. Poetry Mats are sure to become your student’s favorite poetry activities!
More Fun Poetry Activities for Kids
spring acrostic poetry writing
shared reading poetry activities
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