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Poetry Writing for Kids: Bio Poems that Kids Love

This post details how to teach poetry writing for kids. It describes the steps to teach this style of poetry from the discussion to the planning, to the display piece — a lesson for your primary classroom for poetry month or during your poetry unit.
 
poetry writing for kids

How-To Teach Biography Poetry to Kids

Why teach poetry writing to kids?

You might wonder why it is beneficial to teach poetry writing for kids. I ask why not? Children are never too young to be exposed to poetry. I have childhood memories of my father reading poetry to me nightly, and I still remember the poems vividly and how they made me feel. Poetry allows us to have new experiences and to make sense of our emotions. It can connect children to literature that other resources cannot. Studying poetry has turned a struggling reader in me into a lover of literature who still reads, shares, and actively teaches poetry today.
 
Poetry teaches children to visualize and experience things in their imagination. Poetry geared for children often rhymes and is fun to read. It is crucial and can be used to teach children to read, write, listen, and speak. Chanting poems together with a class can be an enjoyable experience. I teach a different poem of the week that we repeatedly read to build our reading fluency. We discuss the lyrics and how they make us feel and what thoughts they provoke. Read more about our poem of the week activities HERE. You can check out the poems and activities we use throughout the year HERE.
 
For children that may find creative writing difficult, poetry writing helps with that. Poems follow patterns and have a structure that children need and find comforting. It can be a gateway to different styles of writing after building confidence through poetry writing. It also allows children to develop their vocabularies, word use, and grammar.

Introduction to Bio Poetry Writing for Kids

Before diving into teaching a specific style of poetry writing, I like to share poems from my favorite children’s poetry. I have collections of poetry on display from the authors Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, Denis Lee, and many more. My absolute favorite children’s poem of all time is Alligator Pie. I learned it as a young girl and taught it to my class each year.

To start our bio poetry writing lesson, I read a book by Jamie Lee Curtis called ‘Today I Feel Silly & Other Moods That Make My Day.’ This book is excellent at eliciting character trait vocabulary. We share our connections and brainstorm the different words on a chart.

Planning Bio Poetry

To teach the style and form of bio poetry writing for kids, I created an anchor chart that we could complete together. We went line by line, giving and sharing ideas with our neighbors on the carpet and then orally to the class. I wrote down one idea as an example. This chart is helpful for those students needing extra support with their writing.

poetry writing for kids - bio poem

Bio Poetry Writing for Kids

Students get a blank planning sheet to write their bio poems. They write about themselves at their desks using the template seen below. This template is available for free at the end of the post.

poetry writing for kids - bio poem
Before the initial activities, stories, and examples given, students are relatively confident and independent to write their poetry drafts. For a lot of writing with young children, usually, one draft is enough, but with poetry writing, I like to have a way of writing a polished, edited piece and creating a display.
 
poetry writing for kids - bio poem
 
poetry writing for kids - bio poem

Creating a Bio Poetry Display

As a display for our bio-poems, we re-wrote our poems on a folded piece of white tagboard to look like an envelope. To create the same look, cut large squares in heavier card stock and fold the corners inward. Students are taught how to use a ruler to draw straight lines of the appropriate length. They copy their edited poems on the lines inside of their envelope shape.
poetry writing for kids - bio poem
After re-writing their poems, they trace their writing with skinny markers. They decorate the outside of the envelope shape with designs of their creativity.
 
poetry writing for kids - bio poem
 
 
poetry writing for kids - bio poem
When they are up on the bulletin board, it creates a unique display. The bio poetry writing display is the title ‘Who I Am!’ and invites readers to take a closer look inside.
poetry writing for kids - who I am bulletin board
Students feel a great sense of success and see themselves as poets after this activity.

Poetry Writing for Kids Resources

Try the Bio Poetry Writing Templates

You can grab your own FREE bio poetry templates today by clicking the image below. Bio poetry writing and 12 other styles are included in the poetry writing unit available HERE. It includes posters, poetic terms, planning and creating sheets, many templates, and student poetry notebooks and covers.

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The following resources can be easily integrated into the primary classroom and any language arts curriculum. Each offers a wealth of engaging poems and activities to build a ton of skills and a love of poetry!

Poetry Mega Bundle

poetry writing mega bundle - curriculum resource

Watch the video to see the poetry writing unit in action!

Poetry Writing unit

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