Monthly Lesson - August

Hi Everyone! I will be posting lessons that I want to share with you all.

My first lesson is what I use on the first day of school every year.

The Important Book

I read the book to the class and discuss the pattern of the poems within it with my students. Then I explain they will be making a poem about themselves using the same format.

Here is what I project on the screen:

The important thing about (name) is that (most important thing about you)

One thing about yourself,

Second thing about yourself,

Third thing about yourself,

Fourth thing about yourself,

But the most important thing about (name) is that (the same statement in line one).

Doesn’t seem hard right. Well, I challenge my students to write complete and descriptive things about themselves, which isn’t too difficult. But then, since the poem is written in third person, I try to get them to write it without repeating “he or she”. This example is what I don’t want to see.

The important thing about Mary is…

She likes…

She does…

She doesn’t like…

She makes…

But the important thing about Mary is…

I admit several students do struggle with it, but since the poems are short and most students figure it out, I am able to work with those who are having difficulties.

Finally, once the students have written the poems, I type them into one document and print them on decorative paper. The poems are on the bottom half of the page so I can put a picture of the student on the top half of the page.

This is a sample of one of my student’s poems:

Olivia

The important thing about Olivia is that she loves gymnastics.

She has older siblings,

Her favorite thing to eat is hot Cheetos,

Math is her favorite subject,

And unicorns are her favorite animals,

But the important thing about Olivia is that she loves gymnastics.

I hang these poems up in my room for Back-to-School night and the parents love to read them.

Hopefully, this is an idea you can use in your own classroom. Thanks for stopping by!