Dear Families,

I would like to introduce our poetry notebook. The purpose of this poetry collection and the rituals that will surround it are to:

*nourish your child’s mind with the unique ways in which poets use language

*model a genre for writing

*understand one-to-one word matching

*enhance reading fluency and expression

*create illustrations based on your child’s interpretation of the poem

*increase your child’s vocabulary

*foster a love and enjoyment of language

Rather than study poetry as an isolated unit for a short period of time, we will celebrate it on a daily basis. I am hopeful poetry will become part of your child’s literacy life.

With this notebook, we will take an in-depth look at one poem each week. Every day the poem will be read aloud as a class. After reading the poem together, we will talk about it. Our conversations may focus on: the meaning, the poet’s intentions, our favorite words and lines, and what we notice about the writing. On Mondays, we will choreograph movements to the poem and then practice the poem each day. On Fridays the children will then illustrate the poem(s) that they have learned. 

 At the end of the school year your child will bring their Poetry Notebook home with them. All of the poems that they have learned throughout the year will be in their own book, illustrated by them. 

Yours for children,

Mrs. Janine Walsh