Welcome to Your School Poem, K-2

Hi fellow teachers! If you’re looking for a new back to school time filler for your Kindergarten, Grade 1 or Grade 2 class, check out the poem “Welcome to Your School” below. The video read aloud includes a short interactive mindfulness introduction before the poem making it ideal for after recess or helping your students feel calm and settled as they adjust to the new school year.

You have full permission to use the poem for teaching purposes within any educational setting, including online learning and homeschool.

Let me know if you use the poem – I’d love to hear how it goes.

Watch a video of the “Welcome to Your School” poem below:

Welcome to your class
Welcome to your chair
Welcome to your teacher
Smiling over there

Welcome to your friends
Welcome to your books
Welcome to your backpacks
Hanging up on hooks

Welcome to your lunch
Welcome to your hall
Welcome to your artwork 
Sticking on the wall

Welcome to your school
We’re so glad you’re here
Welcome to the memories
You’re sure to make this year

Original poem by Kim T. Harrison. Video created in Canva.

Download a PDF, black & white, printable version of the poem:

PRINT-WelcomeToYourSchool-PoemDownload

Download a PPT slide version of the poem:

PPT-WelcomeToYourSchoolDownload

Teaching Ideas

  • As a bell ringer or post-recess moment of focus. Let the video play while you tidy or prep.
  • As the introduction to a back-to-school activity: ask students if their classroom looks like the one in the poem; ask them to find where the items mentioned in the poem are in their new classroom (hooks, backpacks, lunches, etc.)
  • To complement or introduce back-to-school drawing activities: ask students to make their own artwork to stick on the wall
  • To complement or introduce back-to-school writing activities: ask students what memories they made last school year and/or what memories they think they’ll make this year

Happy Teaching! Kim x

Beach Day, Time Filler or Bell Ringer Poem, Grades 2-4

Hi fellow teachers! Are you looking for a new bell ringer, time filler, or post-recess moment of calm and focus? Use the video below as a fun and engaging twist on a poem read aloud. You can let the video play while you tidy or prep!

“Beach Day” can also be used to complement your lesson goals and curriculum outcomes. See the teaching ideas below and grab the PPT version or print-ready PDF with some fun activity ideas for Grades 2, 3, or 4 as well as for ESL, ELL or homeschool students. 

You have full permission to use the poem, written by me, Kim T. Harrison, for teaching purposes within any educational setting, including online learning and homeschool.

Let me know if you use “Beach Day” – I’d love to hear how it goes, Kim x

Watch a video of the “Beach Day” poem below. This “Poetry Pause with Dr. Kim” version includes a short interactive mindfulness introduction before the poem:

If you’d prefer to show the poem without the mindfulness introduction, use the “Poetry Time with Dr. Kim” version below:

Original poem by Kim T. Harrison. Video created in Canva.

Beach Day 
By Kim T. Harrison

Feel the sand on your toes and the fresh salty air
Hear the skimming of stones and the breeze in your hair
Splash through the waves – you’re a dolphin, a whale
Steer left, then steer right, now slap down your tail

Run back to the beach, the breeze brushing your hair
Build a city of sand in the fresh salty air
Steer through the streets – you’re a ship with a sail
Flow left, then flow right, now follow that trail

Play catch with a friend in the fresh salty air
Throw the ball long, the breeze tickling your hair
Steer round the flags – you’re the star in this tale
Weave left, then weave right, like a storybook snail

Feel the warm summer sun and the breeze in your hair
Hear the giggles and laughs on the fresh salty air
Pick up your spade – you’re a sleuth with a pail
Scoop left, then scoop right, now study that shale

Shake out your towel and pack up your pail
Say goodbye to the dolphin, the beach, and the whale
Brush the sand from your toes and the salt from your hair
Sway left, then sway right, in the soft, salty air

Download a PDF, black & white, printable version of the poem with activity ideas:

PRINT-BeachDay-poemDownload

Download a PPT slide version of the poem, with activity ideas (you have permission to modify the slides to suit your own teaching needs and grade levels):

KTH-PPT-BeachDay-PoemDownload

Teaching Ideas

  • As a bell ringer, time filler, or post-recess moment of focus
  • As the introduction to a back-to-school activity – use the poem to inspire your students to write about what they did over the summer vacation
  • Alternatively, you can ask students to draw a picture or make a collage about something they did over the summer
  • To complement opinion paragraph writing assignments and activities (see PDF or PPT for more)
  • To complement lessons on poetic devices, including repetition, rhyme, and metaphor (see PDF or PPT for more)
  • To complement English language and grammar classes, including action and sensory verbs, and imperatives (see PDF or PPT for more)

Happy Teaching! Kim x

A Summer Riddle Poem, K-2

Hi fellow teachers and parents! Here’s a fun poem for you to use in your Grades K-2 (or ELL, ESL beginner, elementary) classrooms, or with children over the summer vacation. I put some teaching and activity ideas below to inspire you. There’s also a PDF and a PPT version of the poem below.

Discover more riddle poems here (spoiler alert: it’s a poem about eggs) and here (a poem about a chipmunk) and here (a poem about rain boots).

Let me know if you use the poem – I’d love to hear how it goes.

Watch a video of the “Summer Riddle” poem here:

What Am I?

I’m not a bee
or a knee
or a juicy green pea

I live in forests
and fields
or next to the sea

Climb up high
and you will see,
it’s very clear
I am a …

tree

Download a PDF, black & white, printable version of the poem:

KTH-PDF-SummerRiddlePoemDownload

Download a PPT slide version of the poem:

KTH-PPT-SummerRiddlePoemDownload

Teaching Ideas

  • Language Arts, Poetry, Rhyme, Visual Arts: What other words rhyme with “tree”? Create a mind map of words that rhyme with tree; draw a series of images representing words that rhyme with tree; draw a picture representing the whole poem; practice reading or performing the poem in pairs or as a class.
  • Science tie-in: Inquiry Questions: Where else in Canada or the world can you find trees? Are there places where trees don’t grow? Are trees that grow next to the sea different to those that grow in forests or fields? Why?  
  • ESL, ELL: Practise minimal pairs pronunciation using the vowel sounds in the poem: /iː/ contrasted with /ɪ/ (There are lots of lists of minimal pairs practices available online, including here: https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/minimal-pairs-i-ee.php).

Happy Teaching! Kim x