Rain Boots Poem, K-2

Hi fellow teachers! Are you looking for a fun poem to use in your K-2 classroom? This poem is another “riddle poem” that you can use as a warm-up, filler, bell ringer or to complement a lesson plan. Teaching tie-ins include: inference, sequence ordering, skits, SEL or character analysis, poetry and language analysis, and visual arts.

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

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

Watch a video of the “What Am I? (Rain boots)” poem here:

All winter long, I lie in the hall, 

then the ice starts to melt 
and the rain starts to fall 

so you wiggle me on, 
pull me up nice and tall

and we skip and we splash 
in puddles, large and small

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

KTH-PDF-RainbootsPoemDownload

Click here for PPT and Google Slides versions as well as extra resources, including a 17-page PDF and ready-to-use activities (printable and smart board versions):

  • Warm-up activity
  • Pre-reading questions
  • Sequence ordering activity
  • SEL character analysis questions and drawing activity
  • Visual arts activity connected to rain boots
  • Poetry and language analysis activity (words that rhyme with “all”)
  • 2 poetry writing assignments (1 with extra scaffolding)
  • Teacher assessment checklist
  • Teacher notes and answer key

Happy Teaching! Kim x

Easter Memories Poetry Prompts

Hi there fellow poets! I’ve always loved Easter – the bright, spring colours, the warmth in the air, the feeling of renewal and re-awakening. This year, as part of my own poetry writing practice, I want to reflect on some of my memories from this time of year, and I invite you to join me with your own reflections in these 3 poetry prompts. Whether you’re a published poet or are dipping your toes into poetic waters for the first time, these prompts will give you an opportunity for reflection and connection.

Let me know if you use the prompts – I’d love to hear about your writing experience.

Happy writing! Kim xo

Prompt 1

Write a poem about a food or dish that always reminds you of Easter.

Ways to Play:

  • Take a few moments to remember some Easter foods from past years. Focus on the smell of the food, the look of it, how it made you feel. Try to bring these sensory elements into your poem.
  • Write a poem in the style of a grocery list as if you were buying ingredients to make this well-remembered dish.
  • Does the food remind you of a specific person or place? If so, use the food to evoke your relationship with that person or place.

Prompt 2

Write a poem about Easter colours.

Ways to Play:

  • Brainstorm the colours that come to mind when you think of Easter. Choose the one that resonates most strongly with you. Use this colour as an extended metaphor to describe an Easter memory. Think about the ways in which the colour is like Easter – what do the colour and Easter have in common? How are they different? How do they both feel to you? What memories do they both evoke?
  • Think about Easter clothes you wore as a child. Do you remember any special Easter outfits? Any particular colours or textures?
  • Choose a colour you associate with Easter. Now reflect and note down anything else that comes to mind with that same colour. Is there a memory that comes to mind you could focus on in a poem?

Prompt 3

Write a poem about a strong Easter Sunday memory.

Ways to Play:

  • Before writing, decide on your point of view and tense. Play with different subject pronouns and tenses. For example, even though it’s a past memory, could you write it in the present tense? What might happen if you use the 2nd-person “you” instead of “I”?
  • Choose a sound (or letter) that feels right for this memory and repeat it throughout the poem through alliteration or assonance.
  • Think about why this memory is strong for you – what meaning does it capture? How can you convey this meaning so a reader understands it? Try to show the reader the intensity and meaning through one or two poetic devices, such as metaphor or simile. Or, if it’s a fun, happy memory, can you bring in sound play, such as onomatopoeia?

Download a printable version of the prompts here:

KTH-EasterMemoriesPrompts-PDFDownload

Spring Riddle Poem 2

Hi fellow teachers! Here’s a fun riddle poem with math (measuring and weighing) and science tie-ins for you to use in your Grades 2-4 (or ELL, ESL elementary) classrooms. Find teaching ideas, a printable PDF as well as a PPT version below. Let me know if you use the poem – I’d love to hear how it goes.

Watch a video of the Spring Nature Riddle poem here:

What Am I?

Smaller than your fingernail
Or bigger than your head
Up a tree or on the ground
Twigs can make my bed

Lighter than a butterfly
Or heavier than clay
In a cup or on a plate
I help you start the day

answer: an egg

Download a PDF, black & white, printable version of the poem (with and without the answer for use in class):

KTH-PDF-SpringNatureRiddlePoemDownload

Download a PPT slide version of the poem:

KTH-PPT-SpringRiddlePoem-2Download

Teaching Ideas

  • Math tie-ins: measuring, measurements, and referents: elicit and/or brainstorm list of things that could be smaller than a fingernail and/or bigger than a child’s head. Measure some of these items and record them.
  • Math and science tie-ins, including inquiry questions: balance and weight: elicit and/or brainstorm a list of things that could be lighter than a butterfly and/or heavier than clay. Encourage students to use inquiry to find the best way to weigh some of these items. Use scales to weigh some of them, if possible/appropriate.
  • Science and health tie-in: food and nutrition: brainstorm different ways to cook eggs; label the different parts of an egg
  • Art and science tie-in: research then make or draw a bird’s nest containing one or more eggs; discover different egg colours
  • Easter tie-in: use the poem as a warm-up, filler, or fun end to a class about Easter eggs!

Happy Teaching! Kim x