This time of year is hard for me. I know I may sound like a complete lunatic when I say this, but I could keep on keeping on… forever. My students and I have developed such a special connection, and it is hard to know that soon they will be gone. I just can’t believe it. So, for now, I’m going to pretend that it is not over quite yet (because really…it isn’t!) Today, we began our unit on poetry by making visualizations as we read. We had all kinds of fun with this! We used a great $1.00 Scholastic Poetry packet I picked up yesterday (thanks to Mrs. Bainbridge for telling everyone about that great deal!) and Amanda Nickerson’s Music of Our Hearts poetry packet. LOVE HER! Plus, we were able to pull out some of the unused activities from my Common Core Aligned: Open Your Eyes and Visualize packet.
(Click on the image above to still grab that deal. The 187 online book is usually 19.99!) 
(click on the link above to take you to Amanda’s store…you’ll love this packet!) 
(click on the link above to take to to my store!)
To introduce the lesson, I had everyone sit in a circle with the lights off. I made them close their eyes and visualize what they were hearing as I read the first poem. Then, we shared our visualizations with each other. I loved how they all used such descriptive language! Then, I gave them three different poems to read. They paired up with a buddy, found a quiet spot in the classroom, and began visualizing. I allowed them to take turns closing their eyes as their buddy read the poem. IT WAS AWESOME. They were totally into it. Afterwards, they drew their visualizations on an organizer from Amanda’s packet. I loved walking around hearing their discussions. PRICELESS!
(yes, that is one of my students visualizing while resting his head on his beanbag!)
Who wouldn’t want to keep on, keepin’ on with a class like this?
Lisa R.
May 16, 2012I love your ideas for poetry. I also teach 1st grade and we are beginning common core at our school next year which involves a lot of poetry. I completely understand how you feel about losing your students. I feel the same way about mine. It's going to be hard to let go :(. I absolutely ADORE your blog!! I appreciate all that you share!
I would love for you to stop by & follow my blog!,
Lisa
Learning Is Something to Treasure
Kelley Cirrito
May 17, 2012We are working on poetry too! Some of my kids are having a hard time seeing things in a new way like a poet. We have been practicing that a lot!
Christina Bainbridge
May 20, 2012Thanks for the shout out! 🙂
I'm glad you bought that book… it's awesome!
Mrs. Bainbridge's Blog
Jeanine
May 20, 2012Thank you SO much for mentioning that Scholastic sale. I am returning to teaching Grade 1 after a number of years away (being home with my kids and then teaching Music and French) and that was exactly what I needed to build up my teaching resources economically. $118 for 118 full-length e-books – amazing!
Amanda
June 5, 2012Thank you for sharing my poetry goodies! It's so neat to see your students using the resources I created. I hope they enjoyed them! 🙂
Amanda
http://www.oneextradegree.blogspot.com
Julie Marciniak
February 15, 2013I am starting visualizing and mental images this week and your post was extremely helpful! Thank you so much for sharing!
Julie
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