How to Inspire Note-Taking & Poetry in the Classroom

Objective: To inspire note-taking and poetry to come to life in a fun and ‘puzzling’ way

Ages: 6+
Time: Approximately 25-45 minutes
Grades: 1^st +

Materials:

• Construction paper
• Glue
• Scissors
• Colored pencils (or pencils)
• Markers (or crayons)
• Paint
• Brushes
• Magazine visual or coloring book page

Lesson:

1. Use any topic of study and allow students to colorfully illustrate or paint the subject related to your theme.
2. Cut the picture into puzzle pieces.
3. Glue pieces onto appropriate size paper, leaving space between each piece.
4. Allow students to write research notes, facts about the subject or poetic lyrics between each puzzle piece in pencil. Edit as needed. Younger children may have to dictate their thoughts instead.
5. Trace words in marker to see more clearly.

Evaluation:

Create an opportunity for your students to read orally, eliciting questions or comments from their classmates. Additionally, you can generate questions for your students to answer orally or with written application to assess their comprehension.

Other ways to use this lesson:

When limited with time, have your students use coloring book pages, computer generated art, photographs, or magazine clippings to support their topic. This will also allow your students to spend more time on researching facts and poetically enhancing their writing. Be inspired and color blank puzzle pieces or pre-cut animal shapes and small posters to represent topic of study. Separate the pieces, leaving room to write. Try focusing on adjectives, verbs or nouns. Students can list only adjectives or just verbs, or even nouns that relate to the subject. Be creative and have fun!

About the Author:

Kim Waltmire is a state and national award-winning educator. She holds an honorary seat with the 2006 USA Today All-Star Teacher team. Kim is a graduate from CCSU with a Masters in Early Childhood Education. She published a writing & literacy book; Picturesque Writing, now self-published as The Art of Visual Writing for elementary teachers K-5. Kim also published a Read-Along Series for primary grades, coupled with spelling, grammar, science and social studies lessons for k-12 with a home-school company. Her writing and Project Based Learning strategies were recognized and published in the Creative Classroom Teacher’s magazine; May/June 1998 issue. She was recognized for her educational contributions and Project Based Learning by Oprah Winfrey, interviewed on CNN, Fox News, and honored by the CT State Governor several times. Kim has taught elementary school for 28 years and presently an Educational Literacy Consultant. Kim’s passion is teaching writing literacy for all learning styles.

• Twitter: @kwaltmire
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kimwaltmire/
• Website: www.visualccl.com