We simply love our daily poetry time each year. Each week, we focused on one poem. We read it daily, and it is a fun way to build fluency!
Using poetry is a great way to involve the whole class through shared reading lesson plans. You can adapt this five-day fluency plan to your own poems. Below, you will see an original poem from my set of weekly poems. As the weeks go by, students start to develop their favorite poems, and they want to revisit them again and again.
Brain research shows that multiple areas in the brain are activated when students see print, hear music, and move. This leads to more engaged learning and JOY!!! We want students to love shared reading, so adding songs means we say goodbye to boring! WOOT!
Elementary students can learn so much through our poem of the week! Rhythm and rhyme, concepts about print, and comprehension skills. Additionally, students will work on building their reading fluency. Let me walk you through how our poetry unit works as part of our fluency plan and show you how much fun poetry can be.
On Mondays, students are introduced to a new poem. First, I read it, and I sing the tune. Then I invite my students to join in. We decide the actions that should accompany our poem. We take time to practice singing the poem a few times together. Then we add the poem to our poetry notebook. Some teachers like to use a folder, but since we will be doing other activities each day, I find a notebook works best.
Typically, the poem is printed and added to sentence strips. We use a pocket chart to display the poem, and the entire class participates.
Since this is one of our back-to-school poems, we are keeping it simple. At the beginning of the year, we focus on routines. Students are asked to come up to this simple poem and highlight a target letter. On this day, the young students were looking for the letter t. Several students participate until the entire poem has been screened for the focus skill. As the year progresses, we may look for sight words, rhyming words, or words that are decodable.
Meanwhile, while students take turns at the pocket chart, the rest of the class adds the book to their poetry notebook. They illustrate the poem and follow along with the work that is happening of front of the class. In this example, students will circle each”t.”
On Tuesday, we sing the poems a few more times and continued to look closely at the text. This time we are looking for capital letters. We will revisit this skill with many different poems, but this is just an introduction. Once again, as the students are working at the pocket chart, the students are working in their own poetry notebooks. We want each student to be active in their own learning… No beauty shop… No shoe repairman.
Once again, we read and “act out” our poem. Usually, by Wednesday, the students are getting pretty independent and the kindergarten teacher can begin to pull back some of the support. Perhaps, singing a little more softly and inviting the young children to carry the heavy load!
At a pocket chart, we will do some type of sorting activity. It can be a concept sort, a phonemic awareness skill, or a phonics skill. Students will also follow along in their poetry interactive notebooks. Once this activity is completed, it can become one of our literacy centers. Extra practice is the best way to make learning more permanent.
I bet you know what comes next. We sing and act out the poem again. Each of my poetry resources comes with two sorting activities each week. At this point in the week, students really know this poem. We also sing it during transition times. Repeated practice is also an easy way to build oral language.
Fluency Friday is when do a little fluency demonstration for our poem of the week. It can take a few different routes.
Nope! While I love using a pocket chart because it’s so visual, you can totally project the poem with a document camera or display it on a smartboard. What matters most is that students are actively engaged—circling letters, highlighting words, singing, acting—it all works.
I keep all our weekly poems in a special poetry binder. That way, students can flip through and revisit their favorites anytime. Some teachers even use QR codes that link to music files or videos of the songs—instant listening center!
Plus, poems make great early finisher activities. Students can reconstruct poems, practice reading aloud, or just enjoy the familiar rhythms.
You can read more about early finishers by clicking:
Want to make this poetry routine even easier? I’ve bundled everything into a ready-to-go resource that includes:
A full five-day fluency plan
A printable emergent reader
Notebook-friendly poem copies
Sentence strip versions for pocket charts
Two sorting activities with response pages
Interactive notebook pages
MP3 song files with and without vocals
MP4 video files and streaming options
Editable song books
Whether you’re just starting out or want to freshen up your poetry time, these materials will keep your students engaged all year long.
FAQs
Why is poetry important in kindergarten?
Poetry helps develop fluency, phonemic awareness, and comprehension—all in a fun, rhythmic format that’s ideal for young learners.
How do you make poetry engaging for 5-year-olds?
Use music, actions, illustrations, and repetition. The more senses you involve, the more fun (and memorable) the learning will be.
What should a weekly poetry plan look like?
Start with introducing the poem on Monday, then build skills daily—highlight letters, sort words, sing during transitions, and end with a fluency celebration.
Can I use poems I find online?
Absolutely! Just make sure they are age-appropriate, have a rhythm or rhyme, and offer opportunities for interaction.
What if students don’t like poetry?
They will! Start with silly, rhythmic, or musical poems to win them over. Their excitement builds naturally with repetition and participation.
Are these activities aligned with standards?
Yes, they support early literacy skills including fluency, phonics, comprehension, and print concepts.
Poetry brings life to your literacy block. With a simple routine and some creativity, your students will look forward to this part of the day—and you will too. These poetry activities for kindergarten aren’t just educational; they’re joyful, engaging, and oh-so-rewarding. Ready to bring poems to life in your classroom? Let’s do it!
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