Week 6

It's Week 6 and time to turn our attention to the topic of creatures "on the ground." Here is the beginning of the "on the ground" poem for Fifth Grade.


Earthworms
   by Michael J. Rosen

Soil—that’s our crop. Without our lot,
nothing of yours will grow. We burrow, swallow—
dust, motes of dirt, mold, rootlets—
and cast the sweet earth within your plot.

....


[You'll find the rest of the poem in the book on p. 232.]


Take 5
1. As a poetry prop, bring a jar, baggie, or small pile of dirt. Then read the poem aloud slowly, sifting the dirt as you read.

2. To follow up, display the words and invite students to join in on reading the last two lines of the poem aloud with you.

3. Sometimes poets weave facts into their poems. Guide students in noting what information we learn about earthworms in this poem.

4. Poems usually rhyme at the end of lines, but sometimes they rhyme in the middle too—called internal rhyme. Challenge students to find pairs of words that demonstrate internal rhyme (grow/burrow/swallow)— including “slant” rhymes or “almost” rhymes (crop/lot; motes/mold). Then read the poem aloud again.

5. Check out another descriptive poem by Michael J. Rosen, “Centipede” (4th Grade, Week 36).


Meanwhile, Laura Purdie Salas is hosting Poetry Friday this week at her blog, Writing the World for Kids.  Check it out here. (Laura has several wonderful poems in The Poetry Friday Anthology, too!)