Shel Silverstein is a staple in 5th grade. Many years ago, while teaching 5th grade, I received Light in the Attic for my birthday. I brought it and Where the Sidewalk Ends, its companion, in to class where I shared it with small groups. I let them find their favorite funny pictures and accompanying poems and mark them with bookmarks they had designed themselves. I read a few favorites aloud in class, showing the drawings on the video camera. We did this in the few minutes before lunch or after PE for a “settle down” effect.
To integrate poetry with a grammar lesson later, students were asked to supply a noun for each blank in Richard Armor’s poem, “Money.” Then we compared our answers with the original which follows:
Money
__________earn it.
__________burn it.
__________lend it.
__________spend it.
__________fake it.
__________take it.
___________leave it.
__________receive it.
__________save it.
__________crave it.
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