Kids’ Poems by R. Routman
Kids’ Poems: Teaching Second Graders to Love Writing Poetry by Regie Routman
Kids’ Poems is also available for other grade levels.
Regie Routman is a teacher who writes professional development books for other teachers, presents inservices, leads school-wide literacy professional development residency projects, and also offers professional development training CD’s. Her books are very helpful to teachers. This book is especially for teachers of second graders. She discusses how to teach poetry and the best part is that whole pages of this book are devoted to samples of student work.
These samples could be used in classrooms to show children what is possible for students to write in the area of poetry. Being able to show student work samples is sometimes more helpful than anything. The poems she is talking about are all free verse, non-rhyming poems.
Free Generic Poetry Paper Printable Summer Theme
Below are free PDFs for student poetry and story writing, with a summer theme. This way, students may choose to write free verse, rhymes, or even stories. These are generic writing frames that really do not require the book, above — but of course, it would be nice to have to consult. Most have a nature theme. (see below, click on the link for full free instant download PDF of all pages which were updated May 2018)
FREE PDF poetry writing paper frames for poems about hummingbirds, summertime, butterflies, bees, rivers, trees, monsters, storms, and writing frames. The different kinds of writing pages in the PDF are to help provide differentiation. Student directions are included.
Each topic has a directions page with a few optional vocabulary words, such as for butterflies.
Then a writing frame page is provided for each topic, as well. Children are encouraged to draw their own picture in the oval area before writing paired lines of rhyming poetry. Prose may also be written on the lines as the pages are open-ended.
Happy poetry writing, Carolyn
Abe Lincoln’s Hat is a story that tells President Lincoln kept his speeches in his hat. The facts in this nonfiction book are presented in a child-centered manner that students will remember. The free printable has a fill-in-the-blank work page, answer key, and word bank. There is also a page for children to examine a large penny closely. Perhaps children could also examine a real penny using a magnifying glass.
The freebie for Albert is a cut and paste work page of “good” and “not so good” sounds and noises. Albert is sensitive to sounds. This would be a story and activity page for fall when classroom expectations are being established. A class discussion could help clarify good and not good sounds inside a classroom? Hallway? Lunchroom? Playground?
Alex Asks About Auntie’s Airplane Day: An Adoption Day Story is a book by Carolyn Wilhelm of the Wise Owl Factory. She writes about her grown-up daughter and young grandson who is realizing auntie is adopted (from South Korea). The free printable at this post is near the bottom and has printable cards for adoption day (or gotcha day or airplane day) friends and family who may be adopted.
Alex Asks Grandpa About the Olden Days: A 1940s Story was written by Gary L. Wilhelm, edited by Carolyn Wilhelm, and illustrated by Pieter Els.
In this story, a young child is wondering about the “olden days” when his grandpa was young like him. His mother takes the child to Grandpa’s house so he can ask some questions about life long ago.
Then and Now sorting cards is the freebie at the post.
Aloha for Carol Ann was written by Margo Sorenson and illustrated by Pricilla Burris. It nicely tells the experience of a child who moves to Hawaii and begins to adjust to a new culture. The free instant download PDF has a sequencing page, a read the room page, a graphing page, skip counting number puzzles, Sudoku puzzles, and answer keys.
Freebie for Antler, Bear, Canoe: a Northwoods Alphabet for children to apprentice themselves to Bowen’s idea of writing through the year using each letter of the alphabet.
Arthur’s First Sleepover work page and key, FREE PDF
The story of Arthur’s First Sleepover seems more typical of older and braver boys rather than a first experience sleeping outside in a tent. This is a pretty exciting adventure story beginning with a write up of aliens in the local newspaper.
Arthur Meets the President Printable provide some familiarity for Washington D.C. and study of Presidents or patriotism. Reading Level L
FREE PDF work page, answer key, and coloring page:
This post has a free printable for Arthur’s Thanksgiving book by Marc Brown. It is a 6 page PDF (3 student pages and 3 answer key pages).
Arthur’s TV Troubles has a theme common to children as when he watches TV he wants something for sale on a commercial. The free work pages focus on reading comprehension.
The post has some ideas we used to make theme baskets with board books and toys for a baby about 7 months old.
Baby Whale’s Journey is a nonfiction story about a baby whale’s life as it learns and grows. This book is perfect for inferring and also teaching word choice for the traits of writing. The sentences “show” and do not “tell,” so students must think about what is really being said.
The Barefoot Book of Children is one that will be read again and again, and year after year. There is much to consider, think about, and discuss with children. It is a book of life, really. There is a free instant download matching game PDF at the post, as well.
Bats by Gail Gibbons is popular especially in the fall in elementary classrooms. Gibbons writes nonfiction books and illustrates them as well. She creates beautiful books. Any nonfiction book about bats would probably work with the bat diagram page to fill-in the labels for parts of a bat. The coloring page would work with other such stories, as well.
The post describes two free printables. One PDF is for Beaver at Long Pond, and the other is a beaver writing printable.
The work page and answer key for students to use inferring to determine facts about beavers.
There is also a free 25 page PDF with story and simple research writing frames which opens in our free eMember area.
Bee-Bim Bop! This blog has a book review and also a free printable short o phonics resource for emergent readers. It was written by Linda Sue Park and illustrated by Ho Baek Lee. According to Publishers Weekly, it is “Unabashedly happy.”
Found Poetry with the Berenstain Bears Books is a wonderful class activity for helping children notice poetic language in books. We did this when we had parent volunteers during literacy time and the results impressed everyone, children, and adults alike!
The amazing tricks one American soldier performs on a borrowed bicycle is the grand finale for the school sports day in a small village in occupied Japan. This is my free PDF with questions and answers: Bicycle-Man-free-work-pages (open here)
The Big Wave book companions are a free PowerPoint presentation and PDF. The book was written by Pearl S. Buck, who mostly wrote books for adults, but she also wrote this children’s book,
The book Big Words for Little People by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell could be used along with this printable. And how about these, especially for back to school: respect, cooperate, appropriate, patience, celebrate, and consequence. Parents and teachers will approve!
Help expose children to the wider world and higher levels of thought The Boy in the Garden Q and A work page, answer key, and compound word poster
Free work page opens here with answer key, story writing prompt, and writing frame pages. The work pages are easy with circle-the-picture answers. Select different pages to use with different ages of children.
PDF opens right here
In this story, Nancy is invited to a friend’s butterfly birthday party, and is so excited. However, her mother says she can’t attend. Nancy is furious, scowls, and sulks. In the end, she apologizes to her mother for being so mad.
Bonny’s Big Day was written by James Herriot and was illustrated by Ruth Brown.
James Herriot was a veterinarian who wrote books for adults and children alike. You have probably heard of All Creatures Great and Small. The farmer is dressed up for the Darrowby Show (well, his socks do match this day, after all) and the horse is also beautifully dressed in the full regalia of an old-fashioned carthorse. Who do you think wins in the Family Pet Class?
The Barefoot Book of Children is one that will be read again and again, and year after year. There is much to consider, think about, and discuss with children. It is a book of life, really. There is a free instant download matching game PDF at the post, as well.
The post has a free printable princess R-blend words PDF. This could be used with any princess story. The one that inspired me was Brave: A Mother’s Love, Step into Reading, Level 2, by Melissa Lagonegro, is based on Disney’s Pixar’s movie, Brave.
The Breadwinner is book one of four by Deborah Ellis. There is a review and a free book companion available at this post. It was first published in 2000, and by 2013 there were 39 English editions. The book has received several literary awards, including the Peter Pan Prize. Parvana has to live like a boy although with her family due to circumstances in war-torn Afghanistan.
Emotional Intelligence Awareness is during October, and this post has a free printable on that topic. Kyle Carlin is a school psychologist and the author of Bug and Boo, a children’s book that helps teach social-emotional skills.
BUZZ! A Book About Insects is a level 3 science reader with fairly dense informational text. I ended up making a free 8 page illustrated worksheet set (divided into four chapters) for this one book.
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Gold Coins by David A. Adler is not one of the most popular books in the series, and because of that, it is considered a good book for teacher selection for leveled oral reading. Opens here — true/false worksheet.
The Carnival of the Animals post has a 33 page printable both in English and in Spanish, for music activities and music appreciation. Freebie, of course.
The Case of the Missing Museum Archives was written by Steve Brezenoff. At the post, there is a free printable with a few student work pages. When the plans for the prototype of a failed flying machine go missing from the Air and Space Museum’s archives, Amal’s father, the assistant archivist, is blamed.
The Case of the Portrait Vandal was written by Steve Brezenoff. At the post, please find the free teaching supplement. This book one in the Museum Mysteries series published by Stone Arch books.
A cat label the diagram worksheet and two coloring pages are open here. A book, Cats, by Gail Gibbons is suggested, but other books or sources could be used to gather information for the diagram. An answer key is provided.
The story of Charlie Anderson is one many teachers read to students to gently address the situation of joint custody for some children, as this cat has two families. The book says nothing about joint custody. It is the story of how a cat who has had one longtime family picks another family and begins living with both. 17 page PDF including the answer key
The story of Cinderella is different in many countries. This post has a printable activity for children to compare and contrast the usual English version of the story with Korean Cinderella. Korean Cinderella in this case is also in English.
This book is the basic Cinderella story with penguin characters. Very fun! Appeals to both boys and girls as the penguins are animals who look comical in clothing. Janet Perlman has other funny stories children will enjoy. This book is level L, and is a “fractured” fairy tale.
Climate Change Captives 2035 and Project SAVE: Students Help Save the Earth (Climate Captives) has a Lexile level of 820L.
In this futuristic book about how the world has changed due to global warming students create projects to help save the earth. Free novel companion unit at this link.
Commander Toad and the Big Black Hole was written by Jane Yolen. Opens here –a free sequencing work page. This is a humorous easy reader for children who like clever thinking!
Corduroy was written by Don Freeman. The girl saves money to buy the bear. The story has a good message for children about saving money for things they want to buy. There are two free sequencing pages at the blot post.
Countdown to Kindergarten was written by Alison McGhee and illustrated by Harry Bliss. It is clever and humorous. It ends happily when quite a few of the kindergarteners confess they also are unable to tie shoes, the teacher says she will help. A free school fears letter-sized teaching posters PDF at the post could be used for a large group discussion.
Cranberries Revealed by Wayne R. Martin is appropriately named: Cranberries Revealed: From the marsh to the table . . . a visual journey. At the post, there are free 3-part cards about cranberries, and also a cranberries research project for older children.
Supplemental book worksheet, opens here
Curious George Plays Baseball and Curious George Takes a Job — both printables open here
Sequencing PDF work page for Curious George Plays Baseball, and a comprehension question work page for Curious George Takes a Job.
Free 14 page PDF for teachers to use with the book A Different Pond by Bao Phi, which is a free instant download, at this link. The students will work on character traits, a settings page, cause and effect, and coloring pages. An answer key is also included.
Drummer Hoff by Barbara and Ed Emberley is one teachers and parents can reference when teaching ordinal numbers (first, second, third, and so on). See the free work page at the post. It is a free instant download.
Free printable for double facts which could be used after reading the book Double the Ducks Math Start Book by Stuart J. Murphy. First-grade work pages are found at the blog post.
88 Pounds of Tomatoes by Cindy Neuschwander, illustrated by Terry Sirrell, Math Activities at the end of the book by Marilyn Burns. See the free instant download PDF on the blog post.
The Elephant’s Child is the story of how elephants used to have short noses and how the curiosity of one little elephant changed that forever. There is a free work page at the blog post.
Elmer’s Christmas is a sweet story in the Elmer elephant book series. The suggested activity is to make an elephant with wishes and gifts for the world and other people.
Elmer’s Rainbow by David McKee allows children to cut, color, and illustrate a colorful elephant. Elmer is a patchwork elephant who has fun and imaginary adventures. His elephant friends are the usual color, gray.
Delight children by reading The Escape of Marvin the Ape aloud. Children will want to hold this book and look over all the pictures to see how Marvin is hiding in plain sight all over town. See the free sequencing work page to accompany the story at the blog post.
The Face the Music Victoria Torres post has free work pages include character matching, hinky pinks, and cause and effect. Answer keys are provided. The book is one in the Victoria Torres Unfortunately Average series.
Ferdinand the Bull is both a book and movie. Disney+ has the video of the book only, as well as a full-legnth cartoon.
The First Four Years is the story of the first four years of Laura’s marriage to Almanzo Wilder.
At the post is a book review, a free PDF Q and A, as well as information about the premium emember area download.
The Frogs Buy a New House is an economics story for children who are moving. The frogs get a mortgage for a new, larger aquarium. There is a sub tub day of plans corresponding to the story, and also free sample pages and a bump game at this link.
Good Afternoon Vietnam: A Civilian in the Vietnam War was written by Gary L. Wilhelm. The post has a review of the book and a free curriculum for secondary teachers.
Good Afternoon Vietnam: A Civilian in the Vietnam War was written by Gary L. Wilhelm. The post has a review of the book and a free curriculum for secondary teachers.
The Guinevere At the Dawn of Legend Book Two study guide has a writing frame for an adventure story, writing rubrics, character trait word pages, puzzles, and an illustrated word wall.
Guinevere: On the Eve Of Legend — Cheryl Carpinello has written another book set in the time of King Arthur, and this one is about Guinevere. Find the free unit at the post.
How I Learned Geography by Uri Shulevitz is a story from World War 2 that resonates with today’s children as it is child-centered and informative. The blog post has a short review of the book and a free printable. The PDF has letter-size teaching posters with questions for a large group discussion about the story. There are also coloring pages, and suggested possible answers for the discussion questions.
Free printable with student pages to accompany the book I Am New Here by Anne Sibley O’Brien. This book is excellent for use when there is a new ESL or ESOL student in class.
Jasmine Toguchi Mochi Queen is the story of an eight-year-old girl who wishes she was older for the fast approaching Japanese New Year’s celebration. If she was only ten! Free unit at this link.
Kindergarten Diary was written by Antoinette Portis, and is a story about how feeling scared of school. What is so interesting about this book is the illustrations (by the author) are scaled to show how the kindergartener is feeling, not the actual size of things. Free printable PDF at the post.
Cheryl Carpinello regularly conducts Medieval Writing Workshops and has a passion for Medieval Times and the King Arthur Legend. Her studies of this time period and legend shine through the book, The King’s Ransom. Find the free unit at the post.
Leveled readers numbers do not have to stare everyone in the face all day.
This system shows that using shapes and colors can be easy for teachers while confusing to children and parents, thereby eliminating classroom competition.
Martin’s Dream was written by Jane Kurtz and illustrated by Amy June Bates. It is an easy reader book that could also be used as a read-aloud for MLK studies. It is a Ready-to-Read Level 1 book as it has repetition, familiar words, and simple sentences. There is a free work page at the blog post.
Minnie and Moo Go to the Moon by Denys Cazet is part of a hilarious series of beginning readers. In this story, Minnie and Moo think they go to the moon. Do they really?
Minnie and Moo Save the Earth by Denys Cazet is part of a hilarious series of beginning readers. Free PDF click here.
Minnie and Moo and the Thanksgiving Tree by Denys Cazet is part of a hilarious series of beginning readers. See the blog post with the free instant download PDF.
A Mom: What is an Adoptive Mother? A mother is the same whether children are adopted or biological. In this story, the child has been adopted. It is written from the viewpoint of the child to help explain a mother is the same in any family.
A Morning with Grandpa by Sylvia Liu
The book is also part of a book collection by Lee and Low publishing for helping establish grade one classroom communities.
Free printable for Night Cat by Margaret Beames, and illustrated by Sue Hitchcock. The printable includes sequencing as well as writing frames.
Free printable for Night Cat by Margaret Beames, and illustrated by Sue Hitchcock. The printable includes sequencing as well as writing frames.
An Orange in January is a book by Dianna Hutts Aston, and is illustrated by Julie Maren. It beautifully tells the story of an orange beginning with the orange grove, to the grocery store, and continuing through to the table. The free book companion has letter-sized teaching posters for figurative language, a work page, a word find, the life cycle of the orange, and a writing frame. There are ISN’s (or foldables) included. 35 pages
Our First Pony by Marguerite Henry is an old-fashioned farm story where the children all earn money, do work on the farm, learn about a horse that has twin colts, build a box stall with supplies they purchase themselves. Here are the free drawing and writing work pages which focus on story elements. Also opens here, farm coloring pages free instant download.
Parvana’s Journey by Deborah Ellis is set in Afghanistan and is the second in the trilogy of three books. My free work pages include sequencing, character traits not in my Breadwinner pack, and also discussion questions.
Parvana’s Journey by Deborah Ellis is set in Afghanistan and is the second in the trilogy of three books. My free work pages include sequencing, character traits not in my Breadwinner pack, and also discussion questions.
Pirate Boy by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Julie Fortenberry is a “what if” pretend adventure. Julie Fortenberry actually added a printable to my post. This link will take you there.
FREE PDF poetry writing paper frames for poems about hummingbirds, summertime, butterflies, bees, rivers, trees, monsters, storms, and writing frames. The different kinds of writing pages in the PDF are to help provide differentiation. And more!
Rocky and Tiger is a historical and modern fiction realistic story for children featuring twin girls age seven. Comprehension questions at the post.
Rodeo Finn by Clare O’Beara is a multi-genre novel for teens and young adults. Realistic equine fiction with nonfiction information regarding Ireland’s and Arizona’s farming, ranching, and equestrian competitions form the story. The two protagonists are cousins. There is a book review and free novel unit at this link.
At the post, find a PDF of creative writing prompts and rubric to download – book supplement for comedian Devin Siebold’s book: A Teacher in the Wild
Have you seen the Wise Owl Factory story, Super Spoons to the Rescue? It is available on Amazon as an always free Kindle eBook or as a priced paperback. Free book companion math work and coloring pages are free.
Show Jumping Team was written by a National Show Jumping Champion of Ireland, Clare O’Beara. The book is multi-genre as it is realistic fiction with nonfiction information about horses and horse shows. There is a free novel unit book companion at this link, also.
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park is a book for ages 9 and up, set in medieval Korea. At the post, please find a free printable PDF with student work pages and teacher answer keys.
S.M.A.R.T.S. and the 3-D Danger book is by Melinda Metz and is part of the Science Maker and Real Technology Students series by Stone Arch Books. It is also a Capstone Young Reader. Find the free book companion at the post.
Using a Pacific Northwest art theme and ocean creatures, this story is a twist on the familiar book, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. The lady in this book becomes larger and larger . . . until, in the end, she swallows the entire ocean! Free 38 page PDF
S.M.A.R.T.S. and the 3-D Danger book is by Melinda Metz and is part of the Science Maker and Real Technology Students series by Stone Arch Books. It is also a Capstone Young Reader. Find the free book companion at the post.
Tracks in the Wild is beautifully written and illustrated by Betsy Bowen. The book is written in the first-person, as if the author is speaking right to you from the woods. She probably wrote it in the woods. We lived in Grand Marais and visited her shop many times. There are two freebies. One is a worksheet for hunting through the book to find answers to questions. The other is tracking 3-part cards. Both are free instant download PDFs.
For Tutankhamen Speaks there are free Google Slides for students. There is a free teacher guide PDF, as well, with answer keys for the work slides. There is also a free student save-my-ink PDF version of the Google Slides for a printing option. Find all the resources at the blog post.
If it is a rainy day and children are excited to wear raincoats, boots, or at least use an umbrella. The book Umbrella by Taro Yashima fit such days. Free printable opens right here — short u work page, coloring page, and stick puppet PDF.
Why Don’t You Get a Horse, Sam Adams? This book was written by Jean Fritz and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. Jean Fritz writes historical fiction books for children ages 9-12. The stories help children understand history in a way social studies textbooks cannot. Free multiple-choice questions PDF –– opens here.
An Winter Days in the Big Woods educational printable may be downloaded here.
Zack’s Alligator free work page with an answer key (opens here). This story is so wonderful because at some point almost every child has wished a toy animal would come to life.
