Poetry Cards with Lindsay

Hi everyone! I'm Lindsay from My Life as a Third Grade Teacher. I am excited to be blogging with Texas Teacher Roundup today!
As I was packing up my stuff for this school year, I found an "oldie but goodie" idea for poetry in one of my drawers. It is actually something I learned in my college classes. (Who knew?) I call them "Poetry Cards" and these are visual representations of a poem. Students take the topic of the poem, or a particularly strong image from the poem and bring it to life. They also include the poem itself somewhere on the item. Here is an example of a Cinco De Mayo poem on a 3-D taco! It's made out of sand paper, felt, paper, foam, and red pom poms. 

These cards are a great way to start off or end your unit on poetry! Kids can use a favorite poem they've read, or even one they have written. I have done this with many classes and they always blow me away with their creativity! Their ideas are amazing. I had a girl bring in a shoe with a poem on it! So cool. Here are some more examples I had on hand. 

This giraffe was made out of felt so that it has a unique texture to the touch.

This October poem is made out of foam. The pictures are just simple clip art mounted on an additional piece of foam.  I have had success with this project sending it home as "homework" and doing it at school during class. Either way, I try to encourage kids to think outside the box, and to use a variety of different textures. I think that this activity would be appropriate for grades 2-5 but some firsties may be able to grasp the concept as well. Depending on the grade, I would possibly have older kids make a collection of poetry cards. When your class is done, have a gallery walk or display the finished pieces somewhere special like the library. Get your kiddos fired up about poetry!  I hope you have enjoyed this idea! Check out my blog over at My Life as a Third Grade Teacher for more ideas!