April is National Poetry Month

April is Poetry Month at Bella Vista! We celebrated by reading five different poems about dogs from different poetry books and the students voted on which ones they liked. Their favorite poem was "Mr. Beefy" from Once I ate a Pie. The second favorite poem was the book, Dogku. These poems were shared during story time to help me complete a district media module assignment. 

Before the book, Dogku was read to the students they were taught what a haiku is. They held their fingers up for the syllables in each line: 5,7,5 as the haikus from Dogku were read to them. Third through fifth grade students had the opportunity to write their own animal haikus in class and return them to the library when done. A teacher commented on this optional activity being very refreshing for the students to be creative, write and color. She said it was a nice fifteen minute break from testing. The haikus have been hanging up on the library windows through the month of April.