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• Between The Lions - "Poetry Day"
  It's the annual poetry day at the library and the rule is to write poems using words with the "ai" sound in words such as "raining," "wait" and "pail."
• Mister Rogers' Neighborhood - "#1198"
  It's Poetry Day in the Neighborhood of Make Believe. The neighbors share their creativity and expressions of feelings. Lady Elaine Fairchilde makes fun of the nonsense sounds in X's poems until she tries them out in her poem -- and likes the result.

Do in Class

• Arthur: Discovering Poetry - Share some poetry with your students and then write a class poem.
• Between The Lions: Be a Poet - Create poems that "paint" pictures about special things or experiences.
• Between The Lions: Matching - Print easy and hard rhyming words to create your own matching game.
• EekoWorld: Tree Branch Poems - Research endangered species around the globe, and organize facts about endangered species with a graphic organizer. Write a poem about an endangered species.
• Jazz Kids: Learning Through the Duke - Craft an original poem using words and expressions from the jazz era. (Advanced Activity)
• Postcards from Buster: A Poem for You - Write a poem addressed to an object, a person or a place. Play an imaginative question game.
• Teletubbies: Walking Rhyme -Try saying this rhyme as you take a walk to the park, or just around the block!
• ZOOM: Rhyming Pairs - Get your poetry juices flowing with this rhyming game from ZOOM.

Play Online

• Arthur: Fern's Poetry Club - Read poetry submitted by other students and then write your own.
• PBS Parents: Guide to Creativity: Ideas and Explorations: Haiku - Create a haiku using word tiles in this online interactive.
• Sesame Street: Elmo Rhymes - Play a rhyming game online with Elmo.
• ZOOM - send it: Poems & Tales - Write a poem and send it to ZOOM.

Read

• Basho and the Fox
  By Tim Myers and Oki S. Han
  Published September 2000 by Marshall Cavendish Corp/Ccb
  In this beautifully illustrated tale for 4-8 year olds, the 17th century Japanese poet Basho is challenged by a fox to write one good haiku. If he can, then Basho can have all the sweet cherries on a tree near his hut. Basho believes himself to be a great poet, but the fox insists even fox pups can match his skill. What makes a good haiku? The conclusion provides an amusing answer. Han's watercolors recall Japanese prints.
• Biscuits in the Cupboard
  By Barbara Nichol
  Published February 1998 by Stoddart Kids
  Elementary school kids will love to read poetry after reading this amusing collection of canine poems written entirely from a dog's point of view. To make this book even more of a hit, the pages are filled with funny, cartoon-like illustrations.

Supplemental Reading for Teachers

• Between The Lions: Literacy Tips - Poetry for the Rest of Us - Discover that poetry is fun.
• PBS Parents: Sharing Poetry - Read an interview with a librarian to learn how and why to use poetry in your work with children.

*As most PBS children's programs offer one year extended taping rights for teachers, please feel free to tape them now and save them for use in your classroom during the school year.