Summer Boost
Activity:
Write a Seasonal Alphabet Poem
As springtime or any new season arrives, there are many changes that mark the switch from one time of year to the next. For example, when we think of Winter, most of us often have pictures in our heads of snowstorms, holiday celebrations, warm coats, gloves, and spending time indoors. Use these images to help your child compose an alphabet poem about the season, and have her practice letters while awakening her creative writing skills, too!
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What You Need:
- Large piece of poster size paper
- Pencil
- Several sheets of lined paper
- Crayons
- Computer for final copy or spiral notebook "poetry journal" (optional)
What You Do:
- Begin this activity by brainstorming with your child all of the things that remind her of the season. Record her responses on the poster size paper. As you do, have her assist you in spelling the words or simply have her write them on the paper herself. (This will make it easier to write her poem later, as she will already have the words listed and spelled correctly.) Guide her to think of not only things, but also of how the weather changes during this season, what people and animals might do differently, how plants change, holidays, things she does now that she couldn’t have done in the previous season, etc. These can be single words or short phrases.
- Now, using this poster have your child sit with her pencil and lined paper to begin her poem. First, have her write all of the letters of the alphabet in capitals down the left side of the paper, putting one letter on each line. These will become the lines of the poem. Below is an example of several lines of a Springtime Alphabet Poem: April Bunnies Catching a Ball Days are longer Easter Flowers Growing
- Have her try to think of one seasonal thing or event for each letter. As mentioned earlier, this can be one word or a phrase. Assistance may be needed with letters such as Q, X or Z.
- Assist her in correcting any errors on the rough copy and begin a final copy. You may chose to have her recopy her poem onto another sheet of paper, in a spiral notebook to use as a poetry journal, or she can practice her computer and typing skills by typing her poem in a word processing program. Try to have her center the poem in the middle of the page in order to leave room for illustrations.
- After completing the final copy in whichever manner you choose, have her illustrate her poem by drawing pictures of the things she wrote!
You may chose to revisit this activity as seasons change and have her continue to add different seasonal Alphabet Poems to her poetry journal or collection.
