Use your senses!

One of my all-time favorite types of poems to teach my students is the five senses poem. A five senses poem has students describe a season, holiday, experience, or item, using the five senses.Our first poem usually starts with Fall or Halloween. We brainstorm experiences like crunching through the autumn leaves or spooky sounds of Halloween.  This collaborative brainstorming session really helps get the creativity flowing. It also gives me time to model for the students the importance of creating vivid and detailed poems. I really encourage the students to use descriptive words and details about their experience. These five senses poems give students the opportunity to play with language and build strong, supportive sentences.

I know it's __________________when...

• I feel…
• I taste…
• I hear…
• I smell…
• I taste…

After writing, the students publish their poems! My favorite way is to give them a blank sheet of white paper and have them decorate their page to match the details in their poem. We will write a five senses poems each season or holiday. For the Christmas holiday, I video each student reading their poem in front of the Christmas tree and then post them on our website. These poems also become a part of their writing portfolio that goes home at the end of the school year. Enjoy a few examples of our five senses poems and happy poetry writing!

FALL AND HALLOWEEN POEMS

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HOLIDAY POEMS FROM 2010

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