If you’ve been following me for very long, you probably know by now how much I LOVE using poetry with preschool & kindergarten kiddos!! Shared reading has always been one of my favorite things, and my kiddos have always loved it too! So, since October is right around the corner, I thought I share 3 pumpkins poems with you!

You can write these poems on chart paper, on sentence strips to use in a pocket chart, or on a poster. I personally like to put poems in a pocket chart. It’s big enough for everyone to see it during whole-group shared reading, but it’s also accessible to the kiddos during center time. They can get pointers and read the poems over and over again!

I also like to have each word on a separate card. This makes it easy to manipulate. You can pull out words that start with the same letter, have the same number of letters, or even sight words that are the same. Being able to pull the word cards out just lets you draw more attention to the particular thing you’re focusing on, and I love to be able to do that!

If you want to read more about how I like to use poems, you can go check out my post about using poetry in the classroom:

Now, lets get to the pumpkins poems!!

 

Pumpkins

Sometimes I’m able to find what I’m looking for by searching with Google or Pinterest. But, sometimes I just like to make up my own stuff! This is one of those poems!

I love this one because of all the different things you can teach from it!

• opposites
• sight words
• color words
• same & different
• rhyming

Plus, this is just a FUN poem! A great extension activity is to let your kiddos create their own kind of pumpkin they’ve never seen! You can write their words on sentence strips and add it to your pocket chart poem, or you could even make a class book! Each page can say, “(Child’s name) has never seen a ______ pumpkin.” Fill in the blank with the kiddos ideas, let them draw their silly pumpkins, and put it together with a cover!

 

Ten Little Pumpkins

This simple counting poem never gets old! I love to simple switch out the object in the poem and use it month after month! Once the kiddos are familiar with the pattern, they grab ahold of it because they can read it on their own!

I also love being able to integrate math and reading. These simple counting poems are perfect for that! A favorite extension with this is to write the numbers 1-10 on pumpkin cut outs. You can use them to count, to order the numbers, or to match to the number words!

 

Five Little Pumpkins

OK… I saved the best for last! This one is my favorite!! I’m sure you’ve heard “Five Little Pumpkins” before. I remember it from when I was little. (That was a really long time ago! Hahaha!) But… I have to be honest. I don’t love using it because of the witches that are in it. That may be ultra-conservative, but I just don’t like using stuff like that with my kiddos. I never have. So… I created a version that doesn’t have any witches or other scary things!

You can still have all the fun that comes with this poem, but you just don’t have to include the scary stuff!

 

You are more than welcome to use any of these poems in your own classroom! (Just please give me credit for my creations if you’re sharing them! A link back is always appreciated!) And, if you want to save some time, you can get all three of these in poetry packs in my Teachers Pay Teachers store! They are available individually, or in a bundle! (This link takes you to the bundle page, but there are also links to the individual poetry packs once you get there!)

 

I’d love to hear your feedback after you’ve tried them!! Drop a comment and let me know how you’re using them and how much your kiddos love them!

 

Happy Teaching!!

 

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