Shel Silverstein's Website

I have posted a lot of poems that have shown that there can be connections made to different activities that are just as fun for children.  On this website, there are a lot of things for not only students but also for parents and teachers as well.  Shel Silverstein Website  On this website there are many different things that you will encounter.  For one, the children can play games all surrounded by different poems that are by Shel Silverstein.  There are also printable and downloads that have drawing and activity booklets for the children, bookmarks for the children to have for their books and also poetry kits that will come in handy for you teachers during the upcoming poetry month.  You can also see some of Shel's most memorable poems played out.  This could be good to show the students a video of what the poem they are reading looks like played out.  There is also an option to see what is up and coming in the Shel poem world.  This website also offers links to other sites that will provide fun for your children in your classroom.  You can also email them to get any questions answered or to find out more on something that is on the site.  There is a section for teachers and parents that include all sorts of things for your children to do.  There are lessons and activities, event kits and drawing and activity books.  This website has all you can want and more that will make reading and learning about Shel Silverstein fun and interesting to all of your children!

 



Smart

In this poem, a little boy thinks he is making a lot of good trades with the dollar that his father gave him.  He first trades his dollar for two shiny quarters because he thinks two is for sure more than one.  He does not understand the value that his dollar has and has unknowingly made a bad trade.  He continues to make trades until he is down to only having five pennies!  Needless to say his father was not very happy with him when he saw that he made very bad trades.  An activity that I thought you could do with your class that goes along with this poem is one that I saw on the website TeacherTube.com.  This is an example of the children in this classroom acting out this poem just to show how the trades the little boy was making were simply silly Smart Poem Play.  If you have a younger classroom you could take the time out to have a math lesson explaining the value of money.  They may not get it right away but they will soon see that the boy in this poem was making the wrong trades all along.

People Zoo

In this poem, a child is actually put into a zoo where we would normally see all of our favorite animals.  While he is there he experiences all the same things that can happen to the animals that we go and visit all the time.  An activity that I thought you could do with your student that relates to this poem would be to take them to your local zoo.  Although this may be a simple activity to do with your students, you could have a discussion with them before hand on the proper way you should treat the animals in the zoo that they are going to see.  You could explain to them the importance of treating them the way they should be because they could be like the little child in the poem that was pointed at and spit at in the zoo and that they probably wouldn't enjoy that to much.  The local zoo around me in the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.  This zoo even has a preschool outreach program that will bring animals to you at your school just in case you can not go to them! Here is a link to find out more about this program.  Columbus Zoo Preschool Outreach Program

Somethin' New

In this poem, the person is encouraged to make something new and everyone will want to buy it.  Unfortunately all this person can make is things that don't work.  They try to make a paper umbrella but no one wants that they won't stay dry.  They also try to make reusable gum and mustard flavored ice cream but we all know that it can't be very good.  An activity I thought that you could do with your classroom is to have them make something that they think will work for other people.  This activity can also be connected with a lesson plan about famous inventors such as Alexander Graham Bell or Orville and Wilbur Wright.  The students in your classroom could also present their inventions to the parents at a parent/teacher conference night so that the parents can see that their children are learning new things and creating things they think will work on their own.  Who knows you may have a future famous inventor in your classroom just waiting to be shown!

Body Language

In this poem, all the different parts of this persons body can not decide on what they want to do.  His feet want to dance, his tongue wants to have a snack, and his brain even wants to read a good book.  An activity I thought that could go with this poem could be having the children get up and move their bodies so that all their different body parts don't have to disagree like the person's in the poem did.  One website that I found that can get your children in your room moving is the Sesame Street website where the children and yourself can get their move on!  Get moving with Grover!  There are many different videos on this sight that will show your children how to move with some of their favorite characters!

The Smile Makers

In this poem two people were hired by a old giant to help him hold up his smile.  At the end of this poem they make the statement that it can be hard work to make someone smile.  This made me think of an activity that could be done with your classroom about what makes your students smile.  I work at a daycare and I did this with the preschool classroom there as an example.  Here is the power point I made to show you how you could do this with your students and also with yourself.  What Makes you Smile Power Point

The Former Forman's Story

In this poem, a man talks about a job that he went on that involved him demolishing someones house.  He talked about tearing up the floor, pulling out the bell, and even cutting down the rafters!  Soon after doing all this he was informed that the house he was currently demolishing was not in fact the house he was supposed to do.  The house he was supposed to take up was next door!! Needless to say he wasn't a forman anymore.  This poem by Shel shows why it is important to know exactly what your doing before you do it.  An activity that I thought a teacher could do with her students based off of this poem is to lead into a topic of important jobs people do in their community.  The teacher could arrange for the children and herself to go on a walking field trip, if that works in your town, to go to the various different jobs that are done throughout their community.  You could take them to the local fire house and have the fire men and women show your students the importance of their job and why it is important for them to know how to save children like them from fires.  You could also take your students to the local police department.  The police men and women could talk to the children about how important their job is to keep everyone safe in their community.  These are just a couple of ideas of people like the forman in the poem that have to make sure what they are doing is the correct thing to do.  You could explain to your students that maybe if the forman would have looked carefully at what he was doing then maybe he wouldn't have torn down the wrong house!

Best Mask?

In this short poem, a little child in their classroom is talking about a contest they are having for the scariest mask.  He then reveals that he is the winner, but he is not wearing one and he feels very sad.  I couldn't find a link for this poem to print off but it is in Shel's book Falling Up if you could find that in your local library.  An activity that could go along with this poem I thought could be having all the children make their own mask just for fun.  Not to be scary and not to be judged but just to be fun.  I have found a website that has easy simple to follow directions on how to make a lion mask and also a panda mask with your children in your classroom.  Animal Masks  and you don't have to be limited to just those animals.  You can make just about any kind of animal you want to with a paper plate.  I thought this would be a fun and interesting activity to do with the children and there would be no judgement.  You could simply do it just for fun!!

                                                                                             

Safe?

In this poem, Shel shows the obvious steps that a child or anyone for that matters follows before the cross the street outside.  Safe? Poem  this poem can be done in your class when you are going over public safety rules.  After reading this poem, you can take the children to this child friendly website so that they can see a fun and informational way to keep themselves safe when they cross the street and other safety guidelines.  Elementary Safety 4 Kids  On this website you can have the children play games like word find and there is even coloring pages that they can print off that describe different safety methods they can take when approached by a stranger or something they don't like.  There are also safety videos on this website you can show your children so they not only know what to do when they are crossing the street but also so they know what to do in any situation.  There also many downloads and printables you can choose from to share with your children about safety.  This site is a great site among many online that will be sure to teach your children about being safe just like the person was being in Shel Silverstein's poem.

The Giving Tree

Here is a link so you can read the poem easy and fast to your students in case you don't have to book in your classroom or at your library to access it.  The Giving Tree poem.  After reading this poem I thought of activity that you could do with the children in your classroom or even just do with your children if you're a parent sitting at home.  Donating new or gently used toys around Christmas time is a way in which people give back every year.  This coming Christmas, have the children in your classroom get a chance to give back just like the tree did for the little boy in the poem.  Having them participate in this activity will give them a sense of belonging just like the tree felt for the little boy in the poem.  I made this flyer as an example of a flyer you could pass out to your students to take home to their parents to show them why and how to donate to Toys For Tots or to even go to their local donation headquarters and make a difference in some child's life this coming Christmas.

Youtube and Shel

If you are looking for a fun and interesting way to get your children or any one of that matter to be interested in Shel Silverstein or his poems, YouTube is where I have found just that.  When you're choosing a poem for the day or the week, YouTube can help you find just about any poem by Shel.  YouTube Shel Silverstein Poems.  This website takes you to all things Shel and its a fun and interesting way for the children to make a connection with the poems of your choice!  This site can be a useful tool for Poetry month which is just right around the corner! You can plan the children loving this and wanting every month to be poetry month!