First, here are the freebies- :) Poetry month has officially ended, but we are still enjoying writing poems in class! Last week, the students came up with four Cinquain poems (good review of verbs and adjectives), chose their favorite, and wrote/illustrated it on the template below (click to grab for free): I forgot to take pictures before I left work yesterday. :( I will have to post them another time. They came up with some pretty creative poems! Next week, I will be showing the students how to write a Diamante poem. We will be reading books about dinosaurs, so I've created a template for a dinosaur-themed Diamante poem! (Click for free download.) Most of my poetry writing inspiration has come from Rachael Parlett's Poetry Resources Packet! It includes many anchor charts and graphic organizers...be sure to check it out! The students will also be doing a persuasive writing piece where they have to write a convincing paragraph about why they should have a pet dinosaur! (Click for free download.) And a few fun things... :) We did the Best Friend Writing Activity from Amy Lemons. The kids LOVED this. What a fun writing topic! This is definitely one I will be doing again! We also made our "Area Puzzles" (idea from Amy Lemons) and wrote our Biography Poems! I can't believe that it is May already! I am excited to do the Watermelon Day and Bubble Fun Day mini-units from Aimee at Primarily Speaking. Last year, I did the Watermelon Day and it was loads of fun! I can't wait to try out the Bubble Day unit! If you are looking for some fun, common core aligned activities for the end of the year, be sure to check these out! Have a happy Cinco de Mayo!