Playful Poems

That Build Reading Skills
Playful Poems That Build Reading Skills © Kirk Mann, Scholastic Teaching Resources

20 Fun-Filled Poems With Reproducibles That Improve Reading Comprehension, Expand Vocabulary, Teach Spelling & More!

by Kirk Mann

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Dedication
To Sally for planting the seed. To Lucille for helping me stay in the child’s world. To Ming for her patience.

Playful Poems That Build Reading Skills © Kirk Mann, Scholastic Teaching Resources

Scholastic Inc. grants teachers permission to photocopy the contents of this book for classroom use only. No other part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, orstored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., 555 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. Cover design by Norma Ortiz Cover and interior artwork by Robert W. Alley, except pages 5, 6, 9, and 10 by PatrickGirouard Interior design by Sydney Wright ISBN: 0-439-11370-9 Copyright © 2000 by Kirk Mann All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 How to Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Getting the Most From Each Poem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Poems and ReproduciblesPlayful Poems That Build Reading Skills © Kirk Mann, Scholastic Teaching Resources

My Funny Octopus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 The Missing Cookie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Fish’s Wish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Little Brother and Dogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .25 The Farm Octopus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Cat and Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Giraffe Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 My Pet Tiger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 The Hungry Snake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..45 Dino Helps With Housework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 If Dogs Could Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 City Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Up the Elephant’s Trunk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 Fly Gets Tricked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65Sunday on the Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 Ant Takes a Cruise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 Horse Helps Farmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 Our Rhino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 Cleaning the Alligator’s Teeth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 The Wolf and theRabbit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89 Honey Bear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93

Playful Poems That Build Reading Skills © Kirk Mann, Scholastic Teaching Resources

Introduction
Poetry has the wondrous power to make us giggle, imagine, and learn. In fact, most of us were enjoying poetry well before we were able to read it on ourown. Your students are sure to love the poems in Playful Poems That Build Reading Skills. They’ll want to read them again and again, visiting favorite characters who’ll seem like old friends. Teaching with poetry is easy when you use the reproducibles provided in this resource. The Teacher Page and Student Activity Pages will help you target and teach the essential language skills your students...