A Kindergarten Teacher Turns Into A Poet-II

This teacher writes her own poems when she thinks a poem will do a better job of explaining a concept. In the second part of the series, she shares her poems as well as activities to teach small children about post office and zoo.

To know more about her and what motivated her to write her own poetry to teach children, please read previous article Kindergarten Teacher Turns Into A Poet

Post office

Photo by Kirsty TG on Unsplash

For Discussion

Talk to children about the ‘tring-tring’ of the bicycle bell, and the voice shouting “Post” means that the postman is on his rounds.

• Explain to the children what ever the weather is rain, hot sun, or snow he does his job with a smile.
• Discuss with children how we love receiving special notes from our loved ones in the form of letters and cards. The words in a letter make us smile.
• Ask the children if they receive letters and whose letter is special to them.
• Explain that these days the postman hardly calls as people send letters through couriers and keep in touch with their dear ones on mobile phones.
• Talk about the pleasure of writing a letter and posting it in the post box and the magic of waiting for the postman to deliver a letter is something different.
• Tell the children that postoffice is a government building where the mail is brought to be delivered and where people buy stamps.
• Tell them about the importance of correct address. Show the stamps and explain that a letter should not be posted without a stamp.
• Talk about the postal system and how the letters are stamped, posted, sorted, transported from one city post office to the post office in another city. Explain how the letters get sent from the sender to the receiver.

Grandma’s Birthday Card

Happy Birthday Grandma I wanted to say,

Therefore, I made a card and drew a cake on it today.

I put it in an envelope and wrote her name,

To write in the address my dad came.

For the stamp, to the post office we walked,

How letters are posted and delivered, we talked.

We pasted the stamp and posted the letter in the box,

Hoping by tomorrow it will be in Grandma’s mailbox.

By plane or train, it will reach her city soon,

My card will be delivered to Grandma by noon.

If there were no post office, how would I say:

“I love you Grandma, have a happy birthday”?

Activities

• Make a cut out of a postbox out of cardboard and get the children to paint it red. Let them have the joy of painting with big brushes. Once the paint is dry, assemble it with staple pins.
• While you assemble the post box, let the children write letters or make cards to mail in the classroom post office. Give them different sizes of paper and coloured pens and crayons.
• Ask them to write the name of a friend they would like to send the letter.
• Help them to put it in an envelope stick a stamp and write the class and section with the school address.
• Let each child come and post his letter in the post box.
• Dress one child as a postman with a bag and ask him remove the letters from the post box.
• The postman can now deliver the letters in the classroom to the children. Help him read the names. Make sure that every child gets a letter from a friend.
• Take the children for a field trip to the nearest post office. Ask them to carry a self-addressed envelope.
• Show the children the counter for the sale of stamps, buy stamps and help them stick on the envelope.
• Let the children post their letters and then take them around the post office explaining and relating to the discussion in the class about letters.
• Ask the children to check their mail box every day to see if they have received the letter they have posted.

Zoo

Photo by Nikolay Tchaouchev on Unsplash

For Discussion

Talk to the children about the animals. Explain the difference between wild animals and domestic animals.

• Ask them if they have visited the zoo and get them to talk about the animals they have seen.
• Warn them that some animals are very fierce and they must not go near them.
• Speak to them about the elephant ride in the zoo.
• Tell them the lion is the king of the jungle and is kept safely behind bars in the zoo. Ask them if they have ever heard, the lion roar? Find out if they know that the baby lion is called cub.
• Talk about the tiger’s stripes and the leopard’s spots. Tell them that a panther has a black coat but he is also a type of leopard.
• Talk about the monkeys and chimpanzees and that they like to eat bananas.
• Ask them if they have seen a kangaroo and the baby in the pouch. Tell them that the Kangaroos are found in Australia.
• Talk about the zebra’s stripes and giraffe’s long neck.
• Show the children the pictures of all the animals as you talk about them.

Off To The Zoo Grandpa And Me

Today is Sunday “what shall I do”?

I will ask Grandpa to take me to the zoo.

Grandpa is excited and quickly gets ready,

“Please take me with you,” says my Teddy.

To get inside we must buy a ticket,

Grandpa takes out money from his pocket.

Of all the animals in the zoo,

I first get to see mumma and baby kangaroo.

The elephant walks and his long nose swings,

The penguin walks and flaps his wings.

Mr giraffe’s neck is long and his head goes high,

It looks like it will soon touch the sky.

The Handsome zebra is black and white,

I wonder from where he got his stripes.

The tiger in the cage prowls in a rage,

Zookeeper brings his food into the cage.

After a bath the lazy hippo sits tight,

The lion’s mane gives me a fright.

The leopard has spots lots and lots,

The golden deer runs and shows off his spots.

The monkey swings by his tail from the tree,

Making a loud noise eee,eee,eee.

Now, Grandpa is tired and I am sleepy too,

So I say good bye to all the animals in the zoo.

Activities

• Draw the faces of animals, get the children to paint them.The teacher can give the final touches and details to the face. The children will enjoy the painting activity.
• Get the children to wear the mask and have animals parade in the school.
• The children can greet the other children in the school while they walk in the parade eg: the elephants can lift their trunk to say hello, the lions can roar, the monkeys can imitate others and say “eeeee” and so on.
• Play a pretending game with children.

Have the children stand in two rows facing each other.

Ask the children to stand very still and listen.

Say the words “Abracadabra I see a lion” and point out to the children of one row.

The children have to pretend to be a lion and walk to the other side.

Now say the words again “Abracadabra I see an elephant” the children of the other row pretend to be elephants and walk to the other side.

Mrs. Poonam Sethi has graciously agreed to share her poems and the corresponding set of activities every week. These will be published every Thursday. Part 1 of this series is A Kindergarten Teacher Turns Into A Poet. She tells us more about the role of poetry and stories in the classroom in her articles- Role of Poetry In Enabling Children To Read For Pleasure and In Conversation with Mrs.Poonam Sethi.

If you are a teacher or a parent who uses poetry often to teach, Reading Journey by MerryGoBooks, would love to hear from you. Please write to lakshmi.mitter@yahoo.com.