Sunshine Smiles

Poetry: theme, craft, and structure

Whole Group

• From the Storyworks archive: “Poetry: Pumpkins Grin” (October/ November 2023)
• Suggested books: Spring for Sophie by Yael Werber; And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano

• Video: The Sounds of Spring (5 minutes) Use this video to help children find personal connections to the subject of the poem.

• Tell students that poets often write about true things and use their word choices to make the ordinary seem exceptional.
• Explain that you will read the poem a few times. For the first read, have students listen and think about the poem’s meaning. What is this poem about? What is happening in the poem?
• For the second read, have students follow along in their magazines. Guide them in circling or underlining rhyming words. Point out the figurative language, like “sunshine smiles” and “clouds laugh.” (If appropriate, define the word metaphor.) Have students think- pair-share about what these metaphors could mean.
• Have students consider the final two lines of the poem. Ask them what the speaker means by “Life is blooming.” Where do they see life blooming in the springtime?

• Skills: Craft/structure; phonological awareness (15 minutes)

Skill: Writing; senses (15 minutes)

• Have students create a senses poem about spring. Have students write a sentence starter that includes one of the five senses on a new line, and then have students fill in the blank:
  • Spring looks like _______.
  • Spring smells like ________.
  • Spring tastes like _______.
  • Spring sounds like ________.
  • Spring feels like ________.