These are the poems the children learn throughout the school year. We practice a few each month, that connect to the themes we are studying. Learning poetry helps build childhood literacy and language skills.
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses
and all the King's men,
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
Hey, Diddle, Diddle
Hey, diddle, diddle,
the cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laughed
to see such a sport,
And the dish ran away
with the spoon.
Little Miss Muffet
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on her tuffet
Eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider
And sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away!
Little Bo Peep
Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep
And can't tell where to find them;
Leave them alone,
and they'll come home,
Wagging their tails behind them.
Jack Be Nimble
Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jump over the candlestick.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
(back to top)
October(Sung to "On Top of Old Smokey")
The month is October,
The air's turning cold.
The leaves are all changing
To red and to gold.
The month is October,
And up in the sky,
The birds are all traveling,
And south they will fly.
The month is October,
There's so much to do:
Play football and soccer,
And pick apples, too!
Scarecrow
Scarecrow, scarecrow!
What do you know?
Guard the corn and watch it grow!
If the birds fly in to eat,
Just wave your arms
and stomp your feet!
Bat(sung to "Where Have You Been, Billy Boy")
Tell me, where have you been,
Little bat, little bat?
Tell me, where have you been
All the daytime?
I've been sleeping all the day,
Upside down - my favorite way!
As I wait for the skies
To turn to gray time!
Tell me, where have you been,
Little bat, little bat?
Tell me, where have you been
All the nighttime?
I've been flying all the night,
Catching insects for a bite!
I'll return to my cave
When it is light time!
Pumpkin Carving
First you take a pumpkin
Nice and round and fat;
Then you slice the top off,
That makes the hat;
Then you hollow out
The mouth, the nose, and eyes,
Show it to the children
For a Halloween surprise!
In a Pumpkin Patch
Three little pumpkins lying very still,
In a pumpkin patch on a great big hill.
This one said, "Oh I'm very, very, green;
But I'll be orange for Halloween."
This one said, "Oh me! Oh my!
Today I'll be a pumpkin pie."
This one said, "Oh, I'm on my way
To be a Jack-O-Lantern someday."
Pumpkin(sung to "Found a Peanut")
Found a pumpkin, found a pumpkin,
Found a pumpkin on a vine.
Yes, today I found a pumpkin,
And the pumpkin now is mine!
Tried to lift it, tried to lift it,
Tried to lift it off the ground,
I could hardly lift my pumpkin
For it was so big and round!
Cut it open, cut it open,
Cut it open very wide,
And I saw inside my pumpkin
All the seeds it had inside.
(back to top)
Five little turkeys sitting on a fence
The first one said, "My, I'm immense!"
The second one said, "I can spread my tail."
The third one said, "Don't catch it on a nail!"
The fourth one said, "I can gobble at you."
The fifth one said, "I can gobble, gobble, too!"
Then along came a farmer, who stopped by to say,
"Turkeys look best on Thanksgiving Day!"
Turkey Dinner(sung to the tune of "Are You Sleeping")
Turkey dinner, turkey dinner,
Gather 'round, gather 'round
Who will get the drumstick?
Yummy, yummy drumstick,
All sit down, all sit down.
Cornbread muffin, chestnut stuffin'
Pudding pie, ten feet high!
We were all much thinner,
Before we came to dinner,
Me - oh - my! Me - oh - my!
Guess What Day?
There's a turkey in the oven
Pumpkin pies to eat;
Stuffing, chestnuts, cranberries
It is a special treat.
With families all together
Their happy faces bright;
Can you guess what day this is?
Thanksgiving Day – that's right!
One Fat Turkey
One fat turkey went strutting by,
He shook his feathers and winked his eye.
He flapped his wings and his head gave a wobble,
He looked at me and said, "Gobble, gobble, gobble!"
(untitled)
I gather up the crumbs and scraps,
When everyone is through,
And then I give the hungry birds
A nice Thanksgiving, too!
The Wishbone
Hold your half
Pinch just so
Begin to pull when I say go.
When it snaps
Give a cheer
The bigger half gets a wish this year!
(back to top)
Christmas Trees
Christmas Trees
Short and tall
Thick and thin
We love them all!
Santa
When Santa comes down the chimney
I should like to peek
But he'll never come, no never
Until I'm fast asleep.
Day Before Christmas
We've been helping with the cake
And licking out the pan,
And wrapping up our packages
As neatly as we can.
We've hung our stockings up
Beside the open grate,
And now there's nothing more to do
Except to wait!
Christmas Cookies
Mix them and fix them
With sugar and spice.
Cookies for Christmas
Must look extra nice!
Five Little Reindeer
Five little reindeer,
prancing in the snow,
The first one said,
"It's time to go."
The second one said,
"Tomorrow's Christmas day."
The third one said,
"All the toys are in the sleigh."
The fourth one said,
"We'll travel far tonight."
The fifth one said,
"And be home by first light."
Then out came Santa
with a "Ho, Ho, Ho!"
And away drove the sleigh
across the sparkling snow.
Jingle Bells
Dashing through the snow
In a one-horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go,
Laughing all the way;
Bells on bob-tail ring,
Making spirits bright,
What fun it is to ride and sing a
Sleighing song tonight!
Jingle bells! Jingle bells! Jingle all the way!
Oh, what fun it is to ride
in a one-horse open sleigh!
Jingle bells! Jingle bells! Jingle all the way!
Oh, what fun it is to ride
in a one-horse open sleigh!
(back to top)
New Year's Day
Last night, while we were fast asleep,
The old year went away.
It can't come back again because
A new one's here to stay.
-Rachel Field
First Snow
Snow makes whiteness where it falls.
The bushes look like popcorn-balls.
And places where I like to play,
Look like somewhere else today.
-Mary Louise Allen
(untitled)
Doesn't talk
Doesn't sing -
Snowman doesn't
do a thing.
He just stands there
all the while
With a happy
wintry smile!
Five Little Snowmen
Five little snowmen sitting on a hill
The first one said, "I think I feel a chill!"
The second one said, "But here comes the sun."
The third one said, "We'd better run, run, run!"
The fourth one said, "He doesn't scare me!"
The fifth one said, "I'm melting. Oh gee!"
Then up went the sun, shining bright all day,
And down went the snowmen,
They just melted away.
Penguin(sung to "I'm a Little Teapot")
I'm a little penguin,
Three feet high.
I am a bird,
But I can't fly.
Look how I swim
Out in the sea;
I'm as fast as I can be!
I'm a little penguin,
White and black,
White on my front,
Black in back,
Look how I waddle
By the sea;
I'm as cute as I can be.
Unfortunately
Dinosaurs lived so long ago,
they never had a chance to know
how many kids would love to get
a dinosaur to be their pet.
Long Gone
Don't waste your time in looking for
the long-extinct tyrannosaur,
because this ancient dinosaur
just can't be found here anymore.
(back to top)
The Groundhog
A shy little ground hog left his bed.
He wiggled his nose and shook his head.
He looked to the left, he looked to the right.
The day was clear and the sun was bright.
He saw his shadow and ran in fright.
Then back to his burrow, he crept, he crept
And six more weeks he slept, he slept.
How Many Valentines?
Valentines, Valentines;
How many do you see?
Valentines, Valentines;
Count them with me:
One for Father.
One for Mother.
One for Grandma, too.
One for Sister.
One for Brother.
And here is one for you!
Valentines
To every special friend of mine
I'll send a special valentine.
Twenty, thirty, forty, or more
I love this February chore!
(untitled)
I gave a hundred Valentines...
A hundred did I say?
I gave a thousand Valentines
One cold and wintery day!!
I didn't put my name on them,
Or any other words...
Because my Valentines were seeds
For February birds!
(untitled)
Little groundhog down below
Underneath the wintry snow
Come on out and tell us true
Is spring coming?
Is winter through?
Valentine's Daysung to "Clementine"
Take some paper, take some scissors,
Cut a heart, and then design
Write a message in the middle:
"Will you be my Valentine?"
Take a doily, add some cupids,
Paste them all into a line.
Give this present to your best friend
It's a special Valentine!
God Bless America
God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the ocean white with foam
God bless America,
My home sweet home.
This Land Is Your Land
This land is your land,
this land is my land
From California,
To the New York Island
From the redwood forest,
to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me
As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me.
You're a Grand Old Flag
You're a grand old flag,
You're a high flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave.
You're the emblem of
The land I love.
The home of the free and the brave.
Ev'ry heart beats true
'neath the Red, White, and Blue,
Where there's never a boast or brag.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eye on the grand old flag.
(back to top)
St. Patrick's Day
St. Patrick's Day is coming,
And all that can be seen.
To right and left and everywhere,
Is green, green, green, green, green!
Four Leaf Clover
I found a four leaf clover.
I put it in my shoe.
I thought my wishes over,
And one of them came true!
Easter Gift
How would you like a rabbit,
A great big chocolate rabbit,
A rabbit full of jelly beans
All sugary and sweet?
I'd rather have a real one,
A kind of furry-feel one
I'd give him lots of lettuce greens
And carrots for a treat.
- Margaret Hillbert
(untitled)
Peck, peck, peck,
On a warm brown egg.
Out comes a neck,
Out comes a leg.
(untitled)
How does the chick
Who's never been about,
Discover the trick
Of how to get out?
It's Spring!
The apple trees wear flowers again.
The tulips show green shoots.
A shower sprinkled down on me,
But I had on my boots.
I watched a flitting butterfly,
And heard the robin sing.
I feel like skipping… I'm so glad!
It's SPRING! It's SPRING!
It's SPRING!
Never Mind March
Never mind March, we know
When you blow,
You're not really mad
Or angry or bad.
You're only blowing the winter away,
To get the world ready
for April and May.
What the Robin Told
The wind
told the grass,
And the grass
told the trees.
The trees
told the bushes,
And the bushes
told the bees.
The bees
told the robin,
And the robin
sang out clear:
Wake up!
Wake up!
Spring is here!
(back to top)
untitled
A little seed for me to sow...
A little earth to make it grow.
A little hole...
A little pat...
A little wish...
And that is that!
A little sun...
A little shower...
A little while...
And then a flower!!
Fuzzy, Fuzzy Caterpillar
Fuzzy, fuzzy caterpillar,
Crawling, crawling by -
Don't you know that someday
You will be a butterfly?
Only My Opinion
Is a caterpillar ticklish?
Well, it's always my belief
That he giggles as he wiggles
Across a hairy leaf.
Storm
Ladybug, Ladybug,
Where do you hide?
Under a leaf on its
Feathery side?
Safe from the lightning -
Safe from the rain -
Here I shall stay till
The sun shines again.
Untitled
On stormy days,
When the wind is high...
Tall trees are brooms,
Sweeping the sky!
They swish their "brushes"
In buckets of rain...
And swash and sweep it
Blue again!
- D. Alais
SNAP!
She was opening up her umbrella,
She thought it was going to rain,
When we all heard a snap
Like the clap of a trap
And we have never seen her again.
Caterpillars
What do caterpillars do?
Nothing much but chew and chew.
What do caterpillars know?
Nothing much but how to grow.
They just eat what by and by
Will make them be a butterfly.
But that is more than I can do
However much I chew and chew.
- Aileen Fisher
(untitled)
The rain is falling all around,
It falls on field and tree,
It rains on the umbrellas here,
And on the ships at sea.
- Robert Louis Stevenson
(back to top)
May(sung to "Polly-Wolly-Doodle")
Oh, the sun is out, it's fun to play
In the merry, merry month of May!
Let's watch the flowers dance and sway
In the merry, merry month of May!
All is well, all is well,
All is well each merry day!
All the plants are growing,
Their colors all are showing
In the merry, merry month of May!
(untitled)
Keep a poem in your pocket
And a picture in your head
And you'll never feel lonely
At night when you're in bed.
The little poem will sing to you.
The little picture it brings to you
A dozen dreams to dance to you
At night when you're in bed.
So...
Keep a picture in your pocket
And a poem in your head
And you'll never feel lonely
At night when you're in bed.
(untitled)
I'm glad the sky is painted blue,
And the earth is painted green,
With such a lot of nice fresh air
All sandwiched in between.
(untitled)
Five little monkeys swinging in the trees,
Teasing Mister Crocodile, "Can't catch me!"
Along came Mister Crocodile, as quiet as can be,
And snapped that monkey right out of the tree!
The Very Nicest Place
The fish lives in the brook,
The bird lives in the tree,
But home's the very nicest place
For a little child like me.
August Heat
In August, when the sun is hot,
I like to find a shady spot,
And hardly move a single bit
And sit -
And sit -
And sit -
And sit!