Poetry is a wonderful tool for engaging elementary school students in learning. With its rhyming, alliteration, and easy-to-understand stanzas, poetry can cover a wide range of themes and topics, making it suitable for the classroom. However, finding the right poems for elementary school can be a challenge. To help you out, here is a list of 75 poems that are perfect for engaging elementary schoolers:
1. “Rock ’n’ Roll Band” by Shel Silverstein
2. “On Turning Ten” by Billy Collins
3. “First Girls in Little League Baseball” by J. Patrick Lewis
4. “Dreams” by Langston Hughes
5. “Falling Asleep in Class” by Kenn Nesbitt
6. “Nine Mice” by Jack Prelutsky
7. “Alligator Pie” by Dennis Lee
8. “Dear Basketball” by Kobe Bryant
9. “The King’s Breakfast” by A.A. Milne
10. “Winter Poem” by Nikki Giovanni
11. “Brown Girl, Brown Girl” by Leslé Honoré
12. “Mrs. Moon” by Roger McGough
13. “About the Teeth of Sharks” by John Ciardi
14. “Fish” by Mary Ann Hoberman
15. “The Rose That Grew From Concrete” by Tupac Shakur
16. “Risk” by Anais Nin
17. “Brown Girl Dreaming” by Jacqueline Woodson
18. “April Rain Song” by Langston Hughes
19. “Honey, I Love” by Eloise Greenfield
20. “Please Mrs. Butler” by Allan Ahlberg
21. “Snail” by Langston Hughes
22. “Laundry Hugging” by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
23. “The Corn-Stalk Fiddle” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
24. “Since Hanna Moved Away” by Judith Viorst
25. “Drum Dream Girl” by Margarita Engle
26. “Friends” by Abbie Farwell Brown
27. “The Tyger” by William Blake
28. “Knoxville, Tennessee” by Nikki Giovanni
29. “maggie and milly and molly and may” by e.e. cummings
30. “Boa Constrictor” by Shel Silverstein
31. “The Purple Cow” by Gelett Burgess
32. “The Dream of Shoji” by Kimiko Hahn
33. “Poor Old Lady” by Anonymous
34. “After the Winter” by Claude McKay
35. “Rathers” by Mary Hunter Austin
36. “Homework! Oh, Homework!” by Jack Prelutsky
37. “Notes on the Peanut” by June Jordan
38. “Sick” by Shel Silverstein
39. “The Quarrel” by Maxine Kumin
40. “Jaguar” by Francisco X. Alarcón
41. “The Parakeets” by Alberto Blanco
42. “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
43. “The Rainbow” by Christina Rossetti
44. “Now We Are Six” by A.A. Milne
45. “To Catch a Fish” by Eloise Greenfield
46. “The Spider and the Fly” by Mary Howitt
47. “Dino Thought” by Jane Yolen
48. “Wallet Size” by Nikki Grimes
49. “The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee” by N. Scott Momaday
50. “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
51. “The Swing” by Robert Louis Stevenson
52. “Mother Doesn’t Want a Dog” by Judith Viorst
53. “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer
54. “Autumn” by Alexander Posey
55. “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley
56. “Marshlands” by Emily Pauline Johnson
57. “Amelia’s First Ski Run” by Nora Marks Dauenhauer
58. “I, Too” by Langston Hughes
59. “This Is Just To Say” by William Carlos Williams
60. “CoquÔ by Carmen Bernier-Grand
61. “The Dentist and the Crocodile” by Roald Dahl
62. “A Riddle” by Christina Rossetti
63. “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” by Maya Angelou
64. “Cat” by Marilyn Singer
65. “Recess! Oh Recess!” by Darren Sardelli
66. “The Pasture” by Robert Frost
67. “Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein
68. “A Pizza the Size of the Sun” by Jack Prelutsky
69. “Wynken, Blynken, and Nod” by Eugene Field
70. “The Land of Counterpane” by Robert Louis Stevenson
71. “Mice” by Rose Fyleman
72. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost
73. “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer
74. “The Duck and the Kangaroo” by Edward Lear
75. “Magic” by Shel Silverstein
These poems cover a wide range of themes and styles, making them perfect for engaging elementary school students in the world of poetry. Each poem offers a unique perspective and can spark meaningful discussions in the classroom. Whether you’re teaching about nature, friendship, adventure, or simply the joy of recess, there’s a poem on this list that will resonate with your students. So, dive into the world of poetry with these 75 engaging poems for elementary school!
