Authors
Timothy Rasinski, Ph.D. and Karen McGuigan Brothers
Contributing Author
Brenda A. Van Dixhorn, M.A.Ed.
Editorial Project Manager
Jodene Lynn Smith, M.A.
Editors
Jodene Lynn Smith, M.A.
Dona Herwick Rice
Illustrators
Color—Ana Clark
Black and White—Heidi Schmidt
Cover Art
Lesley Palmer
Editor-in-Chief
Sharon Coan, M.S.Ed.
Imaging
Alfred Lau
Art Director
Lee Aucoin
Production Manager
Phil Garcia
Illustration Manager
Timothy J. Bradley
Standards
Compendium, Copyright 2004 McREL
Publisher
Corinne Burton, M.A.Ed.
Shell Education
5301 Oceanus Drive
Huntington Beach, CA 92649-1030
www.shelleducation.com
ISBN 978-1-4258-0420-6
©2006 Shell Education
Made in U.S.A.
Reprinted, 2008
The classroom teacher may reproduce copies of materials in this book for classroom use only. The reproduction
of any part for an entire school or school system is strictly prohibited. No part of this publication may be
transmitted, stored, or recorded in any form without written permission from the publisher.
#10327 (i1442)—Poems for Word Study Grades K–1
©Shell Educational Publishing
Table of Contents
Introduction and Rationale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A Suggested Routine for Teaching the Poems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Standard Correlations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Activity Correlation Chart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Poems, Lessons, and Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
My Cat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
It Began with the Frog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
I Love You. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
I Need You. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Bugs on My Rug. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
My Candle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Sitting in a Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Red Means Stop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Prissy Missy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Treats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Summer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
My Dog Jen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Ladybug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Lemonade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Home Run. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
School Is Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Ham and Eggs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Hide-and-Seek. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
In the Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Bug in a Rug. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Fun in the Sun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Bath Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Going Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Surprise!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
My Friend Sam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
One Big Wreck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Lunchtime. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Pizza Pie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Hiking Home. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Hot Dogs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Answer Key. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Works Cited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
©Shell Educational Publishing
#10327 (i1442)—Poems for Word Study Grades K–1
My Cat
This cat, that cat,
Thin cat, fat cat,
Low cat, high cat,
Your cat, my cat!
—Karen McGuigan Brothers
©Shell Educational Publishing
13
#10327 (i1442)—Poems for Word Study Grades K–1
My Cat
See pages 8–9 for ideas to introduce the poem. Complete some or all of the following
activities throughout the week. The activities that follow may be completed before, during,
or after reading the poem. The scheduling of activities is up to the teacher’s discretion and
the students’ needs. Select the activities that best suit your purposes.
Phonemic Awareness
Continue echoing for each line of the poem. As
you notice students who seem able to read the
poem on their own, give them the opportunity to
be the “teachers” and have the rest of the class
echo them.
Say the words this, that, and then. Ask the
students to tell you what sound is the same
in each of these words (/th/ at the beginning).
Brainstorm other words with the /th/ sound.
Chart the students’ responses. Emphasize the /th/
sound and the th- or -th spelling as you write the
words.
Comprehension
Ask the students to tell you about different cats
they have seen. Brainstorm a list of words that
could be used to describe cats. Group students
into pairs and have them tell about their favorite
kind of cat. Have students draw pictures and
write sentences about the cats they described.
Compare the drawings and sentences to the
poem. Ask students if any of the descriptions
from the poem match their drawings.
Phonics
Ask students to identify the word that is used
most often in the poem (cat). Write the word cat
at the top of a piece of chart paper, noting the
-at spelling pattern. Segment the word hat by
saying one sound at a time (/h/ pause /a/ pause
/t/). Write the letters on the chart paper as you
segment the word. Continue with the following
words: bat, sat, pat, rat, and mat. Have students
identify the spelling pattern that is the same in all
the words (-at).
Word Study Extension
Use page 16 to extend word concepts from the
poem.
Vocabulary
Discuss the descriptions of cats in the poem.
Distribute a copy of “Cats, Cats, Cats” (page 15)
to the students. Have the students draw a picture
of each type of cat listed on the page.
Fluency
Echo-read the poem several times with the
students. Read the first line while the students
listen. Then, have the students read the line.
#10327 (i1442)—Poems for Word Study Grades K–1
14
©Shell Educational Publishing
Vocabulary
Cats, Cats, Cats
Directions: Read the word in each box. Draw a cat to match each word.
thin
fat
low
high
your
my
©Shell Educational Publishing
15
#10327 (i1442)—Poems for Word Study Grades K–1
Word Study
Word Building
Directions: Write words from the poem in the correct categories. Then, add
new words to each category.
Words with at
Words with in
Words About
Cats
Complete the Sentences
Directions: Read each sentence. Write the missing word. Use the
Word Bank for help.
1. Wipe your feet on the _ _________________ .
2. She is very ___________________.
3. You need a _____________ to play baseball.
4. A fish has a ____________________.
Word Bank
bat
thin
SEP 10327(i1442)—Poems for Word Study Grades K–1
fin
16
mat
©Shell Educational Publishing