Provide students with animal themed poetry to read. Place toy stuffed animals in the center to provide inspiration in writing animal themed poetry after reading animal poetry. Write rhyming words pertaining to the toy animals on small cards, hole punch them and place around the toy animal necks. Direct students at the literacy center to read animal poetry, choose a toy animal and write a poem about it using the rhyming words around the animal's neck to assist them.
Students of elementary age generally enjoy topics related to self. Create a writing literacy center at which students create name poems in different poetry formats. Provide students with art supplies to create name art, writing in decorative letters, at the top of a piece of paper. At the bottom of the same paper, have students write a poem with an "about me" theme. Provide examples of poetry forms suitable for an "about me" poem such as acrostics, cinquains and diamanté poems.
Teach or review the haiku poetry form prior to using the literacy center. Explain that haiku usually has a nature theme. Provide examples of haiku for students to read. Place pictures and posters of nature scenes and nature objects such as shells and plants at the center to inspire students. Give them paper in natural colors on which to write a haiku based on one of the nature posters or objects at the center.
Inspire students with food at a simile and metaphor literacy center. Provide students with a lesson in writing simile and metaphor. Place books containing poetry with simile and metaphor examples in the center as further examples. Each week, provide a new small snack at the center about which the kids write a simile or metaphor such as "the cheese is as yellow as the sun." Instruct students to eat one of the snacks, write a simile or metaphor to describe it and draw an accompanying illustration.