Complement an exploratory unit on the five senses with poetry. Give each student a template for a poem about the five senses, with spaces for the kindergartner to write in a word for each of the five sentences (for example, "I smell ...."). Differentiate the poem assignment by encouraging students to try rhyming all of their answers or only using one letter of the alphabet.
Select a poem of the week to post on the board or wall. Read the poem aloud each day. Ask students to come up to the board and physically point to the sight words of the week. Ask other students to point out any unfamiliar words and sound out the words as a class. Pass out copies and instruct students to illustrate the poem. Send another copy to parents and ask them to read the poem aloud each day with their child. Collect all of the poems in a binder in the classroom and encourage children to flip back through the selections and read to themselves or their classmates.
Give each student access to oversized letters of the alphabet. Read a poem aloud. Read it again, this time asking students to gather up any of the letters they hear in the poem. Vary the game by posting letters around the classroom. As you read a line of a poem, emphasize one word and ask the students to identify the starting letter in the word and race to that posted letter.
Poems are meant to be read aloud and repeated. Enhance the students' appreciation for the sounds of poetry by putting poems to music and singing along together. Play a recording of the poem put to music or play a guitar while the students clap along. Invite children to participate by playing their own instruments in the classroom. Differentiate the activity by asking students to perform an action or make a sound each time a certain word in the poem is sung.