Who can read about the Toucan?

When I was little, my dad always read me bedtime stories.  We would read fairy tales, chapter books, picture books, and even poems!  My favorite poems were in the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein.  Shel Silverstein is very witty and his poems are very humorous.  My dad and I would laugh until our stomachs hurt as we read poem after poem.  The poem, "The Toucan", is one of my personal favorites. This poem brings back cherished memories of my childhood bedtime stories with my dad.

For my Children's Literature class, we had to choose our favorite poem and make a visually appealing bookmark.  I found this assignment very fun.  I think that this assignment would be great to use with elementary students when introducing poetry.  It allows the students to be creative in making their bookmark. This assignment allows them to independently choose their favorite poem.

Here are the instructions

I am excited to do this activity in the future in my classroom.  Of course with time, I may change a few things here and there.  I might even add onto this activity.  But I enjoyed it, and so I will hang onto this activity for the future.  Here are a few pictures of my book mark!

{In my assignment, the poem was required on the bookmark}

• Activity was adapted from Professor Annapurna Ganesh in Children's Literature (EDU 291) class.
• Poem was taken from the book, "Where the Sidewalk Ends".

  Silverstein, Shel. "The Toucan." Where the Sidewalk Ends: The Poems & Drawings of                            Shel Silverstein. New York: Harper and Row, 1974. 92. Print.