55 Silly and Sweet Poems for 2nd Graders

Among the finest methods to show college students the ability of phrases is thru poetry. This listing of enjoyable poems will interact 2nd graders in severe, foolish, and nostalgic poems they will analyze and study from.

1. Second Grade Superstars by Nameless

Themes: Faculty, Confidence

Literary Gadgets: Repetition, Punctuation

Use this poem initially of the college yr to have interaction college students in fascinated with the yr forward. It additionally has rhyming traces that college students can determine to begin to discuss construction.

2. The Porcupine by Ogden Nash

Any hound a porcupine nudges/Can’t be blamed for harboring grudges

Themes: Humor, animals

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme

This foolish poem a few porcupine is a superb one for vocabulary (grudge, nudge). Focus on how the poet creates a small scene in simply 4 traces.

3. At the Zoo by William Makepeace Thackeray

First I noticed the white bear, then I noticed the black

Themes: Animals

Literary Gadgets: Repetition, Rhyme

Repeated traces and rhyming phrases make this poem a terrific one to learn aloud. See if college students can learn it with out their voices shifting together with the cadence.

4. Mary’s Lamb by Sarah Josepha Hale

Mary had somewhat lamb/It’s fleece was white as snow

Themes: Animals

Literary Gadgets: Narrative, Rhyme

Nursery rhymes are a good way to introduce youngsters to poetry utilizing acquainted rhymes. In “Mary’s Lamb” you possibly can train one, two, and even three stanzas fairly simply.

5. I Taught My Cat To Clean My Room by Kenn Nesbitt

Themes: Animals, Accountability, Humor

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme

This foolish poem is a superb entry level to poetry as a result of college students can analyze the poem for rhyming phrases and syllables, and so they can analyze what’s taking place, together with the joke on the finish.

6. A Silly Crow by Andrea Crawford

Here’s a very foolish crow/Upon her head there’s a bow

Themes: Humor, animals

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme

Use this poem to encourage college students to write down their very own poem about one factor. They will begin their poems with “Here’s a very …” and go from there.

7. Snakes by Mariah Deitrick

A snake can glide back and forth/They’re actually lengthy and exhausting to cover

Themes: Animals

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme

What nonfiction info are integrated into this poem? College students can learn it and underline the info that the poet included and the way they integrated some jokes too.

8. An ancient pond! by Matsuo Basho

An historic pond!/With the sound from the water/Of the frog because it plunges in

Themes: Animals

Literary Gadgets: Enjambment (persevering with sentences)

Such a brief poem, but it surely makes a splash! Speak in regards to the vocabulary (historic, plunges). Then, discuss what sound the poet is writing about.

9. The Crocodile by Lewis Carroll

Themes: Animals, Humor

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme

Poetry wouldn’t be the identical with out Lewis Carroll. This poem is a enjoyable one to learn aloud, to point out college students how, even when the poem makes use of some phrases we don’t (“doth”), we are able to nonetheless perceive quite a bit from the tone and ambiance the poem creates.

10. My Dog Does My Homework by Kenn Nesbitt

My canine does his homework/at residence each evening

Themes: Pets, Humor

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme, Enjambment

You don’t have to attend till a pupil says their canine ate their homework to deliver this poem into your classroom. Brainstorm all the issues with having your canine do your homework, then overview the poem and discuss which issues made it into the poem.

11. My Big Fat Cat by Christian M. Mitewu

I personal an enormous fats cat/The fattest for miles round

Themes: Animals, Humor

Literary Gadgets: Hyperbole, Rhyme

One other homework poem, learn this one alongside “My Canine Does My Homework,” and discuss how two poets approached the identical topic.

12. The Parakeets by Alberto Blanco

They discuss all day/and when it begins to get darkish/they decrease their voices

Themes: Pets, Human nature

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme, Punctuation

Train college students how authors create tiny scenes with every stanza of this poem a few talkative chook.

13. The Pasture by Robert Frost

Themes: Nature

Literary Gadgets: Punctuation, Enjambment

Robert Frost isn’t only for older readers. This inviting poem about cleansing the pasture and bringing in a calf is a superb poem to learn aloud, or have larger readers learn and analyze it.

14. How Not To Have To Dry the Dishes by Shel Silverstein

If it’s important to dry the dishes/(Such an terrible boring chore)

Themes: Accountability, Humor

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme, Punctuation

This poem’s construction, with the usage of parentheses, is price speaking about. How do the parentheses add that means? How does Shel Silverstein use them as an apart to the reader?

15. The Goops by Gelett Burgess

The meanest trick I ever knew/Was one I do know you by no means do

Themes: Humor, Manners

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme

The Goops are a bunch of youngsters that make mischief your college students would by no means dream of! The Goop poems, like this one, are nice for speaking in regards to the creativeness that we are able to deliver to poetry.

16. If I Were in Charge of the World by Judith Viorst

If I have been in control of the world/I’d cancel oatmeal

Themes: Creativeness

Literary Gadgets: Repetition, Rhyme

With a repeated first line, “If I have been in control of the world …,” kids’s writer Judith Viorst imagines what she may do. After college students learn Viorst’s concepts, what would they do in the event that they have been in cost? Write a category poem with the identical starting line.

17. My Best Friend by Abby Jenkins

Black and white/Thick and furry/Quick because the wind

Themes: Pets

Literary Gadgets: Simile, Rhyme

This poem describes a furry greatest pal with out ever naming what it’s. What clues and particulars does the poet reveal that assist the reader know what they’re speaking about? Can college students write a poem about one thing they love with out mentioning the precise object of their affection?

18. Eletelephony by Laura Elizabeth Richards

Themes: Animals, Absurdity

Literary Gadgets: Made up phrases, Rhyme

This fun-to-read-aloud poem performs with phrases in enjoyable methods. Learn it aloud throughout whole-group work, or problem your larger readers to learn it aloud in a poetry slam.

19. The Forest by Annette Wynne

The forest is a city of bushes/The place they dwell fairly at their ease

Theme: Nature

Literary Gadgets: Metaphor

Use this poem to show ways in which poets use comparisons to explain issues, like a “city of bushes.”

20. The Butterfly Ballad by Man Belleranti

Butterfly begins as an egg/as an egg, as an egg

Themes: Nature, Life Cycle

Literary Gadgets: Repetition, Rhyme

Repeated phrases and phrases make this poem a “ballad” in regards to the life cycle of a butterfly.

21. I Made a Meme This Morning by Kenn Nesbitt

I made a meme this morning/I posted it on-line

Themes: Fashionable life, Expertise

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme

A enjoyable poem about know-how and web literacy. Learn this one to speak about what college students must be pondering after they publish on-line and capitalize on the rhythm to assist college students keep in mind to assume earlier than they publish.

22. In cold spring air by Reginald Gibbons

In chilly/spring air the/white wisp–

Themes: Nature, Seasons

Literary Gadgets: Enjambment, Construction

The poet creates an fascinating construction with their phrases on this poem. Discuss how the best way the phrases are organized makes college students take into consideration the air and wisps of wind.

23. The Storm by Dorothy Aldis

Themes: Nature, Climate

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme

Descriptive phrases and phrases make this depiction of experiencing a storm take the reader proper to the scene. Speak in regards to the particulars that make the scene come to life.

24. Seashell by James Berry

Shell at my ear/Come share how I hear

Themes: Nature

Literary Gadgets: Personification, Simile

Examine how the poet makes use of metaphor and outline to clarify what he hears inside a seashell.

25. A Jelly-Fish by Marianne Moore

Seen, Invisible/A fluctuating appeal

Themes: Animals

Literary Gadgets: Construction

Have a look at photos of jellyfish and skim this poem. Discuss how Marianne Moore describes the jellyfish and the way the poem is likely to be written utilizing extra fashionable language.

26. Rain Sound by Lillian Morrison

At first its like drumming/because it patters down and stops

Themes: Rain, Nature

Literary Gadgets: Personification, Metaphor

This poem is nice for introducing metaphors, like rain drumming after which sounding like an animal.

27. Nicknames by Kenn Nesbitt

My aunt calls me “Elizabeth”/My grandma calls me “Liz”

Themes: Names, Humor

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme, Distinction

A enjoyable poem about all of the nicknames for Elizabeth, and all of the methods one child continues to be referred to as the fallacious identify. It is a enjoyable poem to speak about names earlier than college students write poems about their very own names and nicknames.

28. Dirt on My Shirt by Jeff Foxworthy

There’s dust on my shirt/And leaves in my hair

Themes: Nature, Play

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme

The poet describes enjoying outdoors on this brief poem. College students can discuss the best way the poet describes enjoying outdoors and what he likes in regards to the expertise.

29. Tiger by Valerie Price

The tiger/Has swallowed/a black solar.

Themes: Animals

Literary Gadgets: Enjambment, Imagery

This poem describes inventive methods the tiger bought his stripes and black eyes. Use it to encourage college students to consider different methods animals may get their distinctive options. Then, they will write poems about animals they like.

30. Your Best by Barbara Vance

Themes: Encouragement

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme

It is a nice poem to begin the yr or week with (or to learn after a college break). College students can mirror on the message about doing all your greatest and making an attempt once more.

31. Walking With My Iguana by Brian Moses

I’m strolling/with my iguana.

Themes: Humor, Creativeness

Literary Gadgets: Repetition

A foolish poem about an iguana going for a stroll. How does the poet mix factual data with foolish particulars to create the story?

32. Magic Carpet by Shel Silverstein

You’ve a magic carpet/That may whiz you thru the air

Themes: Humor

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme

It’s not a poetry unit with out Shel Silverstein. On this case, he imagines what might be with an extraordinary carpet. What may college students think about in your class rug after studying this poem?

33. The Owl and the Pussy-Cat by Edward Lear

The owl and the pussy-cat went to sea/In a stupendous pea-green boat

Themes: Journey

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme, Narrative

It is a traditional poem that college students could have already heard. It’s a terrific introduction to poems that inform an extended, shall we embrace, epic story.

34. The Tyger by William Blake

Tyger, Tyger, burning vibrant/Within the forests of the evening

Themes: Energy of Nature

Literary Gadgets: Imagery, Rhetorical questions

This poem has superior vocabulary (symmetry, immortal), and you should use a number of stanzas to show college students new phrases and discuss how the tiger was created. (Learn it with “Tiger” by Valerie Price to get two concepts on how tigers took place.)

35. The Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

‘Twas brillig and the slithy toves/Did gyre and gimble within the wabe

Themes: Hero’s Journey, Creativeness

Literary Gadgets: Made up language, Alliteration

“The Jabberwocky” is a complicated poem in the event you attempt to learn and analyze it. Nevertheless it’s a terrific poem to simply hearken to. Learn this one aloud and ask college students what they give thought to the power and tone of the poem. It’s something however severe.

36. The Quangle Wangle’s Hat by Edward Lear

On the highest of the Crumpety Tree/The Quangle Wangle sat

Themes: Humor, Story

Literary Gadgets: Narrative, Hyperbole

Just like “The Jabberwocky,” this poem is all about read-aloud. Learn it and hear for the tone and the way the foolish phrases flip the poem right into a enjoyable auditory experience.

37. When the Teacher Isn’t Looking by Kenn Nesbitt

Themes: Faculty, Humor

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme

Begin the yr with this poem, or learn it as an educational message earlier than you are taking day without work and college students could have a substitute.

38. The Tale of Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash

Belinda lived in somewhat white home/With somewhat black kitten and somewhat grey mouse

Themes: Animals, Creativeness

Literary Gadgets: Simile, Rhyme

One other poem that tells an extended story. Learn this poem and discuss what’s taking place in every stanza.

39. For Sale by Shel Silverstein

One sister on the market!/One crying and spying younger sister on the market

Themes: Sibling rivalry, Humor

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme, Questions

It is a quintessential Silverstein poem, with a relatable subject and enjoyable method. College students can discuss what is going on and the joke Silverstein has woven into the phrases.

40. The Land of Counterpane by Robert Louis Stevenson

After I was sick and lay a-bed/I had two pillows at my head

Themes: Creativeness

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme

“The Land of Counterpane” has a construction that 2nd graders can analyze (AABB) and is a few subject that they may discover acquainted: a day spent residence sick in mattress.

41. Adventures of Isabel by Ogden Nash

Isabel met an unlimited bear/Isabel, Isabel didn’t care

Themes: Journey, Bravery

Literary Gadgets: Repetition, Imagery

A fairy story inside a poem, learn “Adventures of Isabel” to explain actually what occurs, and to speak about how the poem progresses from one foolish scene to a different.

42. Homework! Oh, Homework! by Jack Prelutsky

Homework! Oh homework!/I hate you. You stink.

Themes: Homework, Humor

Literary Gadgets: Hyperbole, Rhyme

What’s elementary college poetry with out Jack Prelutsky? “Homework! Oh Homework!” is a good way to begin college students on odes. They will learn this ode to poetry, and write about one thing they both love or hate as a lot as Prelutsky hates homework.

43. Recipe for a Hippopotamus Sandwich by Shel Silverstein

Themes: Humor, Meals

Literary Gadgets: Repetition, Rhyme

A hippo sandwich is traditional Silverstein. College students can learn this poem and draw an illustration to go together with it to point out how they interpret the poem.

44. Wynken, Blynken, and Nod by Eugene Area

Wynken, Blynken and Nod one evening/Sailed off in a wood shoe

Themes: Journey, Nighttime

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme, Repetition

That is one other poem that college students could also be conversant in from preschool or nursery rhyme readings. It’s additionally an epic story of three youngsters who sail off in a wood shoe. Method this poem because the story of a journey. How does the poet create the nighttime ambiance and occasions alongside their journey?

45. The Duck and the Kangaroo by Edward Lear

Stated the duck to the kangaroo/’Good gracious, the way you hop!’

Themes: Animals

Literary Gadgets: Narrative, Rhyme

This poem imagines interactions between completely different animals. Use a number of stanzas and skim the poem to seize the cadence and the foolish interactions between animals.

46. Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer

The outlook wasn’t good for the Mudville 9 that day

Themes: Baseball, Defeat

Literary Gadgets: Imagery, Rhyme

This poem is ideal for youths who’re obsessive about baseball, or for youths who assume poetry is simply about animals and seasons. “Casey on the Bat” is the epic poem a few baseball workforce, with numerous baseball vocabulary and scene constructing.

47. The Purple Cow by Gelett Burgess

I by no means noticed a purple cow/I by no means hope to see one

Themes: Absurdity, Humor

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme

This catchy poem that doubles as a rhyme is nice to rapidly learn and analyze throughout morning assembly or a mini-lesson. It additionally has a helpful ethical about sustaining perspective.

48. The Duel by Eugene Area

The gingham canine and the calico cat/Facet by facet on the desk sat

Themes: Humor, Creativeness

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme, Narrative

This poem is written in older English, so it’s good for a read-aloud. Speak in regards to the vocabulary (duel, gingham, slept a wink), then discuss what’s taking place in every stanza.

49. Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out by Shel Silverstein

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout/Wouldn’t take the rubbish out/She’d scour the pots and scrape the pans

Themes: Accountability, Humor

Literary Gadgets: Alliteration, Rhyme

Among the finest Silverstein poems (in our opinion), this poem is foolish, enjoyable, and builds to an essential ethical about duty. It additionally makes use of alliteration to bolster the read-aloud-ability typical of Silverstein’s poems.

50. The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt

“Will you stroll to my parlor?” mentioned the Spider to the Fly.

Themes: Vainness, Flattery

Literary Gadgets: Personification, Alliteration

The interplay between a spider and a fly creates a macabre poem about succumbing to flattery and self-importance. Learn it at Halloween time, or whenever you’re speaking about dialogue and the way authors use dialogue to maneuver tales ahead.

51. The Tale of the Sun and the Moon by Kenn Nesbitt

The solar was in his bathing go well with/the moon in her pajamas

Themes: Relationships, Friendship

Literary Gadgets: Personification

This poem is a superb instance of personification. The solar and moon are each personified and described doing varied actions round the home. Discuss why a poet would personify the solar and moon. How does it assist talk the poem’s message?

52. Clouds by Christina Rossetti

Themes: Alternative

Literary Gadgets: Rhyme, Repetition

Energetic poems like this are nice to make use of throughout circle time. Have college students hearken to the poem and faux they’re the sheep strolling or standing nonetheless. With older college students, discuss what themes are within the poem; is that this poem nearly sheep or is the poet making a broader level?

53. The Acrobats by Shel Silverstein

I’ll swing/by my ankles/She’ll cling/to your knees

Themes: Enjoyable, Humor

Literary Gadgets: Construction, Rhyme

An incredible instance of how one rhyming sound could be carried by means of a poem (on this case the lengthy ‘e’ sound in sneeze and breeze).

54. When Tillie Ate the Chili by Jack Prelutsky

When Tillie ate the chilli/She erupted from her seat

Themes: Humor

Literary Gadgets: Hyperbole, Rhyme

This poem is an introduction to hyperbole, with dramatic descriptions of what occurs to Tillie after she eats a bowl of spicy chili and “erupts.”

55. The Crocodile’s Toothache by Shel Silverstein

The crocodile/went to the dentist/And sat down within the chair

Themes: Humor, Absurdity

Literary Gadgets: Narrative

A brief story in a stanza, learn this poem and discuss how Silverstein builds suspense from the primary line to the final.

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