75 must-share poems for elementary school

Poetry is the gateway to making even your most word-resistant students fall in love with words. There’s something for everyone when it comes to hair. Bring on the rule breakers, the structure lovers, and the aspiring rappers! Starting poetry in the elementary classroom should be easy, but finding poems for elementary school can be difficult. We’ve put these poems together to make every student say, “Hey, I like that!”

Our favorite poems for elementary school

1. Rock and roll band By Shel Silverstein

“We played and sang and wore shiny things,
If we were a rock and roll band.

2. When he turns ten By Billy Collins

“The whole idea makes me feel
As if I’m going to come down with something…”

3. The first girls in Little League Baseball Written by J. Patrick Lewis

“The year was 1974
When Little Leaguers learn the score.”

4. dreams By Langston Hughes

“Life is a bird with a broken wing
“This one can’t fly.”

5. Sleeping in class By Ken Nesbitt

“I fell asleep in class today,
I was also very bored.
I put my head on my desk
I closed my eyes and snored.”

6. Nine mice By Jack Prelutsky

“The marks were right, the ice was thin,
In half a blink of an eye, the mice were down…”

7. Crocodile pie By Dennis Lee

“If I don’t get some, I think I’ll die.”

8. Dear basketball By Kobe Bryant

“I ran back and forth on every court
After every missed ball you get.”

9. King’s breakfast By AA Milne

“Can we get some butter for
Royal slice of bread?”

10. Winter poem By Nikki Giovanni

“One time a snowflake fell
On my forehead and I love it
I accepted that very much…”

11. Brunette girl, brown girl By Leslie Honoré

“I wish you abundance
Which you will always have
More than enough…”

12. Mrs. Moon By Robert McGough

“Sit in the sky
The little old lady…

13. About shark teeth By John Ciardi

“The thing about a shark is: the teeth,
One row at the top, one row at the bottom.”

14. Fish By Mary Ann Huberman

“Look at them flying
Intermittent division
Wiggle
swing…”

15. The rose that grew from concrete By Tupac Shakur

“Did you hear about the rose that grew?
From a crack in the concrete?

16. risk By Anais Nin

“Then the day came…”

17. Dream of a brown girl By Jacqueline Woodson

“I was born on Tuesday at the University Hospital…”

18. April rain song By Langston Hughes

“Let the rain kiss you
Let the rain hit your head with drops of liquid silver…”

19. Honey, I love it By Eloise Greenfield

“I like the way he whistles and I like the way he walks
But darling, let me tell you that I like the way he talks…”

20. Please, Mrs. Butler By Alan Ahlberg

“Please, Mrs. Butler
This boy is Derek Drew
He keeps copying my work, miss.
what should I do?

21. snail By Langston Hughes

“Little snail
Dreaming of going.”

22. Embrace the laundry Written by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater

“I always hug my underwear once it’s dry.”

23. Also the corn stalk By Paul Laurence Dunbar

“When the corn is all cut and its bright stalks shine…”

24. Since Hannah moved away By Judith Viorst

“My bike tires are flat.
The sky is grey, frowning.
At least it certainly seems that way
Since Hanna moved away.”

25. Drum dream girl By Margarita Engel

On Music Island
In the city of drumbeats
Drum dream girl
I dreamed…”

26. friends By Abby Farwell Brown

“How good it is to lie a little
And look through the tree!”

27. Tiger By William Blake

“Tiger Tiger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night…”

28. Knoxville, Tennessee By Nikki Giovanni

“I always love summer
better
You can eat fresh corn
From my father’s garden
And okra
And the greens…”

29. Maggie, Millie, Molly and May By E. Cummings

“I went to the beach (to play one day)”

30. How to draw a donkey By Naomi Chehayeb Nay

“The head was too big,” she said.
The hooves are very small.”

31. Purple cow By Gillette Burgess

“I’ve never seen a purple cow,
I never hope to see one…”

32. Shoji’s dream By Kimiko Han

“How do you say milk? How do you say sand, snow, sow…”

33. Poor old lady By Anonymous

“My poor old lady, she’s swallowed a fly.”

34. After winter By Claude McKay

“The trembling birds under the eaves…”

35. Instead of that By Mary Hunter Austin

“I know very well what I prefer to be
If I didn’t always have to be me!

36. home work! Oh, homework! By Jack Prelutsky

“I wish I could wash you in the sink…”

37. Notes on peanuts By June Jordan

“Hello. My name is George Washington Carver.

38. sick By Shel Silverstein

“My mouth is wet, my throat is dry…”

39. Quarrel By Maxine Kumin

“The lightning bug said to the firefly,
“Look at the lightning bugs flying by!”

40. Jaguar By Francisco X. Alarcón

“Some say
I’m almost here now
“It’s extinct in this park.”

41. Parrots By Alberto Blanco

“They talk all day
And when it starts getting dark
They lower their voices…

42. Paul Revere’s Journey By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Listen, my children, and you will hear
From Paul Revere’s Midnight Journey…

43. rainbow By Christina Rossetti

“Boats sail on rivers,
And ships sail the seas…”

44. Now we are six By AA Milne

“When I was one,
“I’m just getting started.”

45. To catch a fish By Eloise Greenfield

“It takes more than just a wish
To catch a fish…”

46. Spider and fly By Mary Hoyt

“Will you come into my parlor?” The spider said to the fly…

47. Dino thought By Jane Yolen

“No more velociraptor screeching,
No more Allosaurus accidents.

48. Wallet size By Nikki Grimes

“Yes! I’m rounder than most…”

49. The joyful song of Tsoai-talee Written by N. Scott Momaday

“I am a feather in the bright sky
I am the blue horse that runs on the plain…

50. chat By Lewis Carroll

“It was great, slippery luck
Are the vortex and gimbal in the web…

51. Swing By Robert Louis Stevenson

How do you like to go up in the swing?
Is the air so blue?

52. Mother doesn’t want a dog By Judith Viorst

“Mother says they smell…”

53. the trees By Joyce Kilmer

“I guess I’ll never see
“A beautiful poem like a tree.”

54. autumn By Alexander Bossi

“In the dreamy silence
In the afternoon, a
Woven cloth of gold…

55. Invictus By William Ernest Henley

“From the night that covers me
Black as a crater from pole to pole…

56. Marshes Written by Emily Pauline Johnson

“A thin, damp sky, yellow at the edge,
A lost lip of the sun meets the edge of the swamp.”

57. Amelia’s first ski tour By Nora Marks Dauenhauer

“Raven Girl, Balance in Space,
Gliding on the air
In Tlingit colours…”

58. Me too By Langston Hughes

“I am the wronged brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen…”

59. That’s just to say By William Carlos Williams

“I ate
Plum
Which was in
Ice box…”

60. Koki By Carmen Bernier Grand

“Little tree frog…”

61. Dentist and crocodile By Roald Dahl

“The crocodile sat with a sly smile on the dentist’s chair.”

62. puzzle By Christina Rossetti

“There are those who have a head without eyes…”

63. Life doesn’t scare me By Maya Angelou

“The shadows on the wall
Noise down the hall
Life doesn’t scare me at all…”

64. cat By Marilyn Singer

“I am better
Warm fur…

65. recess! Oh break! By Darren Sardelli

“We love you! You’re the judge!”

66. Pasture By Robert Frost

“I’m out spring cleaning the pasture;
I’ll just stop and put the papers away…”

67. Where the sidewalk ends By Shel Silverstein

“There’s a place where the sidewalk ends
Before the street begins
There the grass grows soft and white…”

68. Pizza the size of the sun By Jack Prelutsky

“I make pizza the size of the sun,
A pizza that must have weighed over a ton…

69. Winkin, Blinken and Nod By Eugene Field

“Winkin, Blinkin and Nod one night
Sail with wooden shoes…”

70. Contrapunny land By Robert Louis Stevenson

“When I fell ill and lay in bed,
I had two pillows on my head
And all my toys are lying next to me…

71. Mice By Rose Fellman

“I think mice
Pretty nice.”

72. Your visit to the forest on a snowy evening By Robert Frost

“Whose forest is this? I think I know.
But his house is in the village…”

73. Casey at bat By Ernest Lawrence Thayer

“The outlook was not great for the Mudville nine that day…”

74. Duck and kangaroo By Edward Lear

“The duck said to the kangaroo,
‘God’s vast mercy! How do you jump!'”

75. Charm By Shel Silverstein

“Sandra saw the genie,
Eddie the midget touched,
Laurie danced with the witches once…

What are your favorite poems for elementary school? Come and participate in our site We are the HELPLINE teacher group in Facebook.

Plus, if you like these poems for elementary school, check out our must-share poems for middle and high school.