Mardi Gras & Carnival Rhyming Story Poem with Photos & Audio
by English with Imagination © 2026
Premier Publisher
Price: $2.5 USD
Subjects: ela,reading,englishSecondLanguage,eslVocab,literature,litReadingComprehension,holiday
Grades: 13,1,2,3
Description
Children can listen as they read along with this rhyming story about Mardi Gras, the last day of Carnival (also known as Carnaval). The text is written with young English learners in mind and illustrated with real photos that will capture their imaginations. The short rhyming sentences, audio recordings, and heavy use of visuals make the text accessible to English learners and emergent readers. The high-interest content encourages multiple readings, which in turn supports the development of both fluency and vocabulary. The following twelve Mardi Gras vocabulary words are presented in context and illustrated with photos: acrobat, balloons, beads, cake, drum, jester, lights, mask, musician, show, trumpet, and umbrella. This Boom deck is a versatile tool for teachers. You can make it available in learning centers, project it on the whiteboard, or assign it for kids to read at home. Invite the children to describe individual photos for expressive language practice, or compare and contrast the book's depiction of a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, Louisiana, with their background knowledge of how Carnival is celebrated in other parts of the world. I wrote this poem for my students, who are learning English as a foreign language in elementary school. I wanted some ebooks that I could send my students to practice reading at home. I found ebooks to buy for classroom, but none that I could send to families. So I wrote some!
Acknowledgements
Copyright © Lauren Hamilton Sáez, English with Imagination, 2026. Images licensed from Canva Pro and Deposit Photos.