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National Poetry Month celebrates poems and poets with annual events taking place nationwide in April. Established by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, the goal is to increase the visibility of the poetic form, as well as to increase access to it.
Here are some of our favorite resources and program ideas to get your library ready.
General resources
The Academy of American Poets is ground zero for information about this annual celebration of all things poetry. The website provides a list of major promotional events, including Poem in Your Pocket Day . You can also sign up to be emailed a poem each day and search for poetry events in your region.
The Library of Congress poetry resources features poetry-specific “Today in History” information, webcasts and audio recordings, Civil War poetry, official state poems and more.
The National Endowment for the Arts poetry resources include lesson plans and information on how to stage a poetry slam and create a poetry calendar.
The Poetry Foundatio n allows users to search by poem, poet, audio/visual and more. For children, they have a poetry learning lab that “encourages readers of all levels to immerse themselves in poetry." They also have an iPhone poetry app .
Teaching resources
Scholastic has classroom activities that are easily adaptable to libraries. They have a page dedicated to National Poetry Month activities.
Read Write Think offers lesson plans for students of all ages that can tailored to fit a library program. There are also resources that focus on writing poetry, such as the favorite poem project.
Education Place features lesson plans for students between kindergarten and eighth grade. Activities include crafts, virtual poetry lessons and fill-in-the-blank poems.
Education World provides lesson plans for students of all ages. There are also poetry articles and resources for both students and teachers.
Library programs
Poetry in the Garden was a series hosted by the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County featuring poets from the region. They also offered poetry appreciation and writing activities for kids and teens, including a poetry contest.
Princeton Public Library's Community Poet-Tree encouraged patrons to write an original poem on a paper leaf and hang it on a small tree, like an ornmanet, to display in the library.
A Poem a Day was a monthlong passive progrem held throughout the month of April at the Ralph Ellison Public Library. Librarians printed a different poem each day to set out for patrons to pick up and take home.
Poetry Matters at Greenville Public Library provides a rare — and appreciated — opportunity for poetry lovers to meet and discuss published works that are meaningful to them.
Is your library participating in National Poetry Month? Share it with Programming Librarian.
National Poetry Month celebrates poems and poets, with annual events taking place nationwide in April.
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Ideas, Inspiration, and Giveaways for Teachers
We Are Teachers
40 Inspiring Poetry Games and Activities for Kids and Teens
They are poets, and they know it!
Tired of hearing groans when you announce it’s time for some poetry? Poems can be hard for kids to connect with, so it helps to have some clever poetry games and poetry activities up your sleeve. Try these with our favorite poems for sharing with elementary students and middle and high school students !
(Just a heads up, WeAreTeachers may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. We only recommend items our team loves!)
Our Favorite Poetry Games and Activities
1. watch poetry videos.
Let YouTube do some of the work for you with this roundup of poetry videos for elementary students . See authors read their own poems, learn about poetry terms, and more.
2. Climb a hill with Amanda Gorman
Young poet Amanda Gorman took the world by storm when she read her poem “The Hill We Climb” at President Biden’s inauguration. Kids can really relate to her and her words, so try this roundup of poetry activities to introduce her in your classroom.
3. Take inspiration from nature
Nature has always provided inspiration for poets, and it can help your students find their own way to a love of poetry. Find out how poet David Harrison uses nature to help kids tap into their poetic sides here.
4. Read a novel in verse
Help kids find more meaning in poetry by reading novels told in verse. When they have a story to follow, they’re more likely to be engaged and open to learning about the poetic elements. Here are some of our favorite novels in verse for students of all ages.
5. Stack up book spine poetry
Pull some books off the shelves and stack them so their titles create a poem. Kids can take a pic, write the titles down as they are, or use their stack as inspiration for a more fleshed-out masterpiece.
Learn more: Living the Learning Life
6. Build a Humpty Dumpty wall
For most of us, nursery rhymes were the first poems we read, and they’re the perfect place to start with poetry games. Write words on building blocks ( try this set of Giant Cardboard Blocks from Amazon ), then stack them up to build a wall. Kids will get a kick out of these poetry activities by knocking the wall down and then building it up again!
Learn more: Toddler Approved
7. Plant a poe-tree
“ I think that I shall never see / a poem as lovely as a poe-tree!” Hang a paper tree, then fill it with leaves covered with poetry from your students.
Learn more: HarperCollins
8. Try paper bag poetry
Introduce poetry to little ones with a paper bag filled with several items of different sizes, shapes, textures, etc. Kids reach into the bag without looking and describe what they feel in a few words. These words make their first poem. This is one of the great poetry activities for younger students.
Learn more: Bulldog Readers and Bobcats Blog
9. Explore a Poem of the Week
We love the idea of using a pocket chart with sentence strips to post a poem broken down by lines or phrases. Do a different activity each day throughout the week to help students make a connection.
Learn more: Proud To Be Primary
10. Go on a poetry speed date
This is a cool way to introduce older readers to a poetry unit. Gather up all the poetry books you can find, and invite students to bring their favorites too. Students spend the class period “speed dating” the books—they simply browse and skim, looking for poems and authors that catch their eye. Encourage them to make notes of their favorites for further reading.
Learn more: Nouvelle ELA
11. Have a poetry book tasting
Here’s a cool spin on the speed-dating idea—a book tasting! Set up your room to look like a restaurant, play classical music in the background, and then invite students to sit down and try a variety of poetry books. Get more ideas on how to hold a book tasting here.
12. Pair up songs and poems
One of the easiest ways for many students to connect with poetry is by linking it with song lyrics. Visit the link below to find 15 fantastic song and poem pairings. Then, challenge your students to make their own pairings and explain the reasoning.
Learn more: The Literary Maven
13. Read poetry in different ways
Poetry is all about the reader’s (or listener’s) experience. Experiment with that idea by having kids read poems out loud in a variety of ways. How does it change the experience when you read a sad poem in a silly voice or a funny poem in a scared voice?
Learn more: The Classroom Nook/Poetry Voices
14. Spin to generate discussion
A poetry discussion can be hard going for kids at first. Use this free printable spinner to give them conversation starters or to help them choose a topic for further exploration.
Learn more: Poetry Spinner/The Classroom Game Nook
15. Create colorful paint chip poetry
This is easily one of the most popular poetry games, and for good reason. Colors are so easy to relate to and evoke lots of feelings and memories. Paint chip poetry works for every age group, too, and makes for a neat classroom display.
Learn more: Fabulous in Fifth
16. Expand on paint chip poetry
Feeling a little guilty about furtively stuffing paint chips in your pocket at the store? These printable paint chip poetry games are here to help. They include multiple ways to use paint chips for poetic inspiration too!
Learn more: Building Book Love
17. Have a “Hey Diddle, Diddle” puppet show
Nursery rhyme poems were just made to be acted out! Create stick puppets for “Hey Diddle, Diddle” using the instructions at the link, then expand to your other favorite rhymes to assemble a whole puppet show.
Learn more: All Kids Network
18. Compose acrostics
Acrostics are simple enough for beginning poets, but even Edgar Allan Poe used this style to create beautiful works. Writing one is almost like putting together a puzzle!
Learn more: My Poetic Side
19. Match DIY rhyming dominoes
Rhyming poetry games are a lot of fun, and this one starts with some DIY dominoes made from sentence strips . This is a clever way to help kids find rhymes for writing their own poems.
Learn more: No Time for Flash Cards
20. Scoop up some ice cream poetry
Jack Prelutsky’s “ Bleezer’s Ice Cream ” is a kids’ poetry classic, and it’s sure to spark your students’ imaginations. Have them write and illustrate their own ice cream poems, with a focus on alliteration and other literary devices.
Learn more: Creative Curriculum
21. Give haiku a hand
Haiku poems with their standard 5-7-5 syllable structure are fun to write. And let’s face it, most of us count the syllables on our fingers when we do! So this haiku helping hand is a perfect tool for kids. Have kids trace their own hand and write a haiku on it too.
Learn more: The Techie Teacher and Our Favorite Haiku Poems for Kids
22. Fetch a doggie haiku
Once you start with haiku, there’s just so much you can do! Elementary kids will love hearing the story of Doug, a dog looking for his forever home, in Dogku by Andrew Clements . As you might guess, the tale is told entirely in haiku. After you read the book, have kids create and illustrate their own “Dogku” poems.
Learn more: Teaching Fourth
23. Roll the haiku dice
These are so cool! Haikubes are perfect for all sorts of poetry games. Roll the cubes and create a haiku, or draw a handful from a bag and use them to make your poem. You can use these for other poetry activities too.
Buy it: Haikubes on Amazon
24. Craft 3D tunnel haiku books
Haiku are fun to write, but a 3D tunnel haiku book is next-level awesome. This project looks harder than it is; all you really need are index cards, basic school supplies, and a lot of creativity.
Learn more: Teach Kids Art
25. Be a copycat
We’re normally opposed to copying in the classroom, but for this activity, it’s A-OK! Kids write poems that mimic one they’ve been reading in class. This helps open their minds to the creativity they need to write their own unique verses later on down the line.
Learn more: One Sharp Bunch
26. Draw a concrete poem
Concrete poems are art and poetry rolled into one. Kids write a poem on any subject they like, then craft it into a shape reflecting their topic. Tip: Use a light board to allow kids to trace shapes if they find drawing a bit too challenging.
Learn more: The Room Mom
27. Play Poetry Bingo
Is there anything bingo can’t do? Turns out it even works for poetry games! Get free printable sheets to use for this Poetry Bingo game that reviews literary devices and vocabulary terms.
Learn more: Teaching With Jennifer Findley
28. Keep a poem in your pocket
There are lots of poem-in-your-pocket activities out there, but we love this one for its sheer creativity! During independent reading time, kids explore and find their favorite poem to share with classmates. After they share, they tuck them in a pocket on this spectacular hallway bulletin board for others to find and read. (Turn this into an online activity by using an online bulletin board program like Padlet .)
Learn more: Pleasures From the Page
29. Design your own poetry dice
Learn about clauses when you make a set of dice to use for poetry games. Grab this set of Dry-Erase Blocks from Amazon and write dependent clauses on one and independent clauses on the other. Roll the dice and enjoy the verses you create!
Learn more: Education.com
30. Learn limericks with a rhyming word bank
Kids love limericks —and really, who doesn’t? Their biggest challenge is usually coming up with the rhymes they need. This cool poetry activity creates a bank of rhyming words students can pull from as they craft their own lovable limericks to share.
Learn more: STEAMsational
31. Color in blackout poetry
Blackout poems are a unique way of looking at the written word. This activity is easily differentiated for students from elementary through high school, and the results are often stunning.
Learn more: What Is Blackout Poetry (Plus Inspiring Examples and Ideas)
32. Post some pushpin poetry
Remember when poetry magnets were all the rage? You can still buy them ( find them here on Amazon ), but you can also just create your own from paper scraps and pushpins. This is a low-cost way to open the door to so many poetry games and activities.
Learn more: Residence Life Crafts
33. Make magnetic poetry online
Speaking of poetry magnets, did you know you can play with them online? Really! This clever site gives you new words every time, so there are always fresh new ideas to explore.
Learn more: Magnetic Poetry Online
34. Say it with sticky notes
We love using sticky notes in the classroom , and they’re fantastic for poetry games. Have kids write a selection of words of their choice and stick them to the wall or whiteboard. Then let each student select words to use for their own verses.
Learn more: Secondary English Coffee Shop
35. Prove that opposites attract
Even polar opposites can share similarities. For this poetry activity, students choose two opposite subjects, like the ocean and desert shown here. The middle line of the poem highlights the one similarity between the pair and acts as a transition (in this case: sand). Illustrations help tell the story.
Learn more: Joy in the Journey
36. Find poetry everywhere
Found poetry is likely to become one of your students’ favorite poetry games. Give them a stack of magazines, newspapers, or books to look through, along with a pair of scissors. Have them cut out words and phrases they like, and then arrange them into a brand-new poetic masterpiece!
Learn more: There’s Just One Mommy
37. Start with simple cinquains
Cinquains are five-line poems with a specific structure. There are a variety of styles, but this poetry activity walks kids through the creation of a simple cinquain on any topic they like. This is a neat way to work on “-ing” words (known as gerunds ). Bonus: This free printable Character Cinquains worksheet can be used with any book or story.
Learn more: Teaching With Terhune
38. Learn metaphors and similes
Similes and metaphors are two of the most common literary devices found in poems. Help kids learn to tell the difference with this free printable game.
Learn more: The Classroom Nook
39. Take inspiration from metaphor dice
The right metaphor is the gateway to a unique and meaningful poem. Roll these dice to find a metaphor that will inspire and challenge your young poets.
Buy it: Metaphor Dice on Amazon
40. Host a poetry slam
Round off your poetry unit with a poetry slam ! These events are a combination of recitations and poetry games, like freestyle rhyme battles. This is the ultimate event for poetry lovers of any age. Hold it in person, or stream it on Zoom so anyone can easily attend!
Learn more: How To Host a Poetry Slam and Slam Poetry Examples
Don’t miss our FREE printable poetry worksheet bundle !
What are your favorite poetry activities come share your ideas on the weareteachers helpline group on facebook ., looking for more poetry to use in the classroom check out our list of the best poetry books for kids in grades k-12 ..
Jill Staake is a Contributing Editor with WeAreTeachers. She has a degree in Secondary English Education and has taught in middle and high school classrooms. She's also done training and curriculum design for a financial institution and been a science museum educator. She currently lives in Tampa, Florida where she often works on her back porch while taking frequent breaks for bird-watching and gardening.
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April 2, 2021 by: Laura
4 Fun Poetry Month Activities for the School Library
Last Updated on April 20, 2022 by Laura
April is National Poetry Month, so of course it’s a great time for some poetry activities in your school library. I really love to take advantage of these types of themes to create fun events in the library . Many classroom teachers do poetry units in April, so that makes it a collaboration opportunity too. Using Poetry Month activities in your school library is a win-win all around! Let’s look at some poetry activities that you can use in any teaching situation, whether in person or distance learning.
Poem in Your Pocket
I just found out that there is an official Poem in Your Pocket Day , sponsored by The American Academy of Poets. But we’ve been celebrating it for years in my schools, usually just on a day that fits with our reading or poetry celebrations! It’s such an easy and fun activity that’s sure to get a high level of engagement in your school. Ask everyone to bring a poem to school in their pocket. Be sure to give students and teachers a chance to share their poems. Share poems on the morning announcements, in the lunch room, on the playground, in classrooms, and (of course!) in the library. I like to wear my overalls and bring a different poem in each of the 8 pockets!
Emily Arrow has a fun Poem in Your Pocket song that you can share in your library classes. Soon everyone will be singing along and taking their poems out of their pockets to share! If you are teaching virtually, have a live event where students can share poems in your online classroom.
Share Poems on FlipGrid
Last year when we were learning from home, I created a FlipGrid topic where students and teachers could share favorite poems. My library assistant and I used Microsoft Teams to record a video of the two of us reading poems from one of Mary Ann Hoberman’s Y ou Read to Me, I’ll Read to You books. We linked to that video in the topic description and invited everyone in our school community to record themselves reading a poem they liked. This is a great community building activity that can be used whether you are having in person classes or doing distance learning. If you’re in a hybrid situation, it’s a fun way to unite your students too.
Online Poetry Websites
There are several websites that offer collections of poems and have poetry activities for kids. Online poetry activity resources are helpful whether you are distance learning, teaching in person, or hybrid learning.
- Shel Silverstein Poems : Harper Collins has a great page with 21 of Silverstein’s poems. His print books are always a hit in my library. These online poems can spread the fun even more!
- Shel Silverstein Books on YouTube : This channel has several recordings of the author reading his poems. Use them as examples of using expression to make poetry come alive.
- Poems for Kids : The American Academy of Poets has some great resources linked on their kids’ page. Since they’re organized into topics, students are sure to find something they like! For more ideas, check out their Materials for Teachers page as well.
- Poetry 4 Kids : Former Children’s Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt has a fantastic website which includes fun poems, poetry activities, and even some poetry writing lessons.
- Family Friend Poems has 30 ideas to celebrate National Poetry Month !
Book Spine Poetry
Book Spine Poetry is a fun, engaging way to get your students to create poems. This kind of poetry activity can be less intimidating, because students “find” their poem rather than writing it from scratch. I start my Book Spine Poetry lesson with a slideshow of book stack poems that have been created in previous years. Pull a selection of books with interesting titles to keep on a cart all week for students to use for their poems. I give them a planning page for writing the poem, but I really like to let them take a photo of the book stack. It’s fun to print the pictures for a bulletin board display . Kenn Nesbitt has a great lesson plan for book spine poetry with a couple of examples that can inspire students as well.
Students learning from home can create book spine poetry too. They can gather books they have on hand at home for their creations. Or you can provide a list of interesting book titles for them to consider. Then they can share photos or written poems in your online classroom or on FlipGrid.
Done for You Poetry Month Activities
If you’re looking for a low-prep poetry month activity that you can do with all of your classes, I can help! Try this Book Spine Poetry Bulletin Board Kit . It has EVERYTHING you need for a fun poetry lesson in your library, including my slideshow of examples to inspire your students. Have fun and create a great bulletin board display to get your school community reading, writing, and talking about poetry!
However you celebrate, enjoy National Poetry Month! If you have a fun activity that your students love, please share it with us in the comments!
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[…] Trapp, L. (2022, March 29). 4 fun poetry month activities for the school library. The Trapped Librarian. https://trappedlibrarian.org/2021/04/4-fun-poetry-month-activities-for-the-school-library/ . […]
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April is National Poetry Month!
Event Description
Each year the month of April is set aside as National Poetry Month, a time to celebrate poets and their craft. Various events are held throughout the month by the Academy of American Poets and other poetry organizations.
Classroom Activity
In honor of National Poetry Month, introduce your students to a variety of poetic forms. Assign one or two students each day as "poet of the day" for the month of April. Then provide students with several models for creating different forms of poetry. You might use Theme Poems , Acrostic Poems , Diamante Poems , or other Poetry Types to do this. Have each student select one form of poetry and write an original poem, which he or she can also illustrate. On their assigned days, have students read their poetry out loud to the class.
This website from the Academy of American Poets includes information on the history of National Poetry Month. Find out what happens during National Poetry Month on the frequently asked questions page.
The Poetry Learning Lab is a great source of knowledge, including a glossary of poetry terms, links to public domain poems, and inspiring essays on poetry from writers and educators.
Scholastic offers this poetry resource for grades 1–8. There are tips from authors of children's poetry, a teacher's guide, step-by-step workshops, and more.
The Favorite Poem Project, cosponsored by Boston College and the Library of Congress, is dedicated to celebrating, documenting, and encouraging poetry's role in Americans' lives. Watch or listen to citizens read poems they love.
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Introduce gerunds and review nouns, adjectives, and verbs through engaging read-alouds; then apply these concepts through collaborative word-sorting and poetry-writing activities.
Students select a familiar object online, build a bank of words related to the object, and write theme poems that are printed and displayed in class.
Students often find poetry frustrating and meaningless. By helping students think critically about the differences between poetry and prose, this introduction sets the stage for different strategies for comprehending poetic texts.
This online tool enables students to learn about and write acrostic poems. Elements of the writing process are also included.
Formerly known as Shape Poems, this online tool allows elementary students to write poems in various shapes.
This online tool enables students to learn about and write diamante poems.
The interactive explores the ways that poets choose line breaks in their writing. After viewing the demonstration, students are invited to experiment with line breaks themselves.
Word Mover allows children and teens to create "found poetry" by choosing from word banks and existing famous works; additionally, users can add new words to create a piece of poetry by moving/manipulating the text.
Students select a poem and create a Stapleless Book using the interactive tool.
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Celebrate National Poetry Month with these 10 Easy Activities
April is National Poetry Month. This is a great time to introduce your students to the joys of poetry and help them understand why poets and poetry matter. These 10 activities make it easy and fun to Celebrate National Poetry Month in the classroom.
1. Sign up for Poem a Day
Get a new free poem in your inbox each day with Poem a Day . This event, sponsored by poets.org introduces you to new, contemporary poets. April’s collection is curated by award winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye.
2. Fill your classroom library with poetry books
Make it easy for kids to fall in love with poetry by providing a variety of options right in your classroom. Some of our favorite children’s poets to celebrate National Poetry Month are:
- Jack Prelutsky : known for his hilarious poems that make kids laugh out loud. You can’t go wrong with the classic New Kid on the Block .
- Shel Silverstein : beloved children’s poet who has been adored for generations. I grew up with Where the Sidewalk Ends , and kids love Runny Babbit and its tongue twisters.
- Douglas Flourian : He writes and illustrates children’s poetry picture books about nature, space, dinosaurs, and more. His rhyming poems include interesting facts and silly lines that kids love. UnBEElievables: Honeybee Poems and Paintings is sure to delight young readers.
- Marilyn Singer : Her creative poems are fun and unique. They can be read from top to bottom and then again from bottom to top for a completely different take. Try Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reverso Poems based on fairy tales.
- Bob Raczka : His concrete poems are fun to listen to and examine. Kids love seeing how the words come together to paint a bigger picture. Check out his collection Wet Cement: A Mix of Concrete Poems .
- Nikki Grimes : A prolific writer, author, and poet, she composed her first verse at the age of 6. Kids will love her classic A Pocketful of Poems .
- Valerie Worth : She writes short, free-verse poems with carefully chosen language and imagery that describes the beauty and wonder in everyday objects. Children will enjoy Pug: And Other Animal Poems about strange animal behaviors.
3. Read poems
Pick a short poem to share with your class everyday. You could focus on one poet a week, or pick a theme that students are interested in, like spring or water or animals. They’ll love listening to a different verse each day.
Get a FREE Poetry Unit
We have FREE poetry units for second and third grade. These units are great for introducing your students to poems and a perfect way to celebrate National Poetry Month.
Each unit includes:
- 2 PowerPoint mini lessons
- 2 interactive notebook activities
- 5 hands-on centers (including reading response)
- 3 reading passages
- Detailed teacher directions.
4. Write a letter to a favorite poet
After you’ve taken some time to introduce your students to different poets, have them pick a favorite and write him or her a letter. This is a great way to practice writing friendly letters and to get in some authentic writing experience.
Writing a letter to a stranger might be a new and daunting activity for many students. Brainstorm some ideas of what to include in the letter to help keep writers’ block at bay.
5. Illustrate a poem
Poems are filled with descriptive language. And they are the perfect inspiration for artwork. Why not give kids the opportunity to draw or paint a poem?
Have students select a favorite poem and then channel their inner artist to depict the poem in a picture. They will love this creative exercise.
6. Write poems in sidewalk chalk
This is one of my favorite simple ways to celebrate National Poetry Month. And it’s a great way to share favorite poems with others. Kids love writing with sidewalk chalk. Fill your playground or sidewalks with colorful poems and watch everyone smile as they walk by.
7. Write poetry
No list of ideas to celebrate National Poetry Month would not be complete with writing poems. One of the best activities you can do this month is to let your kids become poets. And my Poetry Writing Unit has everything you need to teach a poetry unit your students will love.
It includes 14 poems to get your students thinking and talking about poetry. There are also anchor charts for students and teachers, printables, publishing paper, and 10 days of lesson plans that you can use to teach your students the skills necessary to write poems.
Students will be introduced to six different poems, including:
- Concrete poetry
- Diamante
- Free-form poems
After reading and learning about different types of poetry, students write their own poems and create personal collections of poetry.
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Poetry Writing Unit
8. write a poem to celebrate earth day.
Why not celebrate two amazing April events together? National Poetry Month and Earth Day. Challenge your students to write special poems to celebrate Mother Earth. There’s so much students can write about our amazing planet: nature poems, animal poems, conservation poems, climate poems. The options are endless. And kids love learning about Earth Day.
9. Write a definition of poetry.
After you’ve spent some time reading and writing poems, challenge your class to come up with a definition of poetry. What makes it different than other kinds of writing? What makes it unique? Why do poems matter?
10. Have a poetry reading.
Another fun way to celebrate National Poetry Month is to have a poetry reading. Make the event extra special by inviting parents or other students to your classroom for the reading. Each student can share a favorite poem – one that they love or one that they’ve written. If the poems are short enough, they can recite them from memory. Add some cookies or fruit and make it a real celebration.
I hope you these ideas help you to celebrate National Poetry Month. Check out three more easy ways to teach poetry .
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24 Superb Activities for National Poetry Month
What are some fun activities for National Poetry Month ? From cheap yet entertaining options to out-of-the-box ideas, we’ve got some superb activity ideas for your National Poetry Month.
Life is full of all sorts of days; some days kind of suck, and that can be out of our control. So, when a month calls for admiring poetry and digging into your creative roots, why not embrace it and make room for some wonderful, imaginative, and beautiful days up ahead? That’s the spirit!
This month is more than remembering and appreciating the classic poets of the past; it’s about lifting the art of poetry up along with its present poets and celebrating this amazing art form.
Ready to get your poet on this National Poetry Month? Time to Edgar Allan GO!
In this article
When is National Poetry Month?
First things first, this blossoming celebration of National Poetry Month takes place throughout the entirety of April! It was first created by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 to lift up and celebrate poets and their poetry.
Decades later, the nation is still recognizing and celebrating the beauty of National Poetry Month; how amazing is that?
Another wonderful and extraordinary element of National Poetry Month is that poetry is a language that knows no bounds; it flows through every culture, walk of life, and style. In short, it’s for everyone! And even more, so it should be shared and appreciated.
Feeling amped up for some activities, you can do during National Poetry Month? Ready or not, here they come!
Activities for National Poetry Month
Below, we’ve listed a variety of ideas and activities you can take part in to celebrate and or awaken that poet that’s sitting inside of you.
From full-on DIY projects to small yet effective things you can do to embrace this time of celebration, we’ve got it covered.
At-Home Activities for National Poetry Month
We all love some at-home cozy time, and throw in a fun activity with it? You know it’s about to be a grand ol time!
- Try Black-Out Poetry: Have a damaged book you’re unsure what to do with? Utilize the pages by experimenting with some Black-Out Poetry!
- Write a poem: This probably seems like an obvious activity for National Poetry Month, but writing a poem can feel intimidating. Challenge yourself by learning how to write a poem and going for it. Remember, writing is for you !
- Read poet’s work on Instagram: Want to read and support indie poet’s work? There are thousands of poets on Instagram who post their poems and prose and would love a like and comment for their hard work. You may even find a new favorite poet!
- Play some poetry games: Take to the skies of Pinterest and Google and search for some fun games you and your family/friends can play! Here’s a good place to start .
- Check out poetry quotes: Looking for some poetry inspiration or the perfect caption for your National Poetry Month Insta pic? Read up on some enchanting and whimsical poetry quotes!
- Watch a movie about poetry: Want to kick back and relax? Make it a poetry movie night! There are actually quite a few movies out there about poetry. Some popular ones are Dead Poets Society , Poetic Justice , Kill Your Darlings , Bright Star , and Slam .
- Fam poetry time: Involve the family! Have a poetry night where everyone has half an hour to an hour to write a poem about another family member (draw names out of a hat), get all dressed up, and take turns reading your poems in dedication to one another. Extra fun points if you do a round of snaps at the end of each poem!
- Watch videos of spoken poetry: We promise you won’t be disappointed; the results are wild and beautiful. Spoken poetry evokes feelings more than rhymes. Here are a few great ones to start out with (Swearing is present in some of these poems)- OCD, by Neil Hilborn , When Love Arrives by Sarah Kay & Phil Kaye , and My Honest Poem Rudy Francisco .
- Date night poetry: Want some romance during National Poetry Month? Of course, you do; poetry is romantic! You and your partner can take time to write poems for one another, cook a meal together, and sit by candlelight while you enjoy each other’s company and read one another your beloved poems.
- Memory to poem: Challenge yourself to write a poem based on pure nostalgia. Pull out your old picture box or scroll through past photos, choose one, and write a poem about that captured memory.
Adventurous Activities for National Poetry Month
Looking to expand your comfort zone during April’s National Poetry Month? Look no further! We’ve got some adventurous and completely doable ideas for you to try out.
- Host a Poetry Night: Let’s start this list off with a BANG! Invite over friends and family who have an interest in sharing poems they wrote or that they admire and have a poetry night!
- Attend a local Poetry Night: If you’re feeling host shy, here’s a cool alternative; attend a local poetry night instead! With National Poetry Month coming up, there’s bound to be an open mic poetry night somewhere near you.
- Create Coffee Stain Poetry Art: This one is for the coffee lovers ! Do you enjoy some fun crafting? How about a DIY Coffee Stain art with poetry and prose? Anyone can do it, and it even makes for some homey decor by your coffee station!
- Check out local events: Hit up your city, or surrounding cities, monthly event calendar and see if there are some fun or interesting poetry events hoppin’ and poppin’ during National Poetry Month.
- Look ahead of time for book signings: On the same wave of checking up on events, see if there are any indie poets having a book event or signing during the month of April!
- Take a poetry/writing workshop: Take your writing skills to the next level or enter into a poetic world you’ve always been curious about by signing up for a poetry workshop. You may surprise yourself with your poetic skills.
- Recite a poem for a loved one: Want to show a grand romantic gesture of love to your significant other? Memorize a poem you love, or you’ve written yourself and recite it to your partner. It’ll be a romantic memory they won’t forget!
- Picnic & poetry: You know what sounds absolutely adorable? Packing a delicious little picnic basket with a book full of poems, finding a pleasant spot at the park or beach, and taking in the wonderful words of poetry while in the presence of a tranquil scene. It’ll be like you’re in a poem yourself!
- Take part in Poem in your Pocket Day: Embrace the joys of sharing and spreading poetry on Poem in your Pocket Day on April 27th!
Educational Activities for National Poetry Month
Looking to have some fun while getting your knowledge groove on? We like your style! Take a look at these educational and fun activities for National Poetry Month, fit for all ages!
- Take a Library trip: What better place to start than at the library? Find the poetry aisle, and see if a book catches your eye! Even if you don’t check it out and you read a few poems at the library, you’re still engaging with the poetic experience.
- Receive a poem a day: Subscribe to Poet.org’s email list and receive a poem a day ! If you’re busy during April, this can be a fun and easy way to celebrate; the poems come right to your inbox!
- Watch a Documentary: YouTube is the grand central station of free documentary-type videos. See if there are some videos on famous classic poets or new poets who are taking the stage! Here are two recommendations from us- Emily Dickinson Doc , and #Poetry Documentary .
- Discover different types of poetry: There are many different types of poetry; take a look and see for yourself. Then, if you’re feeling the inspiration, try your hand at writing in different forms!
- Find your favorite poet: Immerse yourself in a world full of poetry by diving into some poetr y archives. You’ll discover new poets and poems and maybe even a few new favorites.
Didn’t realize how much fun someone could have during National Poetry Month , huh? We’re telling you, this big ol celebration is getting slept on. But now you’re ahead of the poetry party ball, and you can spread the word.
Take this inspiration, and don’t be afraid to spread those poetry wings and fly to your poems that haven’t been written yet, but they’re waiting for you. Are you having trouble getting started with writing a poem? Look to us for guidance!
In any case, happy National Poetry Month, and may your inner poet shine.
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Poetry Month activities for your classroom
Not only does April bring showers, but also poetry month activities . Poetry is a genre that’s a jack of all trades. The friend who fits in at any lunch table. Its wonders never cease to amaze. Need to teach how fluency matters? Poetry’s here for you – helping readers practice tone, pitch, and volume. Want to help with phonemic awareness? Poetry has rhyme, alliteration, syllable patterns, and assonance to aid young students just by listening. Wish to expand the writing of your students? Poetry pushes writers to elevate their style, asking for figurative language, expansive vocabulary, and imagery.
If nothing else, poetry should be taught to students because it reflects the world around us. Poetry has a cultural impact. From epic Greek poems to the Harlem Renaissance, poetry provides glimpses into feelings and ideas felt at the time by real people who lived it. Because of poetry’s importance, using words to sketch our lives and connect us all, what better resource for teachers to use than that of technology? Technology grants all learners access to poetry. Whether it’s through a variety of mediums such as videos, pictures, or audio recordings to text accessibility features that read poems to students who may not be able to read otherwise. Technology helps make poetry more understandable.
This list of poetry month activities is perfect for any elementary, middle, or high school classroom wanting to incorporate digital poetry activities using Nearpod, Flocabulary, or both in fun and immersive ways!
Poetry Month Activities: Nearpod
1. magnetic poetry and poetry frames.
Of all the poetry month activities, magnetic poems and poetry frames are adaptable for many grade levels. Nearpod’s Drag and Drop feature allows teachers to create digital magnetic poems . Use this tool to have students enter words or phrases to create their own poems. By having students drag text or images in a Drag and Drop, they can create more descriptive poems. Teachers can add higher level vocabulary words or simple decodable words depending on students’ abilities.
Poetry Frames are another excellent source of inspiration for young writers. These graphic organizers
can easily get students started writing their own poems. Teachers can create their own frames or upload premade ones into the Drag and Drop background. Help students model lymmerics or even sonnets.
2. Concrete Poetry (Visual Poetry)
Poetry is filled to the brim with imagery and pictures are great resources to spark ideas. Try these poetry month activities to incorporate visual imagery into poetry:
- Using the Draw It tool in your Nearpod lesson, students can create their own concrete poems, which are poems that take the shape of their topic.
- Teachers can upload PDFs of poem examples to accompany directions. Use poems by Jack Prelutsky or Shel Silverstein for a fun twist.
- Create a lesson where students can choose their own visual to inspire a poem. They can then write their poem using the Draw It or Open-Ended Question tool. This grants more creative freedom for students to take their poetry to new and interesting places.
Students then write concrete poems directly into the lesson . Not only can teachers upload pictures into the Draw It activity, but students can also upload their own images.
3. Shared Poetry using the Collaborate Board
Good ideas often come with a little help. Shared poetry gives writers an extra boost. Using the Collaborate Board activity, the class develops shared class poetry . Creating a shared poetry lesson in Nearpod is quick, simple, and impactful with these steps:
- In Nearpod, you can click on “Create Lesson” and then choose “Collaborate board” activity.
- Then, type into the directions box your lesson topic. The beauty of this activity is that teachers have total control over the prompt – being as specific or broad as is necessary while still fostering creativity. Add a simple visual image as a reference image to allow for multiple interpretations or give detailed directions/ instructional aids for students to mimic certain poetic styles or devices.
- Assign your shared poetry lesson to students by sharing the lesson code with students. So much flexibility is given that teachers can allow students to add to the shared poem individually or work in groups.
- The whole class sees what’s being contributed to the poem in real time. It’s a great opportunity to discuss ideas and share thinking, even sharing comments.
Collaborate Board’s design layout allows students to add audio recordings and videos! Results are unexpected but wholly unique and diverse. The real trick is to pick broad topics while also being relatable. Themes like love, friendship, or nature give room for interpretation but not too broad to disconnect students.
Poetry Month Activities: Flocabulary
4. poetry concepts.
One of the most helpful resources for teaching students poetry concepts is Flocabulary . We often perceive poetry as lofty and complicated. However, Flocabulary’s video and lesson library makes teaching poetry relatable to students. Flocabulary’s videos are engaging and even mimic slam poetry. Not only that, Flocabulary has videos to help new poets understand the craft and structure of poetry. There’s videos for figurative language, alliteration and assonance , personification , similes and metaphors , hyperbole , and descriptive language .
Flocabulary offers poetry activities perfect for middle school and teaching high school poetry. There are lesson plans, handouts, vocabulary games and cards, quizzes, and a rhyme generator. Everything you need to teach engaging poetry lessons is ready and waiting!
5. Vocabulary’s role in poetry
Writing poetry is all about purposeful word choice and surfaces rich discussions on vocabulary by readers everywhere. Through learning about figurative language, all students can practice using academic vocabulary in less traditional concepts to showcase complex meanings.
With Flocabulary’s focus on vocabulary in every lesson , teachers can use hip-hop videos and their supporting activities to learn about vocabulary and develop a deep understanding of academic terminology.
Start discussions about poetry by learning the vocabulary used in the structure of poems with the figurative language lesson. Students watch the video to introduce the vocabulary and follow it with supporting activities that deepen their understanding of the terms along the way.
6. Write poetry using Lyric Lab
The Lyric Lab activity gives students the opportunity to create their own rhymes using the academic vocabulary covered in the accompanied Flocabulary lesson. You can assign a Lyric Lab for students to complete or they can independently create their own rhymes simply by logging into their student account and selecting Lyric Lab for any lesson.
Students can use these poetry month activities to write poems about any topic across the K-12 curriculum. Although Lyric Lab can be used to write a rap about a topic, students can also take those same lessons and tools to create poetry.
With Lyric Lab , students are developing the deepest level of understanding of vocabulary terms in a lesson. Students use the vocabulary terms that surfaced in a lesson to write about that topic. This is a great mnemonic device to help students reflect and showcase their own personal understanding that they can use throughout the whole lesson unit.
Here’s how you can use Lyric Lab’s built-in rhyme-generator to help students find rhymes as they write:
- 1. Flocabulary’s video and Lyric Lab activity are perfect for an introductory lesson. Choose a lesson from the library. Let’s use the Hyperbole lesson as an example.
- 2. Students watch the lesson video, which includes engaging visuals and catchy rhymes about this poetic concept, individually or as a class.
- 3. Students can then click on the Lyric Lab section of the Hyperbole lesson.
- 4. Lyric Lab will have a list of relevant vocabulary used in the video for students to use to create their own rhymes.
- 5. As they type their rhymes, Lyric Lab will generate words they can use to rhyme in their next line.
- 6. Once their lyrics are complete, students can select one of Flocabulary’s beats to go along with their song.
- 7. Have students submit a video or voice recording of their final song, or have the class perform their masterpieces to each other!
After students create their own lyrics explaining what a hyperbole is, it can be used as a guide for students to write their own poems with hyperbole or even read poems where they have to find examples of hyperbole. Some great famous poem examples to include in your poetry month activities are “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth, or “My Heart Beats for You” by Kelly Roper.
Lyric Lab can be tied to any poetry lesson. It’s a helpful introduction to help students fully grasp poetry concepts, styles, and vocabulary. Students make it their own instead of teachers lecturing definitions they may not understand. This ensures they understand and showcase what they’ve learned.
While students can write poetry about any topic in Flocabulary, they can also watch the What is Poetry , Types of Poetry , and Rhyme & Rhythm lessons to support their knowledge of poetry in general. Teachers can share these lessons about poetry with students and ask them to write a poem about any topic in any core subject area. Historical figures are a teacher favorite for poetry writing with Lyric Lab.
7. Meet common core standards by performing poetry
Speaking and listening standards appear across many grade levels, with students being asked to perform speeches orally and understand and practice active listening skills. While writing poetry can help support vocabulary acquisition and deep understanding, performing poetry will help teachers meet some speaking and listening standards as well.
Poetry’s short nature also helps students who are easily overwhelmed with lengthy writing assignments or those nervous about public speaking. When students share poetry aloud they can experience figurative language and all its parts in new and interesting ways.
Poetry Month Activities: Nearpod + Flocabulary
8. poetry slam.
Why not let students share their poetry by hosting class slam poetry sessions? Poetry is meant to be read aloud. It evokes feelings, which can be felt when spoken. Poetry slams are beneficial not only with writing, but also reading fluency.
Mixing Flocabulary and Nearpod with slam poetry are great digital poetry activities. Flocabulary’s videos not only teach concepts, but also what slam poetry sounds like. Poetry is meant to be read aloud. Pick a Flocabulary video for students to emulate a poetry slam and add it to the Nearpod lesson. Then, include activities for students to create poetry to participate in a poetry slam. Flipgrid is a great resource for students to record themselves reading their poetry and submitting to the slam. Students can also use Collaborate Board on Nearpod instead to slam their poetry by submitting videos. Students listen to slam poetry through Flocabulary and then emulate it with Nearpod.
9. Pick a Poet
Pick a Poet is an activity among our list of poetry month activities which gives students freedom to choose a poet to learn about and emulate his or her poetic style. Flocabulary has a library full of videos about poets – Maya Angelou , William Shakespeare , Langston Hughes , and Emily Dickinson to name a few. Assign students a famous poet or style of poetry to mimic, or even better, let students choose what interests them.
Create lessons in Nearpod along with activities and videos from Flocabulary. Students learn about the poet’s life, style, and impact on poetry. Or, learn about that particular poetic style. They then create their own poems and even present information about that poet to the class.
10. Music as Poetry
Music and poetry share a timeless relationship. In the past, poems were often sung, so why not teach poetry using music ? For teaching poetry in high school, you can create lessons in Nearpod and Flocabulary demonstrating the close relationship between poetry and music, adding digital poetry activities for students to complete along the way like matching pairs to review terms and concepts. Students pick lyrics from their favorite song or artist and analyze it through the lens of poetry. If students already studied different poetic styles, they can try to analyze what style of poetry that song would work in and why – evaluating rhythm, poetic devices, themes, etc..
On the flip side, students can also pick poems to turn into songs, explaining the poetic rhythm. With student accounts in Nearpod, students can practice making their very own presentations to present to the class in new, creative ways!
Spring brings with it growth, and these poetry month activities can be expanded and modified to fit in with any teacher’s lessons. April is the perfect month to teach the importance of poetry with enjoyable lessons that allow students creative freedom. After all, that’s what poetry is all about feeling and expression.
Interested in reading more about this topic? Check out this blog post: 5 Ways to empower students as content creators
Angelia Simpson has been a first grade teacher for nine years. With a classroom full of minions, she balances the wonderful line of chaos and learning. Passions include writing, technology, reading, and Corgis.
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Articles / Writing
Celebrate Poetry Month with 5 Fun Activities
by MiddleWeb · Published 04/14/2021 · Updated 04/15/2021
By Marilyn Pryle
The first two work best as individual assignments, the third and fourth can be done either alone or in partners, and the last is a fun whole-class activity.
(If you’d like to see additional poetry activities I’ve written about on MiddleWeb, try the Concrete Found Poem or the Personal Ballad .) Enjoy!
1. Me in Metaphors
This descriptive poetry-writing activity asks students to think of personality traits and talents and translate those into metaphors. You could do a mini-lesson about metaphors if you’d like, but students will pick up on the idea pretty quickly.
Students should think of eight qualities about themselves (these could be physical, emotional, mental, and so on) or talents that they have. They should list these on this prewriting sheet . Then, students should think of an image (a sight, sound, smell, taste, or texture) that could represent each quality.
For example, if the quality is calm , then an image representing calmness could be stones at the bottom of a river . Encourage students to then expand the image to make it more interesting and descriptive – “stones at the bottom of a river” could become grey, white, and speckled stones lying below the rushing river waters . Students should do these for each of their eight qualities.
To write the poem, students simply list all the metaphors in a row, beginning with “I am…” They should not name the qualities themselves; they should let the metaphors do the work. Here are two examples of students’ finished poems:
Me by Hayley
I am a thin branch, shaking in the wind. I am a small pond rippling rapidly in the new spring air. I am a sun-burned shoulder, tender to the touch. I am a leaf torn in a storm.
I am a tiny blue flower budding in snow. I am a stone smoothed by rough, rushing waters. I am the first bike in the garage without training wheels. I am a beam of light shining through deep waters.
I am a tree towering over a thriving forest. I am a gracious gazelle prancing through the desert. I am a bottle filled to the precise amount for flipping. I am the “Enter” key on a calculator. I am the single brush stroke against the grain. I am the feeling of peeling plastic off a new cellular device. I am the smell of abundant bacon begging to be bitten. I am the fast crack of a thick whip.
As you can see, it’s not important for the reader to guess the “right” personality traits; that’s not how poetry works. Instead, students will create an impression of themselves, a feeling rooted in sensory details, that somehow holds more truth than a spelled-out list of traits.
Odes are free-verse poems praising something, and they can be about anything—an object, a place, or even a person. What makes an ode powerful is an attention to sensory detail.
I love to use Gary Soto’s Ode to Mi Gato as an example – it is full of everyday sights, sounds, and textures. All odes, by definition, have the same theme: an appreciation for their subject; Soto’s love for his cat shines through in the details.
Writing an ode is an especially important exercise for students during this difficult year. The practice of looking closely at something – especially some everyday object perhaps taken for granted – and feeling gratitude and appreciation for it, can be powerful and healing.
Once students choose a subject for their ode, they should brainstorm sensory details, and work in the figurative language as they go. Here’s a brainstorming sheet .
For more examples, look to Pablo Neruda’s many odes, especially “Ode to My Socks,” or additional poems from Soto’s Neighborhood Odes (2005).
3. Extended Metaphor Poem
For this activity, I like to use Langston Hughes’s “ Mother to Son ” as a mentor text. The main metaphor is actually a non-metaphor (“Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair”), but students can make inferences about what the converse meaning would be – something like “Life has been an old, beat-up, dangerous stair.” After reading, have students map out the “extensions” of the main metaphor.
This can be done with a mindmap or even a labeled drawing of the stairs themselves. The extended metaphoric details in Hughes’ poem would include tacks, splinters, torn boards, and worn-through carpet. They would also include landings, corners, and some darkness. All of these are symbolic, of course, and can be discussed or even incorporated into the students’ diagrams, perhaps in a different color writing alongside the literal extensions.
The mother’s advice (“Don’t you sit down” and “Don’t you fall now”) is symbolic, thematic, and an extension of the original metaphor as well.
Another effective mentor text is Rumi’s The Guest House . The original metaphor is that being human is a guest house – an old-fashioned inn. The extensions are that the guests are one’s emotions, and that the house includes furniture and a door. The metaphor is carried through to the end of the poem. Students could create a diagram of a house to illustrate the literal and deeper meanings.
Once students understand the idea of an extended metaphor, they can try their own. This activity works particularly well in pairs. Students should start with a basic metaphor, and then list some “extensions.” They can do this by picturing or drawing the original metaphoric image, and then studying the details for ideas of how to make it more symbolic.
Some original metaphors might be:
Friendship is a… Learning is a… High school is a … The football field is a… The stage is a … Being a preteen (or teen) is a…
In my class, I ban “Life is a highway” since that is so well-known. (You could, of course, use the song as an example!) Additionally, you might want to avoid “Life is a rollercoaster” if you don’t want to read several of them.
I ask students to have at least three extensions to the original metaphor, sensory details with each extension, and a minimum of twelve lines overall. After working with extended metaphors from the inside-out, students will never miss them in texts again!
4. Google Autocomplete Found Poems
Found poetry is a fun way to explore the question, “What makes a poem?” And a fertile place to look for poems is the Google search bar. In this time of virtual learning, many students have access to this tool.
I encourage students to choose and rearrange what they find, so that it forms a poem to their liking. Of the searches above, final poems might be:
Books are fun. Books are a summary of human knowledge. Books are better than movies. Books are a uniquely portable magic. Books are door shaped.
——
Honesty is the best policy. Honesty is a virtue. Honesty is a very expensive gift. Honesty is not synonymous with truth.
I usually set guidelines at a minimum of four lines, and let students work in pairs. You could instruct students to relate their Google searches to a book or unit’s theme in your class, to a certain character trait, or to an essential question. Or you could let students experiment with searches of their choosing.
Letting students play with the search stems and the phrases they find provokes thought and creativity. Adding a word to the search, or even a single letter, changes the trajectory of the results.
At the same time, what comes up in a Google search is also a barometer of society – the autocomplete suggestions are the most-searched-for ideas; this is what puts them on the list. Students’ findings could provide grounds for interesting class discussions.
5. Haiku Party
Haiku Party Day is, by far, the most fun day in my class. We study haiku in depth during the days leading up to it, including the terms caesura (the pause) and kigo (a seasonal word), and the use of a twist – the surprise or shift in perspective that comes at the end of a haiku.
Waves of summer grass: All that remains of soldiers’ Impossible dreams.
My favorite haikus to teach include Basho’s “Summer grasses,” “The cuckoo,” and “The sun’s way,” as well as Issa’s “Far-off mountain peaks” and “With bland serenity.” These haikus all have a palpable surprise that the students enjoy experiencing. We go deeper than the 5–7–5 rule, although that parameter is important and fun too.
To conduct a Haiku Party, have students partner up and give each pair a blank piece of paper (this year, we did the activity on Google slides, with each pair’s work on their own slide, in a larger class slide presentation).
They should read the other group’s haiku, skip a line on the page, and then rewrite the haiku’s last line. This is now their first new line. The group should finish the new haiku with a second line of 7 syllables and a final line of 5 syllables.
You will have to explain this a couple times for students to understand. They take the previous group’s last line, rewrite it on a new line, and use it as a first line for a new haiku.
When finished, the papers get passed again (following the same path) and the process is repeated. Fit in as many rounds of this as time allows. The class will quickly devolve into hilarity as students frantically count out syllables on their fingers, trying to finish the haiku formed from the last line of the most recent poem passed to them.
At the end, students can retrieve their original pages and read the haiku chain born from those first three lines. They love it.
I’ve witnessed students literally weeping with laughter during this activity. But while it’s happening, they’re practicing skills – poetic form, sensory details, and the twist, at the very least! Students also get a taste of how texts and writing can be fun and alive.
And isn’t this the true purpose of teaching poetry, and all literature: to give students that sense of connection, collaboration, and creativity as they express themselves and read the expressions of others?
Marilyn’s most recent book is Reading with Presence: Crafting Meaningful, Evidenced-Based Reading Responses (Heinemann, 2018). Learn more about her at marilynpryle.com and read other articles she’s written for MiddleWeb.
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National Poetry Month Activities to Get Kids Excited About Writing Poems
April may be best known for bringing us the showers before we can start to smell the May flowers, but the fourth month of the year has another special designation. April is National Poetry Month in the US!
Teaching poetry this year? We pulled together some of our favorite ways to teach poetry creatively and get kids hooked on composing their own verses!
When Is National Poetry Month Celebrated in the US?
First thing’s first — let’s talk timing! The entire month of April is devoted to National Poetry Month, although it’s actually coming on the heels of World Poetry Day which is celebrated globally in late March. April 1 is set aside as National Poetry Day here in the US, kicking off the month-long festivities.
Why Do We Celebrate National Poetry Month?
If you’re a teacher who can’t wait to expose your students to the wonderful world of verse, we realize you don’t really need a National Poetry Month to do it! But the Academy of American Poets launched the month-long celebration in 1996 to give teachers like you a little help in spreading the word about the wonders of poetry. In the ensuing years, it’s become of the largest literary celebrations in the world, with millions of students — and their teachers — taking part every year, along with poets, of course.
How to Make Poetry Fun for Kids
Teaching poetry can be a challenge. We get it! Although many will spend a chunk of the tween and teen years scribbling rhymes in a notebook (or more likely the notes app of their smartphone), when they’re first presented with this form of writing, the tendency for many kids is to inform you in no uncertain terms that they “hate” it. And who can blame them?
If not presented in the right way, poetry can feel like any old English assignment but with a lot more rules. Do kids really need to understand iambic pentameter and what constitutes a stanza? They may not think so, of course. But you likely don’t need the research to convince you that learning poetry helps build early literacy skills and opens up those speaking and listening skills.
And researchers have dug into what makes poetry click with elementary schoolers . Presenting poems that are difficult to understand? They’re more likely to be disliked by your class.
On the other hand, elementary schoolers tend to get hooked on poetry that:
- Is written in narrative form
- Includes humor and/or animals
- Include contemporary content rather than traditional poetry
National Poetry Month Activities for the Classroom
With all that in mind, here are some ways to make this year’s National Poetry Month fun with activities that open students’ ears and minds!
Get the Official Poster for Your Classroom
Designed by Lara Lazar, an eleventh grader at the Saunders Trades and Technical High School in Yonkers, New York, this year’s official National Poetry Day Poster can be downloaded for free from the American Academy of Poets. The poster features a line from In This Place (An American Lyric), a poem by National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman.
Gorman makes for a particularly powerful poet to share with kids thanks to her youth (born in 1998, she’s not that much older than your students) and her place in modern culture. Your class can watch Gorman read her now-famous poem The Hill We Climb from the 2021 presidential inauguration, offering a chance to talk about poetry in contemporary society. When it comes to convincing dubious students that poetry matters, you can’t do much better than showing them a young woman who made it all the way to the national stage thanks to her skills as a poet!
Engage With the Favorite Poem Project
Founded by Robert Pinsky, the 39th Poet Laureate of the United States , back in 1997, the Favorite Poem Project is a free resource for teachers that features videos of dozens of Americans of all ages reading and speaking about poems they love. Not only do the project’s videos give your students a chance to hear poetry read out loud, but the stories told by those featured open up new ways of thinking about each particular piece.
Zip Into Onomatopoeia
While it’s certainly not limited to poetry, onomatopoeia is a literary device that has “kid-friendly” written all over it, and the Teach Starter teacher team has long found that digging into the words that sound just like the sounds they describe is a surefire way to kids’ hearts.
Some of our favorite onomatopoeia poems to start with include:
- The Bells by Edgar Allen Poe — “How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle.”
- The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes — “Tlot tlot, tlot tlot, in the distance.”
- “Fossils” by Ogden Nash — “Just the clatter of their bones”
Get students started with these sound devices by writing about them on their own with an onomatopoeia activity .
Get Acquainted With Your State’s Poet Laureate
You may have taught your students plenty about your state during the course of the year — the climate, the history, maybe even your state bird. But have you told your students that there’s a Poet Laureate who represents them in all things poetry? With the exception of Massachusetts, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, each state has one, and the Library of Congress has a wealth of information about the current poet representing each state , past holders of the position, plus background of the position.
Concrete Poetry
Sometimes called shape poetry, concrete poetry is another hit with elementary students as they can write their poems in the shape of the poem’s topic. Connecting art and writing together, concrete poetry can be traced back all the way to ancient Greece and helps students develop their visual thinking skills on top of their writing skills.
Share this fun animated concrete poem to help your students better understand the concept.
Encourage students to write poems in the shape of a favorite topic, or use a template to get them started:
- Thunderstorm concrete poem template
- Recycling bin concrete poem template (perfect for Earth Day!)
- Moon concrete poem template
Grab a concrete poetry poster for the classroom!
Sticky Note Poetry
Looking for a fun whole-class activity for National Poetry Month? Try sticky note poetry! Hand out sticky notes to all your students, and post a work of art on your whiteboard where students can all see it. Ask each student to write down the words that come to mind when they look at the piece of art — limiting themselves to just one word per sticky note.
You can set a timer for their free-writing session (give one of these free digital timers a try), and when time is up, direct students to create poems by placing the sticky notes side-by-side, arranging them into lines of poetry. Alternatively, you can collect the stacks of words and form the poetry lines on your whiteboard as a class.
Bring In Earth Day
Earth Day falls right near the end of National Poetry Month — the perfect opportunity to write poems about our magnificent planet! Try an Earth Day acrostic , or write a verse about being kind to Mother Earth!
See more National Poetry Month resources , and let us know below what you are doing to celebrate!
- Teaching Ideas
- National Poetry Month 2023
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National Poetry Month Activities and Resources
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Aside from April Fools Day , Easter , and Earth Day , April is also a host to two big events in Literature – National Poetry Month and World Book Day ! The former lasts a whole month and marks the celebration of poets and poetry that have shaped our culture. For these reasons, April is a great opportunity for teachers and homeschooling parents to implement National Poetry Month activities in their curriculum.
Poetry is an invaluable expressive tool that helps children learn how to recognize and control their emotions, as well as increase their vocabulary and have better communication skills. In other words, we can all agree that poetry is an incredibly important part of children’s education and we should use this opportunity to engage them in poetry activities.
In honor of National Poetry Month, this article features some amazing resources and ideas on activities for learning about poetry, through poetry. So, without further ado, let’s dive in!
National Poetry Month Activities And Teaching Resources
National Poetry Month was first celebrated in 1996 as an initiative by the Academy of American Poets. Their goal was to spread awareness about the important role that poetry has played in our culture. What better way to spread this message than to encourage kids to read, analyze, and even write poetry themselves? Here are some resources and activities through which you can achieve this.
Interactive Worksheets for Learning More About Poetry
Some kids might be reluctant to read poems just because they’re not used to the format and that way of expression. However, with our interactive and fun worksheet collections, they can learn more about it, familiarize themselves with this way of communicating feelings and thoughts, and become more interested in poems. In a way, brief and fun activities help pave the way for interest in more serious poetry analysis.
A good example of this would be our Poetry Worksheets, Definition & Examples bundle that’s suitable even for very young children who are introduced to poetry for the first time. It breaks down poetry into easily understandable bits and includes practical examples, so kids can appreciate the aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language.
Learning About The Work and Life of The Greatest Poets In History
The next step is learning about some of the greatest poets in history and their masterpieces that are still being shared all over the world. Edgar Allen Poe , William Shakespeare , Maya Angelou , and Emily Dickinson are good examples in this category.
As you can see, we have a separate worksheet bundle for each of them, and many others! Following the example of the City of Boston which will highlight a different poet every day of the month on the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture social media , you can also organize daily or weekly presentations about poets’ work and life in the classroom.
In our Poets section , you can choose which one you would like to go over or encourage kids to find a poet that they find inspirational and present about them.
Writing Poems
Once they have a solid foundation of what poetry is and have some of the greatest poets of all times as inspiration, kids can try to write poetry on their own. Keep in mind that not everyone feels comfortable expressing themselves in this way, nor it will come easy, so be there to help them, point them in the right direction, and maybe think of alternatives for those who truly struggle.
After all, the idea of kids writing poems for themselves is not so they can write something amazing, but to explore a new way of expressing their emotions and communicating their thoughts.
Analyzing Poems
Older kids can also engage in more serious and cognitive-demanding tasks of reading and analyzing different poetry genres. They can identify literary devices, style, tone of voice, and underlying message, as well as compare and discuss different styles.
Poetry analysis explores all the independent elements of the piece, so we can understand it entirely. There’s a great online course on MasterClass that might help you break down and make this assignment a lot more easier and understandable for kids.
So, seeing how kids need to be familiar and comfortable with many literary elements of poetry to be able to engage in this activity, a special National Poetry Month activity for kids can be learning about literary devices.
Learning About Literary Devices
If your students have no previous knowledge of poetry analysis or elements, our worksheet packs on Iambic Pentameter , Alliteration , Assonance , and other literary devices can help a lot! Visit our Literary Devices section where you’ll find more than a hundred different worksheet packs.
Additionally, you can check our article on “How to Teach Kids Figurative Language” which covers the topic in-depth and includes some great tips!
Additional Resources
Beyond the above-described activities, you and your students can also participate in many online events and activities prepared by official poets’ organizations. Alternatively, you can use the resources to organize your own poetry event in the classroom. Here’s a list of events and resources worth checking out.
- 9 Totally Unique Poetry Activities for High School Students
- Poetry Activities for Middle Schoolers – 5 games and worksheets to bring out their inner poet (+ 4 top tips)
- Poetry for Children Blog – it’s about finding and sharing poetry with children and young people.
- Janet S. Wong’s Poetry Suitcase – on how to create a poetry suitcase.
- Library of Congress’ Creating Poetry from Primary Sources – a guide on how to help students write poetry based upon informational text and images using their comprehension skills.
- Academy of American Poets ’ National Poetry Month activities and guides.
- The Children’s Poetry Archive – audio database composed of poems for children.
- Academy of American Poets ’ Database of Upcoming Events – poetry readings, workshops, festivals, conferences, literary organizations, and much more.
Before You Leave
National Poetry Month activities can and should be implemented throughout the whole month. It’s not a one-day activity you can miss, so take your time and plan out a great unit that fits your overall curriculum. Hopefully, our suggestions and resources will be more than enough to achieve that goal, so we encourage you to follow the links and explore them in-depth.
In addition, head over to our website to check out all the different worksheet collections we have in the poets or literature section . Collections such as literary devices or figurative language can be of great help when encouraging kids to write or analyze poetry.
Finally, you can always find help among our articles in the blog for which you can subscribe through our newsletter. Check it out regularly, as we have more content coming up soon.
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Learning Resources
A guide to the world of shel silverstein for parents, educators, librarians – create a shelebration moment with young readers. .
Whether you’re reading Shel Silverstein’s poems with your children, using his books to celebrate Poetry Month, or planning a Shelebration event at your home, school, or library, we have the resources you need to engage kids in Shel’s extraordinary world. Follow the links below for lessons, event kits, and activities to share with the children in your life. Happy Shelebrating!
- Lessons and Activities
Download the lesson kits below for fun and engaging discussion questions and activities based on Every Thing On It and Runny Babbit that will challenge kids to use these classic poems in new ways.
A guide to the World of Shel Silverstein for parents, educators, and librarians—create a Shelebration moment with young readers.
Teach Shel at home or in the classroom with this all-new Common Core aligned teaching guide featuring discussion questions and writing activities for The Giving Tree ; Don’t Bump the Glump! ; A Giraffe and a Half ; Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back ; Where the Sidewalk Ends ; and Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros?
Every Thing On It Lessons & Activities
Inside this kit you’ll find unique classroom activities based on Shel Silverstein’s latest poetry book, Every Thing On It , that teach students to write, think, and draw poetry. Kids will be challenged to come up with rhyming words, draw an illustration in Shel’s signature black and white style, infer what happens in a poem, and much more.
See Every Thing On It
Runny Babbit Lessons & Activities
In these activities based on Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook, kids will learn about spoonerisms, the clever twist on language that Shel Silverstein employs in this humorous book. Kids will practice speaking, translating, and even reciting the spoonerism poems. We guarantee a learning experience that’ll feel more like a Shelebration.
See Runny Babbit
We have everything you need to celebrate Poetry Month or host your own Shelebration party at home. Make some black-and-white cookies and download the event kits for activities based on Shel’s books that will make the reading and understanding of poetry an exciting and meaningful experience for kids.
Runny Babbit Returns Event Kit
Host a Runny Babbit Returns storytime with this event kit that includes reproducible storytime activities exploring poetry and the world of Shel Silverstein, a decorative event poster, a Runny Babbit standee, and Runny Babbit rabbit ears!
Every Thing On It Event Kit
This kit has everything in it to celebrate Shel Silverstein’s newest poetry collection, Every Thing On It . Activities include a matching game, the “Italian Food” Word Search, and Shel Silverstein trivia.
Don’t Bump the Glump! Event Kit
Have you ever seen a Gritchen in your kitchen or dared to dance with a One-Legged Zantz? Enter Shel Silverstein’s zany zoo and meet his unusual characters in this kit with activities including a word finder and a matching game.
See Don’t Bump the Glump!
Shelebrate “Poet Tree” Month with Shel Silverstein
Create your own “Poet Tree” and have a Shelebration all April-long! Just print out a set of leaves, jot down a few poems, and share using #ShelPoetTree. We can’t wait to see what you put in the world!
2016 Poetry Month Activities
Celebrate the world of Shel Silverstein with these brand-new printable activities from Where the Sidewalk Ends , A Light in the Attic , Falling Up , Every Thing On It , and Runny Babbit .
Poetry Month 2015 Event Kit
In this kit of all-new thought-provoking and fun printable activities based on the wonderful cast of characters in Falling Up Special Edition and Runny Babbit , you’ll meet the Monkey, have fun with Headphone Harold, get silly with spoonerisms, and much more.
The Giving Tree 50th Anniversary Event Kit
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Giving Tree , as well as the anniversaries of five other Shel Silverstein titles, with these all-new activities.
2013 Poetry Workshop Kit
In this brand-new kit, children will learn about many different types of poetry, gain clever tips to write their own, and compile their own poetry portfolio, all while having some fun along the way.
Poetry Month 2012 Event Kit
In this kit, the first to feature Every Thing On It , kids will delight in activities such as Shel-doku, make your own bookplates, word scrambles, and more.
Poetry Month 2011 Event Kit
Kids will learn to write their own poems, build vocabulary skills, and solve word puzzles in this kit celebrating all of Shel Silverstein’s poetry books.
Poetry Month 2010 Event Kit
This kit celebrates the zany, wild, and creative world of Shel Silverstein and his characters from books including Don’t Bump the Glump! and A Giraffe and a Half with activities such as the Cherished Characters Crossword, Perform a Poem, and Spot the Difference.
Poetry Month 2009 Event Kit
This kit provides a variety of materials to host your own Shelebration event. Activities include the Lafcadio the Lion Word Search, the Runny Babbit Decoder Game, and The Missing Piece Maze.
Poetry Month 2008 Event Kit
In this kit, kids will have the chance to talk like Runny Babbit, compose their own ending to one of Shel Silverstein’s poems, and design their own postage stamp in honor of Poetry Month.
- Drawing Booklets
Print these drawing booklets for your next Shelebration event. Kids will have a blast adding their own illustrations to the poems and acting out their own versions at the end. Want more Shel? Visit the Fun & Games area of this website for additional materials to maximize your experience with Shel Silverstein — including games, puzzles, animations, and printable items.
Cuttin’ Kate Drawing and Activity Booklet
Use your imagination to add illustrations for the poem on each page; then gather your friends to act out the poem in this fun-filled live-action poetry extravaganza.
Eight Balloons Drawing and Activity Booklet
Bring “Eight Balloons” from A Light in the Attic to life with this booklet by adding illustrations and acting out the poem with your friends.
See A Light in the Attic
- Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month. Established in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets, its purpose is to increase the attention paid to the art of poetry, to our poetic heritage, and to poetry books and magazines. Celebrate Poetry Month by sharing the poetry of Shel Silverstein with your students. The Poetry Month festivities continue on the Shel Silverstein Facebook page , where you’ll find shareable poem images, activities, classroom ideas, and more.
Additional Resources
- Shel’s Books
Learn more about HMH’s agreement to acquire NWEA and what it means for teachers and students
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Activities & Lessons
National Poetry Month Activities for Middle and High School Classrooms
What comes to mind when you think of poetry? Stage actors reciting dramatic sonnets? Beat poets driving cultural change? Musicians singing your favorite lyrics?
National Poetry Month is celebrated in April each year and is an opportune time to explore this writing style more in-depth with your middle or high school students. With the following poetry month activities and lesson plans, broaden your students' understanding of what poetry is and how it is written.
National Poetry Month Lesson Plans and Ideas
Write a self-portrait poem.
There is no better way to get into the spirit of National Poetry Month than writing a poem . In the following video, poet and teaching artist Glenis Redmond instructs students on how to write a self-portrait poem using alliteration, assonance, and anaphora.
The accompanying “How to Write a Poem” activity breaks down the writing process to help students construct a self-portrait of their own. It will help to have students watch the video above before completing the following activity.
How to Write a Poem — Student Activity How to Write a Poem — Teacher Guide
Slam Poetry Presentation
Inspired by the beat poets of the 1950s, spoken word poetry, or slam poetry, allows students to find their voice without the usual constraints like rhyme and syllable count. Written for a live performance, slam poetry is primarily concerned with rhythm and subject matter. Slam poets use the medium to explore ideas that they are passionate about and the emotions that they evoke.
Have your students watch some examples of slam poetry in order to get a better idea of what it entails. Then, have them each write a slam poem about a subject that they feel strongly about before presenting it to the class or to a smaller group. Give them time to practice their line delivery before their presentations.
Create a Nursery Rhyme
Poetry doesn’t have to be about serious subject matter. In fact, your students were in all likelihood introduced to poetry at a young age when they were learning nursery rhymes.
Challenge your students as a group to recall the nursery rhymes that they grew up with, and list them out for the class. Next, have each student select their favorite and identify the rhyme scheme. For example, the poem "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" by Jane Taylor follows a AABB CCDD rhyme scheme.
Once students have identified the rhyme scheme, encourage them to write their own nursery rhyme using this same pattern.
Write a Haiku Series
Sometimes less is more. A haiku is a Japanese form of poetry that is only three lines long. It follows a 5/7/5 syllable pattern, where the first and last lines are 5 syllables, and the second is 7 syllables. While these poems don’t often rhyme, they are a lesson in making every word count.
Syllable counts may differ, depending on factors like accent or language. Many popular Japanese haikus, once translated into English, no longer meet the 5/7/5 pattern. However, that doesn't mean that these poems are not still haikus.
Have students leave the classroom to find inspiration for at least three haikus. The haikus that they write should be part of a themed set, on topics like nature, people, or the classroom itself.
Gothic Poetry Lesson
From Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” to Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus,” gothic subject matter is an interesting departure from the romance often associated with the sonnet. Gothic poetry is instead a medium for displaying darker subject matter. These poems usually have a melancholic atmosphere and imagery and may also touch on emotions like worry, regret, or fear through their narrative.
Explore this style of poem by reading "The Bells" by Edgar Allan Poe .
After reading the text, review these questions with your class:
- How do your emotions as a reader develop as you read through the poem?
- How does the imagery evolve throughout the poem?
- Which poetry techniques did you notice in the poem?
- What do the bells in each stanza represent?
Absurdist Language Challenge
Many common sayings and words today are often attributed to poets or writers. One such inventive author is Lewis Carroll, who created words for his absurdist poems like “Jabberwocky.” Many of the words that he invented for the poem were a combination of two existing words. For example, the word “slithy” is a combination of “lithe” and “slimy.”
Read “ Jabberwocky ,” and challenge your class to create new words of their own. Ask them to think about combination words that they might already use in their everyday lives, like “hangry,” and draw inspiration from them. What emotions do they often feel at the same time? What attributes do they usually see occurring together in nature? Have them invent a shorter word they can use to describe a longer phrase or description.
Once the class is done writing their new words and definitions, have them use their favorite ones in a poem of their own.
Write a Rap
Studying rap is a great way to learn about repetition, vocabulary, and patterns when it comes to poetry and song. Teacher and poet Toney Jackson has 5 simple steps on how he teaches students to write raps :
- Choose a topic
- Choose your words
- Pick patterns
- Add a beat or a capella
Check out the video below for an overview on how you and your students can get started on this lesson idea.
For an even more in-depth look at the process of creating a rap, educator and author Dr. Chris Emdin also shares his wisdom on the subject. Emdin compares rap to poetry or storytelling with added layers, and uses this lesson to connect with his students. Through his partnership with Loaded Lux, he breaks down the benefits of this lesson in the following video.
If you are interested in exploring this lesson further, try out the How to Write a Rap student activity below. Alternatively, create a lesson of your own with any musical genre that interests your class, and work with them to develop their lyrics and rhyme scheme.
How to Write a Rap – Student Activity How to Write a Rap – Teacher Guide How to Write a Rap – Teacher Rubric
Language Research Project
Chances are, many of your students either speak a second language or have someone in their life who does. To get a more international perspective of poetry, have them research a poem written in a language other than their own. They can do this by interviewing someone in their life that speaks another language or else by doing independent research on the subject. Many sources will provide both the original poem and a version of it translated into English. Once they find a poem that they like, have them answer the following questions:
- What language is the poem written in, and why did you choose the language that you did?
- What did you learn from the poem?
- What drew you to this poem in the first place?
- How did the language the poem was written in affect the rhythm of the poem itself?
- If you can, either read the poem aloud, have someone read it for you, or find a recording of the poem being spoken aloud. How does hearing the poem as opposed to reading it change your perception or opinion about the poem?
Analyze "Kubla Khan"
The poem "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge was allegedly inspired by a dream, and if the poet himself is to believed, the work is only a fraction of the 200 to 300 lines he had composed in his sleep.
Read the poem "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge with your class, then have them answer the following questions:
- What are the main themes that you see reflected in the poem?
- What feelings does the poem evoke?
- What elements of the poem serve to remind you that it is a vision from a dream?
- Underline each metaphor in the poem.
- Circle an example of an alliteration and a consonance in the poem.
- Highlight a personification in the poem.
Inaugural Poem Read and Respond
During the 2021 U.S. presidential inauguration, Amanda Gorman performed her spoken word poem “The Hill We Climb.” Not only was Gorman the National Youth Poet Laureate at the time of her reading, but she was also the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. Her poem, written with the theme of "America United," centers around life and challenges in the U.S. in the years leading up to the inauguration.
Read “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman. Then, answer these questions:
- What two historical events are the focus of this poem? Identify a reference in the poem to each event.
- Note a passage that contains alliteration, and explain the effect of this sound device on meaning and mood.
- What message does this poem express, and how do the closing lines direct readers to act?
Poetry Beyond April
Remember, these National Poetry Month activities do not need to end once April is over. Once your classroom has had time to explore poetry more in-depth over the course of the month, you can leave them with a short poetry portfolio of their own.
There are poetry competitions around the world that give cash prizes to middle and high school students for their writing. Having students research their own local competitions and submit their poems is a great way to encourage them to advocate for their voices to be heard.
HMH Into Literature was built to address the needs of today's teachers and equip students with the reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills required for success in tomorrow's world. Request a free digital sample of Into Literature today.
Download our FREE 2022–2023 calendar of activities!
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Home › Blog Topics › Online Poetry Activities for National Poetry Month
Online Poetry Activities for National Poetry Month
By Maureen Schlosser on 04/16/2020 • ( 2 )
16 Words: William Carlos Williams & “The Red Wheelbarrow”
Are you familiar with the poem “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams? I learned about this poem by reading 16 Words by Lisa Rogers and Chuck Groenink. This fascinating book is a real treasure, one that I highly recommend for your learning community. It’s a story about how Williams crafted “The Red Wheelbarrow.” Readers will discover how Williams turned his everyday observations into carefully worded poetry. He was a doctor who noticed the world around him as he walked to visit patients. He jotted his thoughts on paper between appointments and turned his notes into poetry during his off hours. A visit to one appointment in particular inspired him to write “The Red Wheelbarrow,” and this event is the focus of 16 Words .
There’s a quiet, calming tone to this book. The muted colors and the gentle pacing of the text welcome readers to take notice and look around. The story ends with the featured poem set in a landscape that highlights the verse.
Click here to watch author Lisa Rogers read her book at Wellesley Books. Invite learners to write their own 16-word poem about a significant object.
Here’s a 16-word poem I came up with while following Willams’s work:
so much depends on compelling picture books with evocative text and illustrations to notice and wonder
Daniel Finds a Poem
You are going to love this video of author Micha Archer reading her book Daniel Finds a Poem . Archer invites viewers to act out key points in the story as she reads. Each action is part of a cumulative poem that Daniel presents to an audience at the end of the story.
Invite learners to use the sights, sounds, and textures around them to define the meaning of poetry. I created a worksheet to guide learners as they compose a definition. The link to the worksheet is located at the bottom of the Online Reading and Worksheets page of Library Lessons.
More ideas for Daniel Finds a Poem can be found on Knowledge Quest . Here you’ll find lessons that support the Explore Shared Foundation .
If you need more ideas on how to teach poetry online, read “ 30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month at Home or Online” on the Poets.org website. This is a fabulous website with so much to offer. I highly recommend subscribing to their newsletters. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you can choose the newsletters you want sent to your e-mail.
How are you sharing poetry this month? I’d love to hear what you are doing! Please share in the comment box below.
Author: Maureen Schlosser
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Categories: Blog Topics , Collection Development , Student Engagement/ Teaching Models
Tags: pandemic resource , poems , poetry , poetry month
SO happy to find this! Not only is it a great resource for my Creative Writing group, but I am so thrilled to see Lisa Rogers reading her book! Thank you – great information!
Wow! Thank you so much, Maureen, for recognizing 16 WORDS! I do hope it inspires a closer look at the world around us, and an appreciation for the small things that can hold so much meaning. I love your poem! Picture books certainly are one of those small things that hold so much wonder, if we only look closely.
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Mud and Ink Teaching
12 New Poetry Lesson Plans for Secondary ELA
A fresh approach to teaching poetry:, 12 ideas to try during national poetry month.
When I was in high school, I was already convinced that I had found my life’s passion: becoming an English teacher. It was a no-brainer. My original love for teaching had been planted early in elementary school and only continued to grow as I got older and fell in love with yet another passion: literature and writing. You guys, I took EXTRA English classes in high school because I loved it so much and I even got to “student teach” for a senior lit class when I was a senior. I loved all of it, but looking back, I can still remember that one, dark shadow of doubt that lingered over my shoulder. POETRY. I sucked at poetry (I thought at the time, in those exact, teenage words). How could I ever get an English degree and teach English if I was so bad at poetry? I remember genuinely worrying about my inadequacies and the intimidation of confronting a poem on the page.
I recently took a survey on Instagram asking English teachers about their own fears teaching poetry. A shocking 58% told me that they shy away from teaching poetry because they doubt themselves and their own pedagogical practices. That’s a lot of teachers hanging out in the same boat feeling pretty discouraged about poetry in the classroom.
Luckily for me, I found poetry in college. It called me. The right professor at the right time impacted me in profound ways and poetry became my joy instead of my nightmare. For over a decade of teaching, I have made it my teaching focal point. To me, teaching poetry has become one of the most vital components to my curriculum and every year, it’s also the most memorable. Students remember scenes from novels we’ve read (sometimes), but they ALWAYS remember the poems we read and their experiences with those poems.
I have recently published an eBook to help teachers navigate this experience and I’m so excited to share it wth you! It’s called Teaching Poetry: Pedagogy and Best Practices inn the Secondary ELA Classroom. i’ve outlined tons of philosophy and suggestions for pairing poems with novels, themes, and skills. Check out a preview here !
If you’re not ready for a book, but you are ready to tackle some fresh, new ideas this upcoming National Poetry Month or during other parts of your school year, I gathered together some of the best poetry minds that I know out here in the teacher blogging community. Together, we’ve come up with twelve ideas to try during National Poetry Month and I’m ready to share them with you now!
COLLABORATE
Poetry offers unique opportunities for collaborative exercises in you classroom and online.
1. GROUP POEM VIDEOS
After spending a few years coaching my Louder Than a Bomb spoken word poetry team, I came to love watching, writing, and performing group poems. Pulling them off in the classroom can be difficult, but one fun alternative that I’ve found is to create a group poem VIDEO. First, students in their groups select a theme or choose a poem they’ve read that they’d like to imitate. For me, I like doing something with a pretty open ended structure like a “Where I’m From” poem, inspired by this original piece . Then, each student writes their own stanza. Next, the students read their stanzas and work together to decide how the poem best fits together. Students then record themselves reading their poem, either selfie-facing or filming something that goes along with the content of the poem. Students drop all of their video files into a Google Drive folder and using an easy video editing software (I like WeVideo and Adobe Spark), students stitch together their stanza videos to create a whole, new poem! Have a day set aside to watch and read everyone’s poems -- this is always a wonderful day in my classroom.
Some of my fabulously talented friends here on this blog post helped me out by creating a sample for you. Here is our “Where I’m From” poem, a poem by teachers, for teachers. I hope it inspires you and makes you feel all the silly, warm, tender, and ridiculousness that teaching is all about!
All school year long, we take language seriously, but when you dive into poetry, one of the best opportunities that you have is the chance to play! From small language activities to full on lass challenges, take this time to let students enjoy experimenting with language and being playful.
2. POETRY MARCH MADNESS
Want a sure-fire way to engage your middle and high school students in poetry? Try Poetry March Madness. Taking a page from the college basketball playbook, Poetry March Madness is easy to implement, and the competitive sports tie-in will get your students to buy into poetry!
Emily from Read it. Write it. Learn it. suggests starting with a Sweet 16 of poets. The Sweet 16 refers to the final 16 teams in college basketball who battle it out to make it to the Elite Eight, the Final Four, and finally the Championship round where one team is declared the best in College Basketball.
Poetry March Madness works the same way. Choose 16 poets to match up in brackets. Read one match up each day and have your students vote on the poet who will advance forward to the Elite Eight. Once in the Elite Eight, students can read the poems in new match ups to see who advances to the Final Four. Continue rereading poems and peeling back layers of meaning as poets enter new match ups and the champion poet is crowned!
The best part of Poetry March Madness is that it motivates students to deeply analyze poetry in a non-threatening, low-stakes context. Emily asks her students to rate poets on four categories: meaning and themes, form and structure, language, and mood. As students are examining poems and choosing the poet who will advance, they’re really participating in a higher level analysis of the poems. Students are also learning how to read poetry. When Emily kicks off March Madness, she spends the first few days modeling and teaching her students how to read poetry: students read poems more than once, the first time for the gist, the second time to begin peeling back the layers. They complete additional readings, annotating and working to unpack even more meaning.
Poetry March Madness will immerse your students in poetry, giving them daily poetry practice in a context they will love. Emily shares her best tips for implementing Poetry March Madness on her blog along with suggested match ups. Check it out here .
3. MIMIC POETRY
Another fun way to celebrate National Poetry Month is with mimic poetry, says Shana Ramin from Hello, Teacher Lady . Much like it sounds, the goal of mimic poetry is to intentionally imitate the structure and style of an already-established poem. It’s a super simple, low-prep activity that can easily stand alone or complement an existing unit.
Not only can mimic poetry help students develop a more critical poetic eye, but it can also encourage them to step outside their comfort zones in terms of writing. In Shana’s experience, the low-stakes nature of mimic poetry can be especially helpful for students who may feel nervous about, or even averse to, the idea of writing their own poems.
To create a mimic poem, students begin by performing a close read of their mentor poem — making note of specific elements such as stanzas, line breaks, rhyming patterns, and syllable count. Once students have a firm grasp on their mentor poem’s structure and style, they can begin brainstorming ideas for their own. Shana recommends creating a collaborative poem as a class first, especially if your students don’t have a ton of experience analyzing or writing poetry yet.
While just about any mentor poem can be used for this, Shana loves to kick off the month with “April Rain Song” by Langston Hughes . It’s short and sweet, but packed with tons of literary and poetic devices.
Another way to approach poetry this April is to think about the opportunities it affords us to DIG into deeper thematic subjects and even get acquainted with a wider diversity of authors. We can’t read an entire globe’s worth of novels in one school year, but we certainly can dig into more culture and more experiences with poems. Poetry offers layers of understanding and chances for students to work in small groups, digging together to find their own shades of truth. Take a look!
4. CONNECT TO SOCIAL JUSTICE
Tanesha from Love Tanesha uses poetry to engage students in social justice issues. While she usually aligns this unit with National Poetry Month, this idea can be used at any point in the year. The concept of freedom extends beyond the topic of a given poem. Poetry is the language of the free that liberates students from the confines of other genres.
Tanesha starts the unit by discussing key terms and concepts that will provide students access to analyzing and creating poems that connect to social justice. She starts with defining the terms justice, injustice, equity, power, and racism. She holds space for students to share examples from events either past or present that have centered on justice. Note: This is a heavy content area that teachers should unpack for themselves and provide boundaries for discussion. In the spirit of poetry being a free art form, Tanesha emphasizes how the real and raw emotions from social justice oriented movements can serve as catalyst poems which has been true in the past. Additionally, students might have experienced some form of injustice, so be mindful and plan accordingly.
The second component invites students to engage with a poem using a social justice lens. For the last component, students complete a free write as a start to creating their own social justice poem. Teachers can increase requirements by having students incorporate elements of poetry in their writing.
This is a multi-layered activity that creates a beautiful bond between poetic analysis, inspiration, and creation. Check out this post with more specifics on the activity.
5. USE A VARIETY OF AUTHORS
Poetry is beautiful and engaging, but some students might find the concepts intimidating. Lauralee from ELA Classroom admits, “Poetry once intimidated me, and I don’t want students to feel overwhelmed with poetry. To begin lessons, I front load information. I cover definitions and examples through videos, textbooks, and songs. Before we begin actual poems, I send out a simple Google Form that asks students to gauge where they are in their understanding. If students are confused, I will try a more straight-forward approach. If students simply have a few questions, I will provide targeted practice or examples.”
She then says it’s time to dive into poetry together. With younger students who maybe have not read much poetry, Lauralee suggests using a variety of authors to illustrate common poetic devices. With older students, ask them to find the poetry for the class. Students can then submit poems, the teacher reads through them, and then as a class, complete graphic organizers or one-pagers and study them together.
Because many poems are short, poetry lends itself to station work. Students interact with each other, and teachers can rotate to clarify confusion. With longer poems, you could jigsaw the pieces and ask students to present their analyses. Teaching poetry for the first time can be intimidating, but by providing various learning opportunities and asking for student feedback, you will reach all students.
6. POETRY COMIC STRIPS
Staci Lamb from The Engaging Station loves all things poetry, especially living poets. This year, she had the opportunity to read a collection of poetry by Alakkuu ( @alakkuu ), a poet from Washington D.C., and he even offered to come perform for the students for free!
Her student teacher had a great idea for working with the poems. His collection, wet grass vanilla , details the experiences of love and heartbreak, and all that happens in between.
Students worked in small groups to each cover a chapter of the collection. Then, they had to create an image that represented or captured an element of that poem. They had to cite at least one line from the poem in their drawing and focus on the strategies that Alakkuu used in his work. In the end, each group created what looked like comic strips that detailed the progression of the relationship.
Want to see some amazing examples and slides from the lesson? Check out this Instagram post! . his idea helps students process the poetry, analyze the strategies, work collaboratively, create visual representations of the poems! :)
All too often, we are convinced that poetry needs to be in the curriculum for analysis purposes. Think again! Poetry is a wonderful mentor text for all kinds of writing skills, and allowing students the chance to create something new with language. Here are some great ideas for getting students out of the analysis seat and into the driver’s seat, instead.
7. TWO-VOICE WHERE I’M FROM POETRY
Where I’m From poems can be a great addition to your classroom! They require the writer to reflect on important sayings, foods, and family traditions that are important to who they are. Have your students begin brainstorming with an Identity Web where they can capture personal qualities, people that have influenced them, and places that are special. Then, using a template like this or their own style, students can craft their very own Where I’m From poem. If your students have already written a Where I’m From poem, have them take on the perspective of a character from a book you’re reading!
Staci over at Donut Lovin’ Teacher loves Where I’m From poems and even has her students add an extra layer to these already awesome poems. She has students recite them aloud--not alone, but as two voice poetry. In other words, students alternate between sharing lines or stanzas. Hearing the shift in student voice is extremely powerful and helps to highlight similarities as well as unique qualities! Click here to read her full post on two voice poetry .
8. BLACKOUT POETRY
One way that Christina, The Daring English Teacher , loves to incorporate creativity and excitement into her poetry unit is by assigning students a blackout poetry project.
Blackout poetry has quite a few benefits for students. First, it provides students with an opportunity to do some close reading. Afterall, your students will need to read the passage to find specific words that jump out. Secondly, when creating a blackout poem, students get to expand their creativity by creating a work of art that goes beyond your standard poetry analysis.
An easy way to incorporate blackout poetry into any novel unit you are currently working on is to spend a day or two with some photocopied pages of the novel. Teachers can also require that the blackout poem be related to the central idea or theme of the text.
9. DIAMANTE POEMS
Ashley Bible of Building Book Love believes that National Poetry Month should be treated like Black History Month , Women’s History Month , Native American Heritage Month , and the like in that the poetry activities you use this month should be for extra celebration rather than a single month use. In fact, one of the most important reasons to integrate poetry into every ELA unit is to ensure ALL students see diverse experts and creatives throughout their entire ELA experience. Because of their short, powerful, rich, and diverse nature, poems provide the perfect opportunity to pair classic literature with contemporary voices. Ashley lists and explains several creative ways to integrate poetry by embedding it into your ELA curriculum in this post : Teaching Poetry within Curriculum Context ,but for one quick idea, here is an example. Instead of assigning students to write a traditional compare or contrast reading response, have them create a Diamante Poem to show what they know.
A Diamante Poem follows an exact pattern and can be used for either synonyms (compare or explain) or antonyms (compare and contrast). It was invented by female author , Iris McClellan Tiedt in 1969 , and its name is Italian for “diamond.” A Diamante Poem is 7 lines long and follows this pattern:
Adjective, Adjective
Verb, Verb, Verb
Noun, Noun, Noun, Noun
Here are two examples to spark ideas for how you can use this poetry activity instead of a traditional reading response.
You can find several other poetry activity ideas here: Teaching Poetry within Curriculum Context
A fresh way to think about poetry in your curriculum is to consider the ways in which it reaches across subjects, time periods, music, and even film. Here are three ideas to help you use poetry to make connections.
10. MUSIC & POETRY
Our students are so connected to their music (just one scan around the classroom and you’ll likely see AirPods and Beats blasting music), yet when we bring up poetry, they often fail to see the connection. That’s why Jenna from Doc Cop Teaching emphasizes the connection between music and poetry with task cards or learning stations.
Here are some question ideas to get you started:
What type of figurative language is used, and what is the effect?
What type of sound devices (e.g. repetition, alliteration, consonance, assonance, rhyme, etc.)are used, and what is the effect?
What influenced the author to write this song?
What personal connections do you have to this song?
What type of imagery is used, and what is the effect?
Using this activity is a great starter so students can explore the connection between lyrics and poetry for themselves and not just take your word for it. Students can play their songs and share their analyses as an extension.Music is only one connection that we can use to channel our students interests.
Jenna has five other poetry ideas here .
11. DIVERGENT THINKING WITH POETRY ANALYSIS
Students always seem to be more engaged when you throw an unexpected element into the learning process. With poetry, Melissa from Reading and Writing Haven does this in a couple different ways.
One strategy is to have students analyze poetry through the lens of music. Using a metaphor - a sound equalizer - students color code and visually map the tone and mood throughout a poem. It’s engaging and leads to deeper understanding of how the poet’s unique style impacts the reader.
The second way Melissa encourages divergent thinking is by pairing poetry with short films for a completely unexpected paired text analysis experience. Animated short films always draw interest, and, by nature, they lend themselves well to thematic connections. This list of five poems and short film pairings will save you time getting started!
12. OPENING WITH SCAFFOLDING
Poetry can be tough to teach, and it’s no secret that many students come to us claiming to *gasp* “hate” it. While this can feel discouraging for any poetry fan, it’s important to address and validate this fear of poetry at the beginning of any poetry unit. That’s why Abby from Write on With Miss G likes to give her students the chance to discuss their feelings toward poetry. She encourages her students to get their feelings out while assuring them she will not be offended as an English teacher. Accepting these loaded feelings is much more productive than trudging through a poetry unit annoyed at students’ attitudes. Ultimately, these feelings and discussions are very helpful in pinpointing why students dislike poetry, where they may struggle, how to scaffold, and what you can do to engage students.
After listening to students’ concerns, Abby likes to start her poetry unit with lots of scaffolding (like this “how to read a poem” brochure ) and high engagement (with activities like this poetic devices question trail or this poetry escape room ).
Validating students’ fears, providing support, and adding in engagement will go a long way in making sure your poetry unit reaches all students (even the ones who “hate” poetry).
BONUS 13. PERSONA POEMS FOR ANY SUBJECT
A persona poem is the perfect poem type to use when you need to reach different time periods, different subjects, or different areas of the learning outside of English. Essentially, in a persona poem, students assume the PERSONA of a person or object other than themselves.
When teaching OMAM (which I will affectionately be using as a nickname for Of Mice and Men from here on out), it’s critical that we provide students with some context about the time, place, and economic circumstances in the 20s and 30s. Find an opportunity to allow students to browse some of Dorothea Lange’s famous photography and take note of the circumstances, emotions, and tone of the photographs.
With their notes, introduce students to PERSONA poetry: poetry written in the voice (or persona) of someone other than the poet himself. Have students write a 20 line poem taking on the persona of one of the people (or a collection of people) that struck them in the photographs. This is a very cool way to start pretty much any unit that has relevant contextual background photography possibilities, so feel free to repeat all year long!
For more poetry activities that reach different areas of your classroom, be sure to grab a copy of my eBook !
Ready to give slam poetry a try?
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Poetry Month activities for your classroom
- April 8, 2022
- Flocabulary Team
- Implementation , Lessons and Ideas
Not only does April bring showers, but also poetry month activities . Poetry is a genre that’s a jack of all trades. The friend who fits in at any lunch table. Its wonders never cease to amaze. Need to teach how fluency matters? Poetry’s here for you – helping readers practice tone, pitch, and volume. Want to help with phonemic awareness? Poetry has rhyme, alliteration, syllable patterns, and assonance to aid young students just by listening. Wish to expand the writing of your students? Poetry pushes writers to elevate their style, asking for figurative language, expansive vocabulary, and imagery.
If nothing else, poetry should be taught to students because it reflects the world around us. Poetry has a cultural impact. From epic Greek poems to the Harlem Renaissance, poetry provides glimpses into feelings and ideas felt at the time by real people who lived it. Because of poetry’s importance, using words to sketch our lives and connect us all, what better resource for teachers to use than that of technology? Technology grants all learners access to poetry. Whether it’s through a variety of mediums such as videos, pictures, or audio recordings to text accessibility features that read poems to students who may not be able to read otherwise. Technology helps make poetry more understandable.
This list of poetry month activities is perfect for any elementary, middle, or high school classroom wanting to incorporate digital poetry activities using Nearpod, Flocabulary, or both in fun and immersive ways!
Poetry Month Activities: Flocabulary + Nearpod
1. poetry concepts.
One of the most helpful resources for teaching students poetry concepts is Flocabulary . We often perceive poetry as lofty and complicated. However, Flocabulary’s video and lesson library makes teaching poetry relatable to students. Flocabulary’s videos are engaging and even mimic slam poetry. Not only that, Flocabulary has videos to help new poets understand the craft and structure of poetry. There’s videos for figurative language, alliteration and assonance , personification , similes and metaphors , hyperbole , and descriptive language .
Flocabulary offers poetry activities perfect for middle school and teaching high school poetry. There are lesson plans, handouts, vocabulary games and cards, quizzes, and a rhyme generator. Everything you need to teach engaging poetry lessons is ready and waiting!
2. Vocabulary’s role in poetry
Writing poetry is all about purposeful word choice and surfaces rich discussions on vocabulary by readers everywhere. Through learning about figurative language, all students can practice using academic vocabulary in less traditional concepts to showcase complex meanings.
With Flocabulary’s focus on vocabulary in every lesson , teachers can use hip-hop videos and their supporting activities to learn about vocabulary and develop a deep understanding of academic terminology.
Start discussions about poetry by learning the vocabulary used in the structure of poems with the figurative language lesson. Students watch the video to introduce the vocabulary and follow it with supporting activities that deepen their understanding of the terms along the way.
3. Write poetry using Lyric Lab
The Lyric Lab activity gives students the opportunity to create their own rhymes using the academic vocabulary covered in the accompanied Flocabulary lesson. You can assign a Lyric Lab for students to complete or they can independently create their own rhymes simply by logging into their student account and selecting Lyric Lab for any lesson.
Students can use these poetry month activities to write poems about any topic across the K-12 curriculum. Although Lyric Lab can be used to write a rap about a topic, students can also take those same lessons and tools to create poetry.
With Lyric Lab , students are developing the deepest level of understanding of vocabulary terms in a lesson. Students use the vocabulary terms that surfaced in a lesson to write about that topic. This is a great mnemonic device to help students reflect and showcase their own personal understanding that they can use throughout the whole lesson unit.
Here’s how you can use Lyric Lab’s built-in rhyme-generator to help students find rhymes as they write:
- 1. Flocabulary’s video and Lyric Lab activity are perfect for an introductory lesson. Choose a lesson from the library. Let’s use the Hyperbole lesson as an example.
- 2. Students watch the lesson video, which includes engaging visuals and catchy rhymes about this poetic concept, individually or as a class.
- 3. Students can then click on the Lyric Lab section of the Hyperbole lesson.
- 4. Lyric Lab will have a list of relevant vocabulary used in the video for students to use to create their own rhymes.
- 5. As they type their rhymes, Lyric Lab will generate words they can use to rhyme in their next line.
- 6. Once their lyrics are complete, students can select one of Flocabulary’s beats to go along with their song.
- 7. Have students submit a video or voice recording of their final song, or have the class perform their masterpieces to each other!
After students create their own lyrics explaining what a hyperbole is, it can be used as a guide for students to write their own poems with hyperbole or even read poems where they have to find examples of hyperbole. Some great famous poem examples to include in your poetry month activities are “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth, or “My Heart Beats for You” by Kelly Roper.
While students can write poetry about any topic in Flocabulary, they can also watch the What is Poetry , Types of Poetry , and Rhyme & Rhythm lessons to support their knowledge of poetry in general. Teachers can share these lessons about poetry with students and ask them to write a poem about any topic in any core subject area. Historical figures are a teacher favorite for poetry writing with Lyric Lab.
4. Meet common core standards by performing poetry
Speaking and listening standards appear across many grade levels, with students being asked to perform speeches orally and understand and practice active listening skills. While writing poetry can help support vocabulary acquisition and deep understanding, performing poetry will help teachers meet some speaking and listening standards as well.
Poetry’s short nature also helps students who are easily overwhelmed with lengthy writing assignments or those nervous about public speaking. When students share poetry aloud they can experience figurative language and all its parts in new and interesting ways.
5. Poetry Slam
Why not let students share their poetry by hosting class slam poetry sessions? Poetry is meant to be read aloud. It evokes feelings, which can be felt when spoken. Poetry slams are beneficial not only with writing, but also reading fluency.
Lyric Lab can be tied to any poetry lesson. It’s a helpful introduction to help students fully grasp poetry concepts, styles, and vocabulary. Students make it their own instead of teachers lecturing definitions they may not understand. This ensures they understand and showcase what they’ve learned.
Mixing Flocabulary and Nearpod with slam poetry are great digital poetry activities. Flocabulary’s videos not only teach concepts, but also what slam poetry sounds like. Poetry is meant to be read aloud. Pick a Flocabulary video for students to emulate a poetry slam and add it to the Nearpod lesson. Then, include activities for students to create poetry to participate in a poetry slam. Flipgrid is a great resource for students to record themselves reading their poetry and submitting to the slam. Students can also use Collaborate Board on Nearpod instead to slam their poetry by submitting videos. Students listen to slam poetry through Flocabulary and then emulate it with Nearpod.
6. Pick a Poet
Pick a Poet is an activity among our list of poetry month activities which gives students freedom to choose a poet to learn about and emulate his or her poetic style. Flocabulary has a library full of videos about poets – Maya Angelou , William Shakespeare , Langston Hughes , and Emily Dickinson to name a few. Assign students a famous poet or style of poetry to mimic, or even better, let students choose what interests them.
Create lessons in Nearpod along with activities and videos from Flocabulary. Students learn about the poet’s life, style, and impact on poetry. Or, learn about that particular poetic style. They then create their own poems and even present information about that poet to the class.
7. Music as Poetry
Music and poetry share a timeless relationship. In the past, poems were often sung, so why not teach poetry using music ? For teaching poetry in high school, you can create lessons in Nearpod and Flocabulary demonstrating the close relationship between poetry and music, adding digital poetry activities for students to complete along the way like matching pairs to review terms and concepts. Students pick lyrics from their favorite song or artist and analyze it through the lens of poetry. If students already studied different poetic styles, they can try to analyze what style of poetry that song would work in and why – evaluating rhythm, poetic devices, themes, etc..
8. Magnetic Poetry and Poetry Frames
Of all the poetry month activities, magnetic poems and poetry frames are adaptable for many grade levels. Nearpod’s Drag and Drop feature allows teachers to create digital magnetic poems . Use this tool to have students enter words or phrases to create their own poems. By having students drag text or images in a Drag and Drop, they can create more descriptive poems. Teachers can add higher level vocabulary words or simple decodable words depending on students’ abilities.
Poetry Frames are another excellent source of inspiration for young writers. These graphic organizers
can easily get students started writing their own poems. Teachers can create their own frames or upload premade ones into the Drag and Drop background. Help students model lymmerics or even sonnets.
9. Concrete Poetry (Visual Poetry)
Poetry is filled to the brim with imagery and pictures are great resources to spark ideas. Try these poetry month activities to incorporate visual imagery into poetry:
- Using the Draw It tool in your Nearpod lesson, students can create their own concrete poems, which are poems that take the shape of their topic.
- Teachers can upload PDFs of poem examples to accompany directions. Use poems by Jack Prelutsky or Shel Silverstein for a fun twist.
- Create a lesson where students can choose their own visual to inspire a poem. They can then write their poem using the Draw It or Open-Ended Question tool. This grants more creative freedom for students to take their poetry to new and interesting places.
Students then write concrete poems directly into the lesson . Not only can teachers upload pictures into the Draw It activity, but students can also upload their own images.
10. Shared Poetry using the Collaborate Board
Good ideas often come with a little help. Shared poetry gives writers an extra boost. Using the Collaborate Board activity, the class develops shared class poetry . Creating a shared poetry lesson in Nearpod is quick, simple, and impactful with these steps:
- In Nearpod, you can click on “Create Lesson” and then choose “Collaborate board” activity.
- Then, type into the directions box your lesson topic. The beauty of this activity is that teachers have total control over the prompt – being as specific or broad as is necessary while still fostering creativity. Add a simple visual image as a reference image to allow for multiple interpretations or give detailed directions/ instructional aids for students to mimic certain poetic styles or devices.
- Assign your shared poetry lesson to students by sharing the lesson code with students. So much flexibility is given that teachers can allow students to add to the shared poem individually or work in groups.
- The whole class sees what’s being contributed to the poem in real time. It’s a great opportunity to discuss ideas and share thinking, even sharing comments.
Collaborate Board’s design layout allows students to add audio recordings and videos! Results are unexpected but wholly unique and diverse. The real trick is to pick broad topics while also being relatable. Themes like love, friendship, or nature give room for interpretation but not too broad to disconnect students.
Spring brings with it growth, and these poetry month activities can be expanded and modified to fit in with any teacher’s lessons. April is the perfect month to teach the importance of poetry with enjoyable lessons that allow students creative freedom. After all, that’s what poetry is all about feeling and expression.
Interested in reading more about this topic? Check out this blog post: Power in Poems: Engaging students with poetry instruction
- 5 Activities to Celebrate William Shakespeare’s Birthday
- 10 ways to use Flocabulary at the end of the year
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National Poetry Month in April is a special occasion to celebrate the importance of poets and poetry in our culture. 30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month in the Classroom Explore ways to celebrate in the classroom. Explore ways to celebrate National Poetry Month while social distancing ...
National Poetry Month in April is a special occasion to celebrate the importance of poets and... Annual Gala Poetry & the Creative Mind Each year during National Poetry Month in April, the Academy of American Poets presents a... #NationalPoetryMonth Get the Official Poster Participate Where You Live Poem in Your Pocket Day
National Poetry Month celebrates poems and poets with annual events taking place nationwide in April. Established by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, the goal is to increase the visibility of the poetic form, as well as to increase access to it. Here are some of our favorite resources and program ideas to get your library ready.
Haikubes are perfect for all sorts of poetry games. Roll the cubes and create a haiku, or draw a handful from a bag and use them to make your poem. You can use these for other poetry activities too. Buy it: Haikubes on Amazon 24. Craft 3-D tunnel haiku books Haikus are fun to write, but a 3-D tunnel haiku book is next-level awesome.
4 Fun Poetry Month Activities for the School Library Last Updated on April 20, 2022 by Laura April is National Poetry Month, so of course it's a great time for some poetry activities in your school library. I really love to take advantage of these types of themes to create fun events in the library.
Here are 30 ways to celebrate National Poetry Month. Dear Poet This multimedia education project invites young people in grades five through twelve to write letters in response to poems written and read by some of the award-winning poets who serve on the Academy of American Poets board.
Classroom Activity. In honor of National Poetry Month, introduce your students to a variety of poetic forms. Assign one or two students each day as "poet of the day" for the month of April. Then provide students with several models for creating different forms of poetry. You might use Theme Poems, Acrostic Poems, Diamante Poems, or other Poetry ...
These 10 activities make it easy and fun to Celebrate National Poetry Month in the classroom. 1. Sign up for Poem a Day Get a new free poem in your inbox each day with Poem a Day. This event, sponsored by poets.org introduces you to new, contemporary poets. April's collection is curated by award winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye. 2.
Get the most out of your National Poetry Month (April) with some enjoyable, totally doable, and fun poetry-related activities.
This list of poetry month activities is perfect for any elementary, middle, or high school classroom wanting to incorporate digital poetry activities using Nearpod, Flocabulary, or both in fun and immersive ways! Poetry Month Activities: Nearpod 1. Magnetic Poetry and Poetry Frames
By Marilyn Pryle. April is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate, here are five fun poetry activities students can try. Each of these is not only skills-based, but creative and meaningful. The first two work best as individual assignments, the third and fourth can be done either alone or in partners, and the last is a fun whole-class activity.
National Poetry Month is celebrated across America each April. This literary event is celebrated to show appreciation and love for the art form that is poetry. Schools, colleges, and libraries take part in lots of activities throughout April to celebrate National Poetry Month.
The entire month of April is devoted to National Poetry Month, although it's actually coming on the heels of World Poetry Day which is celebrated globally in late March. April 1 is set aside as National Poetry Day here in the US, kicking off the month-long festivities. Why Do We Celebrate National Poetry Month?
April Is National Poetry Month - Poetry Workshops, Writing Prompts, and Videos | Scholastic.com Interactive Poetry-Making Machine Books From The Teacher Store FEATURED RESOURCES Use the Teacher Book Wizard to create your own themed book lists, find and level books, and get teaching resources. Related Book Lists Poetry for Grades K-2
Amanda Gorman Collaboration Portrait Poster - 2 options included plus bonus materials. These activities are intended to complement/supplement any lesson on Amanda Gorman and are great to support your poetry lessons/units. This project is great for celebrating Women's History Month, Black History Month, and Poetry Month.
National Poetry Month Activities And Teaching Resources National Poetry Month was first celebrated in 1996 as an initiative by the Academy of American Poets. Their goal was to spread awareness about the important role that poetry has played in our culture.
A guide to the World of Shel Silverstein for parents, educators, and librarians—create a Shelebration moment with young readers. Whether you're reading Shel Silverstein's poems with your children, using his books to celebrate Poetry Month, or planning a Shelebration event at your home, school, or library, we have the resources you need to engage kids in Shel's extraordinary world.
National Poetry Month is celebrated in April each year and is an opportune time to explore this writing style more in-depth with your middle or high school students. With the following poetry month activities and lesson plans, broaden your students' understanding of what poetry is and how it is written. National Poetry Month Lesson Plans and Ideas
Online Poetry Activities for National Poetry Month. By Maureen Schlosser on 04/16/2020 • ( 2 ) National Poetry Month is celebrated in April to remind us that poetry matters. Poetry can offer solace during trying moments, and now might be the time to show our learners how that works. Below are some lesson ideas that might inspire learners to ...
Poetry offers layers of understanding and chances for students to work in small groups, digging together to find their own shades of truth. Take a look! 4. CONNECT TO SOCIAL JUSTICE Tanesha from Love Tanesha uses poetry to engage students in social justice issues.
Of all the poetry month activities, magnetic poems and poetry frames are adaptable for many grade levels. Nearpod's Drag and Drop feature allows teachers to create digital magnetic poems. Use this tool to have students enter words or phrases to create their own poems. By having students drag text or images in a Drag and Drop, they can create ...