ReadWriteThink: April 1, 2009: April is National Poetry Month!

April 1, 2009

		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. image © 2009 by The Academy of American Poets

April is National Poetry Month!

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 Shape Poems, Acrostic Poems, Diamante Poems, or Instant Poetry Forms 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.

Lesson Plans

Poetry Portfolios: Using Poetry to Teach Reading and Writing
In this ReadWriteThink lesson, young students use a weekly poem to explore meaning, sentence structure, rhyming words, sight words, vocabulary, and print concepts.

Composing Cinquain Poems with Basic Parts of Speech
In this ReadWriteThink lesson for grades 3–5, students read, interpret, and then compose cinquain poetry.

Using Classic Poetry to Challenge and Enrich Students’ Writing
In this unit from ReadWriteThink, middle school students imitate a range of poetic styles to develop their own voice and deepen their appreciation of poetry.

Is a Sentence a Poem?
This lesson from ReadWriteThink encourages students in grades 9–12 to analyze one-sentence poems and then apply their analyses to their own descriptive sentences.

Web Links

National Poetry Month
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.

Word Mover
In this interactive tool from ReadWriteThink, students can move individual words to create original poems.

Writing With Writers: Poetry
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.

Favorite Poem Project
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.

Texts

O’Connor, John S. 2004. Wordplaygrounds: Reading, Writing, and Performing Poetry in the English Classroom. NCTE.
This book suggests fun, high-interest activities to demystify poetry in middle school and high school classrooms.

Israel, Susan, ed. 2006. Poetic Possibilities. IRA.
Each poem in this anthology of literacy-themed poems is accompanied by a prompt and literacy application, as well as resources for further exploration.

Powell, Joseph and Mark Halperin. 2004. Accent on Meter: A Handbook for Readers of Poetry. NCTE.
This book offers practical ways of teaching high school students about the close connections between the meaning, rhythm, and meter in poetry.

Tiedt, Iris McClellan. 2002. Tiger Lilies, Toadstools, and Thunderbolts: Engaging K–8 Students With Poetry . IRA.
This creative resource for kindergarten through eighth grade is packed with resources to create a classroom that invites children to experience poetry and write original verse.