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Lesson Plans
Acrostic Poems: All About Me and My Favorite Things
Offer K–2 students the chance to share poems about themselves by writing two free-verse acrostic poems using the letters in their names and things that are important to them.
Shape Poems: Writing Extraordinary Poems About Ordinary Objects
In this lesson, students in grades 3–5 learn the characteristics and format of shape poems and write their own shape poems using the online Shape Poems tool.
Slipping, Sliding, Tumbling: Reinforcing Cause and Effect Through Diamante Poems
This lesson introduces middle school students to diamante poems and then asks them to create cause and effect diamante poems.
A Poem of Possibilities: Thinking about the Future
Inspired by John Updike’s poem “Ex-Basketball Player,” high school students write poems or prose poems intended for a real audience—themselves, five years in the future.
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Web Links
Poem in Your Pocket Day
Part of Poets.org (online home of the Academy of American Poets), the Poem in Your Pocket Day page features the history of the event and ideas for celebrating—including a list of poems about pockets!
Poetry 180: A Poem a Day for American High Schools
Billy Collins, former US Poet Laureate, encourages students to take daily pleasure and inspiration from the collection of poems on this Library of Congress site. In addition to the 180 poems, Collins offers advice on reading poems aloud.
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.
Poetry Archive
The Poetry Archive uses digital recordings of a diverse range of poems to help make poetry accessible, relevant, and enjoyable to a wide audience. The site features historic and contemporary recordings and offers resources for students, teachers, and librarians.
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Texts
Bleakney, Elaine, ed. 2009. Poem In Your Pocket: 200 Poems to Read and Carry. Abrams Image.
Published in conjunction with The Academy of American Poets and with an introduction by U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan, this uniquely formatted collection features poems you can tear from the book and take with you.
Tiedt, Iris McClellan. 2002. Tiger Lilies, Toadstools, and Thunderbolts: Engaging K–8 Students With Poetry. IRA.
This creative resource is packed with activities to create a classroom that invites children of all ages to experience poetry and write original verse.
Ambrosini, Michelle, and Teresa M. Morretta. 2003. Poetry Workshop for Middle School: Activities That Inspire Meaningful Language Learning. IRA.
Backed with research and the authors’ own classroom observation, this book shows teachers how to design classroom workshops—and presents activities as well as objectives, procedures, student samples, and poems.
Dunning, Stephen, and William Stafford. 1992. Getting the Knack: 20 Poetry Writing Exercises. NCTE.
This humorous and delightful manual of 20 exercises, each covering different types or phases of poetry writing, will appeal to a wide range of student poets in grades 6–12.
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April 29, 2009
Share a poem with everyone you meet tomorrow. As part of New York City’s celebration of National Poetry Month, residents have participated in Poem in Your Pocket Day since 2002. Now the movement has gone national! Select a poem or compose an original work and carry it with you in your pocket all day tomorrow, sharing the poem and the fun of National Poetry Month wherever you go.
