April is National Poetry Month an one of my favorites. This is a great month to easily connect your reading and writing workshop lessons and immerse your students in a specific genre of writing. The other thing that makes poetry my favorite is that it is accessible to all ages. It's fun to read, fun to write and there are so many resources out there for you to bring into the classroom.
Packing the month with poetry reading and writing will build students' skills in so many different areas. I've seen younger elementary students benefit from using rhythm and rhyme where they're practicing identifying blends and digraphs and then transferring that knowledge into writing our own poems. Upper elementary students can discover ways that poets create vivid imagery and practice expressing their ideas in a new format. Poetry also has the benefit of energizing reluctant writers because it is such a different way of writing from the narratives and non-fiction writing emphasized through much of the year.
I have two favorite activities for Poetry month that I will definitely bring to my forever classroom. The first is the Great Poetry Race. I used this last Spring with second graders and you should have seen their enthusiasm for poetry...and the honor of having a plastic trophy on their desk! The goal is for students to practice reading fluency by reading a poem a week out loud to family and friends. To hold a "Great Poetry Race" in your classroom, all you need is simple, kid-friendly poems for each week of April. Print a poem on the front with lines for recording signatures on the back. Students take the poems around and read them out loud to anyone and everyone and the student who receives the most signatures by the end of the week will be the winner of the race for that week and get the honor of having a trophy on their desk. Such a simple idea and you won't believe how much they read!
Another wonderful way to celebrate National Poetry Month is by creating a "Poet-tree." While this is hardly a unique idea, sometimes the old ideas are the best. Create a bare branched tree to hang in the hallway or in the classroom and then encourage students to fill the tree with "leaves": leaf-shaped paper with poems of their own creation. Students love being able to add things to the classroom environment. It's great for self-expression and it allows students to show you what they learned after you teach different styles of poetry. Talk about a great assessment and student-centered learning!
Enjoy celebrating National Poetry Month with your students! Some of my favorite books for the month are: Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, Goodnight Moon, anything by Dr. Seuss or Bill Martin Jr. Whatever poetry resources you use, students can always benefit from having more poetry in their life.
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