Yes, April is poetry month! Of course, you never need to wait until April to focus on poetry but having a month that is shared by other ELA teachers and students provides a great time to engage with other classes in your city, province, country, or internationally. Broaden your poetry audience by reading your poems to other classes via Skype or YouTube. Create a Ning of poetry lovers. Start a poetry cafe at noon or recess. Since it is April, you can even hold these outside in the spring air, a great atmosphere for poetic inspiration.
I found, in my own teaching, middle-school students wrote some wonderful poems. I was particularly inspired by student poems: (1) Ode to a Soccer Ball (by Jeff) and (2) Spring's First Worm (by Wenda). Their poetry came from the things that inspired them to think about energy and beauty.
Teaching ideas for poetry month abound. Take a look at the links on the side of this blog for your own inspiration. Also, here are some additional lesson plan ideas (click to download):
“Portals Into Poetry: Using Generative Writing Groups to Facilitate Student Engagement With Word Art” by Linda Young
“The Poetry Café Is Open! Teaching Literary Devices of Sound in Poetry Writing” by Beth Kovalcik and Janine L. Certo
“Alliteration All Around,” a lesson plan by Rebecca Olien
I found, in my own teaching, middle-school students wrote some wonderful poems. I was particularly inspired by student poems: (1) Ode to a Soccer Ball (by Jeff) and (2) Spring's First Worm (by Wenda). Their poetry came from the things that inspired them to think about energy and beauty.
Teaching ideas for poetry month abound. Take a look at the links on the side of this blog for your own inspiration. Also, here are some additional lesson plan ideas (click to download):
“Portals Into Poetry: Using Generative Writing Groups to Facilitate Student Engagement With Word Art” by Linda Young
“The Poetry Café Is Open! Teaching Literary Devices of Sound in Poetry Writing” by Beth Kovalcik and Janine L. Certo
“Alliteration All Around,” a lesson plan by Rebecca Olien
