Six Ways to Celebrate Poetry Month in the Classroom

Did you know that according to poets.org, National Poetry Month is actually the biggest literary celebration in the world?

It’s never too early to start fostering a love of the English language with your students, and there’s no better time to begin than Poetry Month! Following are some great ways that you can celebrate poetry with your students.

Bio Poem

Each student chooses one of each of the numbers below to include in their poem. They can choose how they want to fill in the blanks. If there are two of the same number (example: 3a and 3b), they can choose which of those prompts they want to answer, but they must choose only one. They can choose to write an autobiographical poem or interview a partner and write a poem about them.

1. __________ (Your first name)
2. ________, _________, and _________(Three words that describe you)
3.  a. Son or daughter of _________________ (Your parents’ names)
   b. Brother or sister of _________________ (Your sibling’s names)
4. Who loves _______, ________, and  _______ (Three things you love)
5. Who feels ________ about ________ (One emotion and one thing)
6.  a. Who gives _______, ________, and _______ (Three objects you share)
   b. Who needs ______, _______, and ________ (Three things you need)
7. Who fears _______, ________, and _______ (Three things you fear)
8. Who’d like to see _________ (One place or person you’d like to see)
9.  a. Who dreams of _________ (One item or idea)
   b. Who wishes for _________ (One item or idea)
10. A student of ___________ (Your school or teacher’s name)
11. __________ (Your last name)

Morning Message

For an interactive Morning Message, ask students to add examples of figurative language that are sometimes used in poetry such as:

• Simile
• Metaphor
• Personification
• Alliteration
• Onomatopoeia

Mix and Mingle

Using an Interactive Learning Structure, have students highlight a sentence and a word in a selected poem, and then mix and mingle and share with their classmates.

Color Poem Scavenger Hunt for Spring

Take writers on a scavenger hunt outside to write “five senses similes” for spring. For example, “Green smells like cut grass; green looks like tulip leaves; green feels like fresh air”, etc.

Four Corners

• Select a poem for your students to read.
• Pose a question to your students about the poem, and provide four possible responses. Designate one corner of the room for each response.
• Have students move to the corner of their choice.
• In the corners, students will discuss the response their corner represents. They can do this as a small group or in pairs.

Grouping students according to their preferences or opinions can spark discussions, help them reflect about a variety of topics, and give them a chance to share ideas on the topics they care about.

Dramatic Reading

• Read an entire poem to the class, pointing to each word. Then have students read the poem aloud with you. (Point to each line as it’s read, or invite a student to do so.)
• Form small groups and assign each one a stanza. Each group creates motions to go with their stanza.
• Invite each group to read their stanza with expression and do their motions.

To spark even more ideas on ways to honor Poetry Month with your students, check out 80 Morning Meeting Ideas for Grades 3-6, Doing Language Arts in Morning Meeting, The Joyful Classroom, and Middle School Motivators!.