Of course we should fold in some extra poetry lessons in April, but who has the time? With state testing and AP exam prep, this month is a bullet train, whipping by with scary speed. But what if we slowed that roll just a bit? April’s also supposed to bring to mind warmth and new growth, the perfect time to dig some rhyme. I know we all have a lot to do, but here are a few easy options to help us celebrate National Poetry Month.
6 Painless Ways to Add Some Poetic Goodness to Your Class:
1. Post a fresh poem each day on your classroom door, white board space, or projector as kids enter the room. You can visit Poem-A-Day at Poets.org to grab tasty morsels or assign this task to a trustworthy student. Ask students to bring in a favorite poem to possibly be posted in your classroom and maybe even give a bonus point to anyone whose poem makes it to the board.
2. Share a favorite poem with your students (if you can deliver it from memory, even better) and then invite two or three volunteers to also share a poem each week. I’ve had my kids present on Fridays before our SSR reading sessions and gave a bonus point to each volunteer’s Quarter Trio team.
To inspire your kids, follow up your poem on the next day with this drop of sweetness from Sarah Kay:
Or this drop of inspiration from Suli Breaks:
Or this drop of awesome from Lin-Manuel Miranda:
Be sure to turn on YouTube’s closed captioning option when viewing, which’ll help kids connect even more deeply with these works.
3. Host a creative writing day (or two?) with any/all of these activities, including:
• Blackout Poetry
• Paint Chip Poetry
• Reversal Poetry
• Acrostic Poetry
• Roll of the Dice Poetry
In this earlier blog post, I show you exactly what you need for each activity, including free printable instruction sheets. Just click here to grab these Five Ready-to-Use Poetry Activities.
4. Prep for May and June holidays with my Mother’s Day and Father’s Day poetry greeting card kits. Both of these printables are free and a good way to soak up time for students who finish state testing early. These also work well as a make-and-take station in libraries or counseling offices.
5. Take advantage of The Tortured Poets Department album release hype. Taylor Swift’s new album will drop April 19. If you want to turn the TikTok attention into a lesson plan, I have resources here: https://laurarandazzo.com/tortured-poets-a-lesson-plan/
6. Finally, I’m compelled to mention my own four-week poetry unit that engages even the most resistant poetry haters. It’s one of the most popular items in my shop. The poetry unit, which can be used as-is with one class or easily broken into separate lessons to use with different classes, includes:
• A suggested day-by-day lesson calendar.
• How to Read a Poem introductory lecture with guided notes handout to provide structure, strategy, and a reference guide for students as they work through all of the poems in the unit.
• Know the Lingo poetic terminology grid/matching game activity to help students quickly review poetry terms they already know and learn some they might not already know.
• Pop Music/Classical Poetry compare/contrast activity where students deconstruct two songs they enjoy (“Stereo Hearts” by Gym Class Heroes and “Breakeven” by The Script) and compare them with classic poems that use the same themes and structures.
• Close reading/poetry dissection activity to use with William Shakespeare’s classic poem, “The Seven Ages of Man.”
• Dynamic lecture to teach Shakespeare’s poetic sonnet structure and iambic pentameter.
• Write Your Own Shakespearean Sonnet activity with modern topic assignment slips.
• Close reading/poetry dissection activity to use with Robert Herrick’s classic poem, “To the Virgins to Make Much of Time (Gather Ye Rosebuds).”
• Close reading/poetry dissection activity to use with Walt Whitman’s classic poem, “O Me! O Life!” This lesson also includes a compelling non-fiction and media criticism activity.
• Poetry Cafe: A Spoken Word Experience activity plan, which includes detailed instructions on how to host your own student-led poetry reading, two examples of modern spoken word poets in action (different than the Kay, Breaks, and Miranda pieces above) and a student assignment sheet.
• Close reading/poetry dissection activity to use with Walt Whitman’s classic poem, “O Captain! My Captain!”
• How to Haiku student worksheet with haiku examples and visual inspiration to encourage students to write their own haiku poems.
• Close reading/poetry dissection activity to use with Edgar Allan Poe’s classic poem, “The Raven.” This lesson includes dynamic, multimedia lecture materials and a Faux Poe worksheet/creative writing assignment.
• Compare/Contrast activity of two poems written about Helen of Troy.
• Acrostic poetry handout with advanced examples and a student writing challenge featuring four different teacher-choice options.
• Blackout Poetry (also known as Found Poetry) lecture and hands-on activity.
• End-of-unit exam, including 18 matching questions, 6 multiple choice, and 6 short answer questions calling on students to analyze two poems they have not previously seen in the unit. Includes detailed answer key.
You can learn more about this unit, which includes 58 pages and 147 slides, by clicking here.
Hope some of these ideas will find a place in your classroom. Get some poetry on, everyone!
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