Five Ideas for Poetry Month

Here are five ideas for celebrating poetry month. April 2021 is the 25th annual national poetry month.

1. Free poetry analysis worksheet

These free poetry activities are perfect for practicing multiple skills: paraphrasing, characterization, understanding connotation, and citing text evidence. Check them out here!

2. TP-CASST method

This acronym stands for Title, Paraphrase, Connotation, Attitude/Tone, Shifts, Title, Theme. Its a good method for breaking down a difficult poem that I’ve been using for years. Read Write Think has a free graphic organizer for this method here.

3. Found poem activity

A “found poem” is made from an existing piece of literature. Find specific lines and quote them verbatim (word for word) in your poem, rearranging your favorite lines to form a new, coherent idea. You can play with the length of lines and spacing however you see fit.

This activity works for ANY novel you’re currently reading. Get the activity here.

4. Poems for two voices

Students love this fun poem format. Poems for two voices are a creative and interactive way to present poems. You can get them started with this free packet. 

You can also check out the popular Paul Fleischman collection of poems for two voices here!

5. Poem Memorization

In his book, How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare, playwright Ken Ludwig provides his rationale for memorizing poetry. He says, “in order to memorize something, you have to be very specific and very honest with yourself. You have to work slowly, and you have to understand each word of what you are memorizing.” 

Memorization used to be the basis of academics. There is certainly some value in giving your students the challenge of memorizing a short poem. I still have poems memorized from my school days. It enhances appreciation and understanding. 

More ideas

Finally, are you are teaching poetry, you are most likely teaching figurative language. Check out these fun, ready to use resources for teaching figurative language!

Also, read about fun, free tech tools for writers here!

What are your poetry month ideas? Let me know in the comments!