National Poetry Month

What we've been doing: April was National Poetry Month, and I was excited to spend several weeks on poetry with the boys.  Here's what we've been doing, reading, and creating.

I brought in the poet-tree that I filled with origami poems that we looked at over the month.  The boys started off by making a class poem together using magnetic poetry.  Then we read this awesome article by Smoop about how to read poetry.  They ended the day by making their own magnetic poetryish poems using little slips of paper.  The boys struggled with only using the words given to them, but it was a great opportunity for them to be creative.

The second poetry day, we read Ars Poetica written by two different authors.  We compared the two poems, looking at their structure and their figurative language.  The focus of today was poetry about poetry.  We also read Poetry Handbook and looked at this amazing comic strip based on the poem.

The boys wrote poems about poetry using what we read as inspiration.  They were encouraged to use lots of figurative language.

I also used the New York Times Poetry Pairings one day in class.  The website even includes two worksheets to help the students compare the article and poem.  The boys struggled when answering the questions, but I think it was good for them to think deeper about what they read.  Next year I would love to have them pair a poem and an article themselves.

I was really excited to go on a walk around the neighborhood before they wrote odes to Santiago (the city we live in).  The boys were hot, and they did not want to go for a walk.  They convinced me they had enough ideas without leaving the classroom.  We watched a Youtube video describing how to write an ode.  When I found the video, I also discovered this awesome website called Power Poetry.  They have contests and scholarships and provide an opportunity for teens to publish their work online.

We watched two different people presenting poetry.  Both the people spoke really fast, so it was a little hard for the boys to understand some of the words, but I mentioned that next year I want them to present poetry like that.  I want to look more at spoken word next year.  Giving the boys a voice is so important.  I need to have them dig deeper to write poetry about things that really matter in life, more than Minecraft and video games.

Touchscreen - Marshall Davis Jines
A Love Poem for Lonely Prime Numbers - Harry Baker

Over the three weeks the boys enjoyed, listened to, read, and wrote poetry, I would have them pull a poem or two off the poet-tree.  They compared the poems, and they wrote on this Padlet what poems inspired them the most and why.

Here's the link to my kidblog page where the boys have been publishing their work.  I am already dreaming and thinking of poetry ideas for next year.  I need to track down Dead Poet's Society, and look at some contests the boys can enter.  I also didn't make a big deal about Poem in Your Pocket Day, which next year I want to make it something special.  The end of April next year I want to have a poetry party where the boys share their work aloud.

Any other ideas for me?  How did you celebrate National Poetry Month?