National Poetry Month

I wanted to create a post to describe what I will be doing in April for poetry month.  In addition, I wanted to share my Scoop.it account for Poetry Month.  At this link, you can find several resources that I use to develop a thematic poetry unit.

First of all, let me say that I don't just teach poetry in the month of April, but this is when it receives the most attention.  I also like to encourage reading and writing poetry throughout the year, which can be completed during student's free choice reading time and writer's workshop time.  I can usually hook a standoffish reader/writer with poetry because of the shorter nature of the reading/writing.  Then, we meet to discuss how to develop their writing. 

So, now for how I will be teaching poetry for the next few class sessions.  Each day, I like to read a few examples and provide students with mini-lessons regarding poetry features.  I also introduce rules associated with certain types of poetry (i.e. Haiku, Cinqauin , or Limericks).

Because I love music and my students usually enjoy the latest pop star, I incorporate songwriting as poetry, which I think is an overlooked genre.  Students like to here me read the song as if reading a poem.  Then, I play the song for them.  The students always like to here that meaningful connection to their world. 

I then have students construct a poetry project, which is usually a book, blog posts, Glog O' Poems, poem podcasts (using Audioboo, Voicethread, Photo Story 3, or Audacity), and .   Here is a teacher's requirements for a poetry Glogster. 

Short post but I wanted to at least share something for National Poetry month.   What do you do for National Poetry Month?