The best tricks for teaching poetry during Poetry Month to help make poetry fun and engaging by Teach Magically

6:30 AM

Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? 

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About the Celebration

National Poetry Month was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996. Over the years, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world with schools, libraries, booksellers, publishers, and poets celebrating poetry’s significant place in our society. So focus on poems during the month of April. What ways can you make poetry engaging and fun for students?


Read Fun Poems

Read fun, poems that will make the kids laugh. Check out Sick by Shel Silverstein. It is the first poem I read aloud to my students. Then I pick a poem a day to read to the students. 

Visualize

I have them lay their heads down or stretch out on the floor. They must close their eyes and imagine in their heads.
Once they can see the picture in their heads, they can draw a picture to show what they imagined. This skill will really help with reading skills. Plus, they love to share.

Here's a simple poem to try:
Spring Colors
by Leanne Guenther
The old, brown cow in the tall, green grass
Remembers her life in the little, red barn.

The small, white egg in the warm, black nest
Waits for her life in the big, blue sky.
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Art Activities

Read poems and complete an art project. I remember this poem from years ago but couldn't find it because I had the wrong name. (Here is the actual poem.)
Pussy Willow
Close your eyes
And do not peek
And I'll rub Spring
Across your cheek.
Smooth as satin,
Soft and sleek.
Close your eyes
And do not peek.
-Aileen Fisher-
Or try paper tearing with Humpty Dumpty, yep...Nursery Rhymes are poems! Check out tips for paper tearing at Teach Magically

Anthology

In literature, an anthology is a series of works collected into a single volume, usually with a unifying subject or even a theme. These works could be short stories, poems, lyrics, plays, or essays. They are usually selected by an editor.
I complied an anthology of alphabet poems that focus on the sight words. Students love to have an entire book that is all their own. This has made it so easy for the students to practice reading sight words so they really LOVE to read these simple poems. 

They get to color the picture after they can read it fluently. We also use them to focus on skills in context. Check out Ways to Use Alphabet Poems to see how I introduce and practice the poems with beginning readers.

To grab a copy of the alphabet poems click👉Alphabet Poems with Sight Words.

Keep reading poems,
💖Debora~Teach Magically










by Debora Marines

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