April is National Poetry Month, but poetry can be read and celebrated throughout the year. Use these ideas to incorporate poetry in your classroom all year long.
Read Alouds
Poetry is meant to be read aloud. Reading poetry daily is a great way to familiarize students with a variety of poetry styles.
Poetry in the Classroom Library
Create a section in your classroom library that is dedicated to poetry. Multiple copies are great because students love to read the poems in tandem.
Increasing Fluency
Poetry is a great medium for repeated reading. It not only allows for short amounts of texts that can be reread often, but it is enjoyable to read repeatedly. Repeated reading is a way to increase students' fluency.
Writing Practice
RAP: encourage students to read and write RAP (Rhythm and Poetry).
Celebrate Student Poetry
Celebrate when students write their own poetry. Having a snack or drink (Poetry and Punch) will create a party-type atmosphere and add to the celebration of sharing students' authored poems.
Poems for Classroom Management
Memorizing meaningful poems as a class is a great classroom management tool. Reciting a few lines and having students join in is a way to get their attention.
