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Classroom Resources

Monthly Themes

National Poetry Month

Writing Prompt

Writing a Poem:

Have students look closely at a picture and make a list of words that describe the action, sounds, shapes, colors, and feelings in the picture. Then have them use some of those words in a poem about the picture.

Activities

Grades K–1: Language Arts
Painting Rhymes

Have students color pictures that illustrate popular nursery rhymes.

  • Baa, Baa Black Sheep (color online)
  • http://www.enchantedlearning.com/paint/rhymes/coloring/Baabaa.shtml
  • Baa, Baa Black Sheep (color offline)
  • http://www.enchantedlearning.com/rhymes/coloring/Baabaa.shtml
  • The Itsy Bitsy Spider (color online)
  • http://www.enchantedlearning.com/paint/rhymes/coloring/Itsybitsy.shtml
  • The Itsy Bitsy Spider (color offline)
  • http://www.enchantedlearning.com/rhymes/coloring/Itsybitsy.shtml
Grades K–1: Language Arts
Sequencing Scenes

Have students color and cut frames of a popular nursery rhyme and then put the pieces in sequential order.

Grades K–2: Language Arts/Art
Picture This

A great poet can paint a picture with words. Have your students actually draw the picture!

Grades 1–2: Language Arts
Poems About Apples

Early-fluent and fluent readers will create shape poems by using word processing or draw-and-paint software.

Grades 1–3: Language Arts
Sound of Poetry

Have students practice vowel sounds by watching and listening to animated poems.

Grades 1–3: Language Arts
Acrostic Poem

Have students write an acrostic poem or name poem. The initial letters of the lines in the poem will spell out a word or a name.

  • Name Poem
  • http://www.abcteach.com/Writing/namepoem.htm
Grades 1–3: Language Arts
Poetry Writing: Friendship

Have your students write poems about what being a friend means.

Grades 1–8: Language Arts
Poetry Out Loud

Have students discover the music of rhythm and rhyme when they read aloud a poem. Hold a poetry reading in your class. Ask students to select a favorite poem and practice reading it with a partner. Students can also use a tape recorder to experiment with different ways of reading the poem.

Grades 1–8: Language Arts
A New Stamp

Students can honor a favorite poet by creating a postage stamp. Have students include the poet's name and important dates on the front of the stamp. Students can also include a poem or a paragraph that tells something about the poet on the back of the stamp.

Grades 2–5: Language Arts
Favorite Thing Poem

Have students choose a favorite thing for the subject of a poem. Then have them choose a form for the poem from several models.

Grades 2–6: Language Arts
Put Together a Poem

Students can create poetry by rearranging words onscreen.

Grades 2–8: Language Arts
Me Poem

Have students create 11-line biopoems by describing themselves or another student.

  • Biopoem Poetry Page
  • http://library.thinkquest.org/11883/data/biopoem.htm?tqskip1=1&tqtime=0206
Grades 2–8: Language Arts
Word Finds

Have students find words related to poetry hidden in a puzzle.

  • Poetry Month (grades 2–3) (PDF file)
  • http://www.eduplace.com/monthlytheme/april/pdf/poetry_easy_wf.pdf
  • Poetry Month Answer Key (grades 2–3) (PDF file)
  • http://www.eduplace.com/monthlytheme/april/pdf/poetry_easy_wf_key.pdf
  • Poetry Month (grades 4–8) (PDF file)
  • http://www.eduplace.com/monthlytheme/april/pdf/poetry_hard_wf.pdf
  • Poetry Month Answer Key (grades 4–8) (PDF file)
  • http://www.eduplace.com/monthlytheme/april/pdf/poetry_hard_wf_key.pdf
Grades 3–5: Language Arts
Writing a Cinquain

Have students use a simple structure to write poems about things that interest them.

  • Cinquain
  • http://www.eduplace.com/activity/poem_cinquain.html
Grades 3–5: Language Arts
I Sing My State

Many songs celebrate our country. Have students write poems to celebrate their state.

Grades 3–5: Poetry/Mathematics
Poems About Shapes

Have your students explore the world of geometric shapes through writing poetry.

Grades 3–6: Language Arts
Kristine O'Connell George's Children's Poetry Corner: For Students

Have students view animated tips for writing from poet Kristine George.

Grades 3–8: Language Arts
Word Scrambles

Can your students unscramble these poetry words?

Grades 4–6: Language Arts
Finish the Poem

Here's an easy way for your students to practice being poets. Each of these newfangled Yankee Doodle poems is missing a word or a sentence. Can your students figure out what to fill in?

Grades 4–6: Poetry/Science
Poetic Creatures

Students will investigate the characteristics, behavior, and habitat of a particular animal species. They will demonstrate their knowledge by writing poems that incorporate what they have learned.

  • Animal Poems
  • http://www.eduplace.com/activity/animal_poems.html
Grades 4–8: Language Arts
Wacky Web Poems

Introduce students to poetry in a humorous way. Have students fill in the blanks to create humorous poems.

Houghton Mifflin