Top 10 Poetry Activities To Use In Your Classroom

There are still a couple weeks left to celebrate National Poetry Month!  

Scroll through these ten ideas--I promise they are easy, fun and great ways to incorporate poetry into your classroom!

1. Poem of the Week

Select one poem to share with students for each week of the school year.  Each day spend a few minutes interacting with the selected poem.  Below is a sample schedule you may want to use.   

• Monday--Read the poem to your students.  Have them echo read the poem back to you.

• Tuesday--Add actions to the poem.  Choral read the poem as a class with the actions.

• Wednesday--Pick a skill (rhyming words, adjectives, nouns, personification, etc.) and have students highlight those words in the poem.  Do a repeated reading with the poem. 

• Thursday--Black Out Poetry.  Students black out several words in the poem, and input new words in.  Students read their "new poem" with a partner or several partners.

• Friday--Quick Draw.  Echo, cloze, choral or partner read the poem several times.  Give students one minute to draw what they visualized. 

There are SO MANY additional ideas for activities to do with poems. If you are looking for more great ideas, check out this list from Edutopia or this list from Home School Resource Room. 

2. Write Poetry

Writing poetry really gives students a chance to let their creativity and imagination take center stage. A great way to introduce poetry writing is by using simple poetry that follows a pattern. Some great starter poems to get pencil to paper are acrostics and shape poems. 

 

Another helpful tool for writing poetry are poetry templates.  With poetry templates, students have example poems to help them create their own poetry!  Students just have to fill in the blanks!

If you are looking for more in-depth lessons on writing poetry with your students, check out this article from Scholastic. 

3. Poetry Read Aloud

Children love when they are read too, and reading poetry is no exception.  Kids of all ages can be thoroughly engaged and entertained when you share poetry. 

Check out this list of nine teacher recommended poetry books.  These compilations will be sure to delight all listeners.  

4. Poetry Performances

Supply each student with a poem, and have them rehearse and then perform the poem to the class (or a partner).  Some teachers like to get real fancy and have a poetry performance day complete with a red carpet, flowers on tables, a stage.....

5. Poetry Voices

Much like performing poetry, the teacher will provide each student with a poem.  The student will then rehearse the poem and then perform the poem to the class (or a partner) using a silly voice. 

6. Fluency Practice

Reading poetry aloud to students is great way to model fluent reading while building listening skills.  Poetry lends itself to many opportunities for expression, phrasing and smoothness.  Pick a favorite poem and have students choral or echo read as a class!

Let students pick a poem and have them do repeated readings or partner readings.  Rehearsing poetry is often a great motivator for students, as the text is often concise and rich with colorful and engaging language. 

7. Create a Class Book of Poetry

After spending time writing a variety of poems, allow each student to select his or her best work and create a "published" classroom book.  

For extra fun (and to brag about your class's awesome writing skills), allow each student to take the book home to share with their families!   

8. Listen to Poetry Performances

Have you heard about The Children's Poetry Archive?  It is a place where you can listen to poems read aloud!  They have a HUGE archive of poems organized by theme, grade level and even poets.

Also a simple search on YouTube can yield lots of results of poetry readings from celebrities to students.  Be sure to check out The Poetry Foundation, which has several video recordings of poetry performances.

9. Act Out a Poem

It is always great when we give kids a chance to get up and get moving.  Not only is it fun for kids, but movement helps reinforce learning.  So, why not pair poetry with movement?  

After multiple repeated readings and rehearsals have you students perform a poem in small groups, individually or with a partner.  For an extra level of fun, you could invite other classes or parents to watch the performances! 

10. Visualize a Poem

Visualizing is a powerful comprehension tool, and fun for kids to do!  Read a poem aloud, listen to a poetry performance or have students read a poem independently; and then have them draw what they pictured in their brain.  

I like to have students do "quick draw" where they only get 1 minute to draw the images they created in their mind.  Quick draws get 100% participation and they don't eat up a lot of instructional time!