National Poetry Month Activities and Resources

Aside from April Fools Day, Easter, and Earth Day, April is also a host to two big events in Literature – National Poetry Month and World Book Day! The former lasts a whole month and marks the celebration of poets and poetry that have shaped our culture. For these reasons, April is a great opportunity for teachers and homeschooling parents to implement National Poetry Month activities in their curriculum. 

Poetry is an invaluable expressive tool that helps children learn how to recognize and control their emotions, as well as increase their vocabulary and have better communication skills. In other words, we can all agree that poetry is an incredibly important part of children’s education and we should use this opportunity to engage them in poetry activities. 

In honor of National Poetry Month, this article features some amazing resources and ideas on activities for learning about poetry, through poetry. So, without further ado, let’s dive in! 

National Poetry Month Activities And Teaching Resources

National Poetry Month was first celebrated in 1996 as an initiative by the Academy of American Poets. Their goal was to spread awareness about the important role that poetry has played in our culture. What better way to spread this message than to encourage kids to read, analyze, and even write poetry themselves? Here are some resources and activities through which you can achieve this.

Interactive Worksheets for Learning More About Poetry

Some kids might be reluctant to read poems just because they’re not used to the format and that way of expression. However, with our interactive and fun worksheet collections, they can learn more about it, familiarize themselves with this way of communicating feelings and thoughts, and become more interested in poems. In a way, brief and fun activities help pave the way for interest in more serious poetry analysis. 

A good example of this would be our Poetry Worksheets, Definition & Examples bundle that’s suitable even for very young children who are introduced to poetry for the first time. It breaks down poetry into easily understandable bits and includes practical examples, so kids can appreciate the aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language. 

Learning About The Work and Life of The Greatest Poets In History

The next step is learning about some of the greatest poets in history and their masterpieces that are still being shared all over the world. Edgar Allen Poe, William Shakespeare, Maya Angelou, and Emily Dickinson are good examples in this category. 

As you can see, we have a separate worksheet bundle for each of them, and many others! Following the example of the City of Boston which will highlight a different poet every day of the month on the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture social media, you can also organize daily or weekly presentations about poets’ work and life in the classroom. 

In our Poets section, you can choose which one you would like to go over or encourage kids to find a poet that they find inspirational and present about them. 

Writing Poems

Once they have a solid foundation of what poetry is and have some of the greatest poets of all times as inspiration, kids can try to write poetry on their own. Keep in mind that not everyone feels comfortable expressing themselves in this way, nor it will come easy, so be there to help them, point them in the right direction, and maybe think of alternatives for those who truly struggle. 

After all, the idea of kids writing poems for themselves is not so they can write something amazing, but to explore a new way of expressing their emotions and communicating their thoughts. 

Analyzing Poems

Older kids can also engage in more serious and cognitive-demanding tasks of reading and analyzing different poetry genres. They can identify literary devices, style, tone of voice, and underlying message, as well as compare and discuss different styles. 

Poetry analysis explores all the independent elements of the piece, so we can understand it entirely. There’s a great online course on MasterClass that might help you break down and make this assignment a lot more easier and understandable for kids. 

So, seeing how kids need to be familiar and comfortable with many literary elements of poetry to be able to engage in this activity, a special National Poetry Month activity for kids can be learning about literary devices. 

Learning About Literary Devices

If your students have no previous knowledge of poetry analysis or elements, our worksheet packs on Iambic Pentameter, Alliteration, Assonance, and other literary devices can help a lot! Visit our Literary Devices section where you’ll find more than a hundred different worksheet packs. 

Additionally, you can check our article on “How to Teach Kids Figurative Language” which covers the topic in-depth and includes some great tips!  

Additional Resources

Beyond the above-described activities, you and your students can also participate in many online events and activities prepared by official poets’ organizations. Alternatively, you can use the resources to organize your own poetry event in the classroom. Here’s a list of events and resources worth checking out. 

• 9 Totally Unique Poetry Activities for High School Students
• Poetry Activities for Middle Schoolers – 5 games and worksheets to bring out their inner poet (+ 4 top tips)
• Poetry for Children Blog – it’s about finding and sharing poetry with children and young people. 
• Janet S. Wong’s Poetry Suitcase – on how to create a poetry suitcase. 
• Library of Congress’ Creating Poetry from Primary Sources – a guide on how to help students write poetry based upon informational text and images using their comprehension skills.
• Academy of American Poets’ National Poetry Month activities and guides. 
• The Children’s Poetry Archive – audio database composed of poems for children.
• Academy of American Poets’ Database of Upcoming Events – poetry readings, workshops, festivals, conferences, literary organizations, and much more. 

Before You Leave 

National Poetry Month activities can and should be implemented throughout the whole month. It’s not a one-day activity you can miss, so take your time and plan out a great unit that fits your overall curriculum. Hopefully, our suggestions and resources will be more than enough to achieve that goal, so we encourage you to follow the links and explore them in-depth. 

In addition, head over to our website to check out all the different worksheet collections we have in the poets or literature section. Collections such as literary devices or figurative language can be of great help when encouraging kids to write or analyze poetry. 

Finally, you can always find help among our articles in the blog for which you can subscribe through our newsletter. Check it out regularly, as we have more content coming up soon.