After you set up your writing center, you may need some ideas as to what to include for activities. Poetry is the perfect answer to your activity woes. Try some of the teacher-submitted poetry activities below to get you started. As always, our teachers have really good ideas!
Poetry Lesson Ideas
Help Intermediate Students Uncover “Found Poems”
In Frank’s Riverhead, NY Middle School English class, the students make even the everyday things around them inspirational. “Here’s one no-fail poetry activity older students always find intriguing,” he says. “Begin by having students look around the classroom and at home for objects that feature print. For example, students might notice food containers, books, catalogs, soap bottles, calendars, magazines, etc.
Have each student choose one object and then list words they harvest directly from that object. Invite students to use their word lists to shape original poems in any form desired. Interestingly, the resulting “found” poems will maintain the character of the original object. A poem created from words lifted from a mystery book will naturally sound quite different from a poem created from milk carton language.” Tip: Try having students read their poems aloud while challenging classmates to guess the origin of the words.
Celebrate Poetry with Poetic Parodies
“After sharing a selection of poems with your students, use those same poems to create some silly and memorable parodies,” suggests Fourth Grade Teacher, Paul, from Battle Creek, Michigan. “For example, after sharing these classic lines by Joyce Kilmer:
I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree.
Offer your class the same lines with a key word or two missing, e.g.:
I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a _________.
Then, have children offer silly noun alternatives that can substitute for tree , such as bee, knee, flea, etc.
You can choose to have students create word substitutions for a few words in a couple of lines, or for many words throughout the entire poem. With rhyming poems, children can choose to adhere to an established rhyme scheme—or not!
Have students record and illustrate their parody poems. Store poetry parody pages together in a binder for students to enjoy.”
Help Them Create Lists with a Twist
In Grace’s Second Grade Class in Buffalo, New York, poetry is more than just a lesson, it is a lot of fun. “With most list poems, the poem’s title identifies a theme or subject and all items on the list relate to that same theme or subject.
Example: My Dog Spot
Is brown
Is furry
Is fat
Is cute
Is covered with fleas, and
Is headed for a bath
My dog Spot
But, with my Twist on a List idea, you and your students choose a target theme or subject, then students create their poems using one of three titles: Guess What?, Guess Who?, or Guess Where? Each student then folds a piece of lined loose leaf paper in half vertically, chooses one of the three question titles to head the list, then write his or her list poem on the front of the paper and the poem’s answer on the inside flap. Readers must open the paper to discover exactly what the poem is about and the name of the poet:
Example: Guess Who?
Is brown
Is furry
Is fat
Is cute
Is covered with fleas, and
Is headed for a bath
Lift the flap and find out!
The reader opens the paper to discover this answer:
My dog Spot
by James Britt
Display finished list poems together on a bulletin board titled, ‘Poems that Keep You Guessing.'”
What are some of your favorite poetry ideas? Leave a comment and share them with us below!