Melissa Burch 0:00
Hey friends welcome to another episode of annotated ELA. In celebration of Poetry Month, I have crafted a list of Poetry Month activities aimed at fostering a deeper appreciation for poetry. But before we get into the episode, I wanted to let you know that I have all the materials you need to implement Poetry Month activities with your students at annotated ela.com/episode39. All of the links will be in the show notes. Let's get to it.
Melissa Burch 0:31
Activity number one for Poetry Month activities is a poem a day, begin each day or class period with a new poem. If that's too much, maybe read a poem a week, starting the day or class with a new poem can spark a curiosity and set the tone for creativity, critical thinking, and an appreciation for language. And it will also expose students to diverse voices and styles which will get them excited and igniting discussions and introducing themes. This quick ritual can shift perceptions of poetry is something accessible and impactful. reading poems with your students is one way just to get them hooked. And we all know that many teachers like to do March Madness. So if you're into that, go ahead and do it. I hate to admit it, I've actually never done it. But I do have a class this year that I think would be totally into March Madness for poetry, so I'm going to give it a try. If you're looking for inspiration to help you plan for 30 poems, or even just a poem a week, check out my poetry exit tickets, the link will be in the show notes that annotated ela.com/episode 39. But after you read a poem, you can have the students answer a quick question on their way out the door. And I'm also going to have some suggestions for poets and poems to read, which is another great resource, you can go to poets.org with their poems for kids. And that link will be in the show notes too. They have so many great poems that you can use with your students in the classroom.
Melissa Burch 2:05
Number two, for Poetry Month activities is use a poetry explore board. choice boards are all the rage, and this is kind of similar, but we're calling it an explore board. So developing an explore board, either physically or digitally, allows students to engage with various poetic elements, themes and notable poets. So what happens is you have a board that looks like a choice board, and you've got your essential question for your unit. In the middle, you've got some videos, some poems, some about the author's whatever, you've got links to all sorts of different resources about poetry, and you give the students 15 to 20 minutes to explore poetry. They can visit one link multiple links, whatever you have set up for them, but they have 15 to 20 minutes to just explore poetry. And again, you might have different poetic elements or themes or notable poets or poems. Anything that you want them to explore before diving into the unit and explore boards can be used to introduce any unit. So another thing that I like to do is I'll put up that essential question, and then maybe some recommended poems. Some author biographies are their visual prompts. It just encourages independent exploration and allows my students choice and what they're learning for those 15 to 20 minutes. And then we like to discuss what we found. And that is just another great way to encourage conversation and discussion in the classroom. If you want to try and explore board, you can grab your free Poetry Month activities explore board at annotatedela.com/poetryboard, and that link will be in the show notes.
Melissa Burch 3:50
Number three for Poetry Month activities is to visit teach this poem on poets.org. So if you sign up for teacher this poem, it's a free resource on poets.org, providing insightful lesson plans and engaging activities for specific poems. It provides diverse materials that enrich students understanding, and analysis of poems and guys, it takes the guesswork out of teaching challenging poems. It offers ready made tools to spark class discussions, deepen understanding, and build student confidence. So head on over to teach this poem on the poets.org website, and that link is in the show notes. Listen, I was kind of overwhelmed, but I'm excited to do some of those lessons. Check it out.
Melissa Burch 4:36
Number four for Poetry Month activities is illustrate a poem. So choose a poem for the class to do or provide options and let students choose their own poem. However you choose to do it. Have the students get their hands on poems, and then give them the opportunity to illustrate the poem. You could have them even draw on the poem or draw a picture on a plane a white sheet of paper that this taps into their creativity and improves their comprehension because they're visualizing the poem. Whatever they illustrate should relate to the poem or help the viewer understand the poem better. Encouraging students to illustrate poems fosters creativity, deeper understanding of the poems, imagery and themes, and it combines visual and literary interpretation. This is multi sensory. And it is a really, really great way to get the students to internalize the poems meaning foster a deeper connection. And to see the poem and poetry through a new lens. This is something that I love to hang up and show off, we often do a gallery walk and students will leave sticky notes of praise and questions that they have about the images that have been drawn. And while I am not much of an artist, and some of my students aren't either, it's always something we enjoy, because they can pick one thing and do it well. Or they can really let that artistic energy flow. It's just so much fun to do together.
Melissa Burch 6:05
Poetry Month activity number five is poetry analysis stations. So setting up stations for poetry analysis encourages critical thinking, and collaboration. And stations also just can help with some diverse learning styles and get kids up and moving. Each station could have a different poem. But I prefer to have the students analyzing one poem for all the stations. This allows for a whole class reading and discussion before going to the stations. And then it allows for a complete analysis of one poem, setting up stations around the classroom with different poetry analysis activities, and then having the students rotate them focusing on specific elements of poetry. Some of the elements that you could have students analyze are structure and form of the poem, rhythm and sound of the poem, rhyme and rhyme scheme, symbolism, speaker, figurative language and poetic devices, theme, tone, and mood and syntax. And of course, you can always turn the TPCASTT into stations, or if you use Soapstone, you could turn that into stations, you could take any way that you want to analyze a poem and turn it into stations just to get the kids doing a piece at a time. If you weren't ready made poetry analysis stations for any poem, I have your back, you know, I do. You can check out my poetry analysis stations for any poem, middle school, at annotatedela.com/episode39. The link for that resource will be in the show notes. It's such a great way just to get the students thinking deeply.
Melissa Burch 7:45
And here's an insider tip. Take one of the harder stations and make it a teacher station where you're sitting at that harder station, facilitating discussion. And hey, if you have an instructional coach that you like, and who's helpful have them come in. I always have my instructional coach come in when I'm doing stations, so that she can be my person who whacks the moles, right? You know, it's like Whack a Mole when you sit down to two stations and you're at a table. And suddenly your little goofballs are popping up all over the place. And you're trying to maintain some order. They're middle schoolers.It doesn't matter how great classroom management is. Sometimes you have a couple goofs, who just like to goof so if you have someone that you trust, and that can come in and help them manage some of that, do it. I do. I love my instructional coach, I call on her all the time. That's what she's there for. So, whoever it is, use who you've got.
Melissa Burch 8:39
So let's recap. Each of these activities aims to benefit students by fostering creativity, critical thinking, appreciation for poetry and language, collaborative learning, all while making poetry engaging and accessible in the classroom. And I actually think poetry is more accessible than we all think it can feel daunting and scary, but it's short, powerful and impactful, and our reluctant readers can get through an entire poem in one sitting and feel some sense of accomplishment and achievement. So helping them learn to analyze that is only going to improve their reading.
Melissa Burch 9:15
Let's recap the five activities that we discussed in today's episode. Number one was poem a day or a week whatever works or do March Madness. Number two was use a poetry explore board. Number three was visit the teach this poem on poets.org. Just visit poets.org It's amazing. Number four, have students illustrate a poem and number five poetry analysis stations. And don't forget to visit the blog post for five more Poetry Month activities to do with your students. Guys, I've got 10 Total activities, plus all the links will be in those show notes at annotatedela.com/episode39. Until next time, friends remember the magic is in the process.
