Turn the classroom into a "Cocoa House". Explain to them what a coffee house or cafe is and turn the classroom into one. Have soft music playing in the background and a microphone with a stool for the student sharing the poem to use, while the audience sips cocoa and listens to the poetry selected by the students.
-Kathy Broskin, PA & Shirley Snyder, NE

This is a great way to celebrate both Poetry Month and Earth Day all in one. Have students write a poem about nature and cut the poem out, cutting around the words to create interesting shapes. Provide students with plenty of images from magazines and have them glue the poem to an image they have selected that relates to their poem.
-Judi Harrod, Fredericksburg, VA

Have students create a poetry calendar, with a short poem and an illustration for each month.
-Miriam Bravo, Boynton Beach, FL

Each week, focus on a different kind of poem. My students are currently working on acrostic poems, in which the children use the letters in their names to write things that describe them as a person.
-Breanne Coleman, Kansas City, MI

Have students select their favorite poem, read it aloud to the class and illustrate it. Enter the poems into a classroom book the students will make together using some kind of fancy or cute stationery and hold a contest to decide who will design the cover.
-Celeste Cartagena, Bronx, NY

April: National Poetry Month
www.infoplease.com/spot/
pmonth.html

Poetry Ideas and Activities
www.poetryteachers.com
www.wiredforyouth.com/
month/poetry_activities.html

Poetry Links and Questions for Kids to Answer
www.lakelandschools.org
/EDTECH/whypoetry.htm

Lesson Plans on Alliteration, Similies, Metaphors, etc.
www.proteacher.com/070034.shtml

Poetry Divided into Categories
http://members.shaw.ca/henriksent/

National Poet Organization (Free Posters!)
www.poets.org/npm

Have students:

• Create a poetry anthology of poems they've written or poems that are important to them
• Read poems written by other students their own age
• Celebrate the birthdays and learn about the lives of poets
• Hear poets read their own work
• Read Keep a Poem in Your Pocket by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers and have students keep a poem in their own pockets (members.accessus.net/~bradley/ keepapoeminyourpocket.html)
• Write a poem taking on the persona of an animal or an inanimate object
• Have students find poems that they think represent themselves
• Students listen to poems and write down words or thoughts that come to mind. Use these words or thoughts as inspiration for writer's notebooks.
• Have students collect and share beautiful words.
• Suggestion for Teachers: Read For the Good of the Earth and Sun by Georgia Heard. This book provides teachers with a philosophy for teaching poetry to students but is also practical in its approach. When I've read and discussed this book with teachers I've heard the "ah-ha's" and the "Now I'm ready to try to integrate poetry into my classroom!"

OTHER GREAT LITERATURE COLLECTIONS

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Math Adventures Collection
Enhance your math curriculum with these humorous and concept-rich picture books. Collection includes the popular Sir Cumference titles.
Celebrate America! Collection
Celebrate America with your students as they learn about American culture, history, and politics, through these outstanding fiction and nonfiction titles.

PRACTICE READING STRATEGIES

Interpreting Similies and Metaphors
Locate and define sensory language. Visualize images. Interpret sensory language in poetry!
Focus on Figurative Language
Interpret alliteration, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, personification, similie and metaphor.
Interpreting Poetry
Infer symbolic meaning. Analyze figurative language and main ideas in poetry.