April is National Poetry Month! Bring in the spring with lessons that celebrate language.
Spring brings new colors, sounds and experiences. What better time to use poetic language to celebrate the newness of the season?
Modeled Poetry
Nature poetry invites students to imbibe in the glory of this fabulous season. Provide and discuss daily poetry models, and encourage students to create poetry of their own. Students will enjoy imitating the styles of famous poets as well as hammering out original verse. Here are some examples of lessons that you may want to use in your language arts or English classroom:
- Read William Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey. Challenge students to write a poem that similarly combines nature with themes such as time, imagination or even religion.
- Read Gary Snyder's Pulitzer Prize winning poem, Rip Rap. How does he use natural images as a metaphor for poetics? Ask students to write metaphoric poetry using spring images.
- Play music with nature images in the lyrics such as John Denver's Rocky Mountain High or India Arie's Nature. How do natural images contribute to emotion in these songs? Ask students to create their own lyrics or have them sing together.
- Read Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan. Ask students to use pastels or paint to draw what the images suggest.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson's Concord Hymn. Allow students to write a poem of their own that uses natural images to mark a historic event.
Allow students to create a portfolio of their best poetry place in the school library or to share during a parent-teacher night.
