Poetry Lesson Plans
Start planning your National Poetry Month celebration with the following lesson plans and classroom-ready resources:
Poetry Tournament
The idea is to create a basketball tournament-pairing chart using poetry and determine a final winner by reading the poems. Learn about conducting a tournament, selecting poems and view examples from other educators. Start planning your
Poetry Tournament today!
Authors Stephen Dunning and William Stafford, both widely known poets and educators, offer this delightful manual of exercises for beginning poets. The 20 exercises, each covering different types or phases of poetry writing, as well as the authors' humor and nonacademic style, will appeal to experienced and novice poets of all ages. Read the chapter on "Found & Headline Poems."
Poetry Themed Journals
"The Road Seldom Taken: Poetry" Voices from the Middle, March 2009
"Poetry" English Journal, September 2006
“Teaching and Writing Poetry” English Journal, January 2002
"Poetry: The Best Words in their Best Order" Voices from the Middle, December 2002
"The Poetic Possibilities of Language” Language Arts, March 1999
NCTE Consultants
Bring an experienced NCTE consultant specializiing in poetry to your school to engage your staff in a workshop or presentation today!
National Gallery of Writing
In the National Gallery of Writing there are several poetry galleries with samples of writing that can be shared and used as inspiration for your own poetry:
The gallery "From the 'Summit' to the snowy capped Poet Peaks" encourages community members from Jackson, Wyoming, to share their poetry about their community.
Both students and faculty members at Haynesville High can submit their poetry works, such as the submission "You Should Read," to the Haynesville High Authors and Poets.
The Lion's Den Gallery is geared to any style of written poetry or prose. Students, teachers, parents, and community members may contribute to this gallery to share stories and express themselves through the written word, including the entry "Tiger, Tiger."
The gallery 5 Confused Words includes poetry from high school students, Poetry from the Heartland. That is illustrated in the group of submissions titled "The Best of English 9 Poems."
The National Gallery of Writing houses all kinds of writing from all walks of life and highlights the remarkable variety of writing we engage in everyday.
NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children
NCTE, through the Poetry Committee, recognizes and fosters excellence in children's poetry by encouraging its publication and by exploring ways to acquaint teachers and children with poetry through such means as publications, programs, and displays. The NCTE Poetry Award was established to honor a living American poet for his or her aggregate work for children ages 3–13. Learn more about the winning poets today!