Poetry Month is already in full swing in the Barrow Media Center even though it’s still March.  I’ve found that April gets shortened due to testing, so we start celebrating poetry early.  Classes at every grade level are signing up for various kinds of lessons from now through April.  Some lessons are done in a single session while others span 3-4 lessons.  Here are some of the lessons coming up:

• Overview of multiple kinds of poetry
• Book spine poems
• List poetry
• Shape poetry
• Poetry and photography
• Joyce Sidman poet study
• Animoto and Photo Story poems

Yesterday, Mrs. Yawn’s class came to learn about many kinds of poetry and we explored a list poem together.  After using poems from the book Falling Down the Page collected by Georgia Heard, students wrote  a list poem together.  Every student thought of an object that was in their pouch in the classroom (the place where they keep their stuff), and they shared their line with a partner in order to give each other feedback to make the line more descriptive.  Then, I went around to every student and typed their line into a poem that we then read together.  I printed a copy for the class and a copy to display in the media center.

In PreK, Ms. Spurgeon and I are studying shape poetry with her class.  We explored many examples of shape poems in books such as A Poke in the I, A Curious Collection of Cats, and Doodle Dandies. Then we wrote a shape poem together about a flower.  Next, I’m going to their classroom to lead a writing

workshop where they will write their own shape poems.  Each student has a symbol that represents them that is used to label things in the classroom.  Each student will write a shape poem about their symbol.  Ms. Spurgeon is preparing chart paper with symbols already drawn on them, and I’m gathering nonfiction books that are about each student’s symbol.  These books will be a source for gathering words about the symbols.  On writing day, Ms. Spurgeon, the paraprofessional, parent volunteers, and I will sit with students to conference and assist as they write.

Finally, we’ve just kicked off our poetry contest.  Every student in the school is invited to submit a poem and prizes will be awarded in PreK-1st grade, 2nd-3rd grade, and 4th-5th grade.  Poems can be any form, can be short or long, and must be original.  Students can submit poems in any format:  a piece a paper, on a napkin, a digital file in my drop box, or anything else they can think of.

I’ll be sharing more about poetry in the media center over the next month.  If you have great things going on in your own library, or if you have a poem to share, feel free to leave a comment.