National Poetry Month in April is perhaps the best time to celebrate poets and their poetry and also teach poetry to your students.

But poetry doesn’t need to be taught only during National Poetry Month.

If integrated into the daily curriculum, it is an effective medium of promoting literacy and also a medium whereby students express themselves unreservedly.

Besides, reading a poem aloud to the class at the start or end of the day creates an appreciation for the elements of poetry, namely rhythm, and rhyme.

So here are three main ways that we can teach poetry and inspire a love for poetry in our students not just during National Poetry Month, but all year round.

Teach Poetry With Inspiration From Nature

Much of writing poetry stems from the stimulation of our senses. So, for students to get inspiration for their poems, take them outside – away from the four walls of the classroom and out into the great outdoors.

Mother nature has her way of bringing out the best of human emotions and this is the moment when students will understand the poetic devices of simile, metaphor, personification, and the rest.

Teach Poetry Through Dance

To target your kinesthetic and visual learners, you can teach poetry through dance and movement.

Students will be able to derive meaning from poems when they are performed.

Through the dance teaching methodologies, students will learn to appreciate a poem’s form, content, narration, and style.

Teach Poetry Writing Explicitly

For students to enjoy poetry, they need to be explicitly taught how to write poetry. I have found that by scaffolding the structure of different poem types, students have a better understanding of poem content leaving more room for creativity.

Some of the popular poem types are: cinquain, diamante, haiku, acrostic, limerick, bio poem, about me poem and others.

The best part is that students get to compile an anthology of all these poem types. This is definitely a valuable keepsake for them to cherish, appreciate poetry, and above all a creative outlet for their thoughts to become words.

Want to try a Bio Poem with your students?