National Poetry Month Activity- "April Excursions-Poetry in Motion"

In his poem, The Wasteland, T.S. Eliot said, “April is the cruelest month…”. Considering the

fickleness of the weather- bone-chilling sleet one day, sunbathing warmth the next- it’s no wonder peoples’ moods swing from gloom to gaiety.

Maybe April was chosen as National Poetry Month because of it quirkiness. Strong emotions create word pictures and poems are the Kodak moments of writing. 

April is the perfect month for teachers and students to take an excursion on the Lesson-Up Express. This posting offers two tickets:

Option 1. A Literary Connections Tour:
This ticket offers students the chance to find poems, poets and lyrics that fit the themes of any novel or narrative non-fiction book that they are studying. To complete this trip, students will work individually or in teacher-chosen groups to analyze a poem (teacher or student selected). See the Teacher Notes for finding poems that connect with story themes. Stops on this tour include:
A. Atmosphere Alley
B. Poetry Junction
C. Imagery Island 
D. Theme Mountain 
E. Project Pass: On this final leg of this tour, students must prepare the final draft that includes the analytic results of each of their stops on the tour in a poster or in a travel brochure format.

Option 2. A Poetry Camp Trip
If students choose this ticket, they will create five original poems from the types written on the tree branches on the cover of this offering and/or types they choose with the teacher’s approval. After they have composed the poems, they will put them in a literary magazine that they created, and will illustrate each one with original or found images.

3.(Required) Poetry Performance Buffet:

All students will present either the results of their Literary Connections Tour or two poems from

their Poetry Camp Trip at the Poetry Performance Buffet at the end of the month. See the download for complete details on how to manage this aspect of the project.

Also included in this packet are Teacher Notes listing the Common Core Standards, the Bloom's Taxonomy thinking skills that are addressed, and directions for teaching the lesson; a printable student handout with directions and information on how to match poetry, poets and lyrics with stories (with examples) and examples of the Personal Poem and the Rhyming Couplet make up the remainder of the octet of pages. On the last page, are tickets to the Poetry Performance Buffet.

Download this packet from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Poetry-Activity-April-Excursions-Poetry-in-Motion-639372 ($) and make April the coolest, not the cruelest month.

Another poetry activity
Poetry Analysis Activity: Poetry on Parade

Enjoy a Teach It Now Day,