Poetry Unit for Elementary and Middle School

April is National Poetry Month.  I now say that with a huge smile and a tingle of excitement.  If I'm going to be completely honest, and I am, I loathed having anything to do with poetry throughout my own education and teaching it my first few years.  That's because up until the past 6 years or so, the only experiences I had with poetry were:

1. having to memorize and recite Shakespeare in front of an entire class (as a teacher, I still don't see the educational value in that)

2. being forced to write poetry with minimal support or understanding of what I was doing

3. having to decode and analyze poetry

So, why the smile and tingle of excitement now?  Well, a wonderful friend and colleague turned me onto students writing their own poetry in fun and meaningful ways.  At first I was apprehensive because my students didn't want anything to do with poetry either.  They thought it was boring and confusing.  It was my job to prove them otherwise, and I was going to do it by allowing them to be the poets for a change.

It took me a lot of research and tons of time, but what I created I just have to share.  It's a complete unit that takes students through several stages.  First they learn about different poems, then practicing writing poems, and finally turn their poetry into an amazing book that includes an About the Author Page, a Table of Contents page, a Cover page, and much more.  There is even a rubric to keep your students on track and for you to grade student work.  My Poetry Do-It-Yourself Book does the following:

1. Introduces students to 9 different types of popular poetry
2. Provides my original examples of the 9 types of poetry
3. Provides directions for how to write these poems
4. Includes (printable) templates for students to write their own poems
5. Includes all of the materials for students to build their own book with Author, Cover, and Table of Contents Pages


Click here or on any of the images below to get yours.  I posted the product cover and some actual pages from the resource.  I'd love to hear your experience with this.  Happy Poetry Month!