March, 2016 | Updated
Note: When we first published this post in 2010 we called it “11 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month With The New York Times,” but every year we update it with several hot-off-the-press ideas. So we’ve changed the name to, simply, “Ways to Celebrate” since we intend to add ideas each spring and don’t want to end up with “3,486 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month” when 2311 rolls around.
How do you teach poetry? Let us know!
Discover “What’s Going On in This Poem?” — On April 14, 2016, we will be running a live, moderated “What’s Going On in This Poem?” discussion, using the same three questions we apply weekly to photos. Bring your class to join in!
Read (and Create) New York Times Haikus — The Times’s haiku Tumblr features “serendipitous poetry from The New York Times” created by an algorithm, which periodically checks the New York Times home page for newly published articles. Then it scans each sentence looking for potential haikus by using an electronic dictionary containing syllable counts to create verse like this:
The buzzing of a
thousand bees in a tiny
curled pearl of an ear
This post explains how it works. What New York Times haikus can you and your students make?
Find a Favorite Poem — What Memorable Poetry Have You Ever Read or Heard? Kick off National Poetry Month by inviting your students to write in with answers to this Student Opinion question. Some inspiration? This Dec., 2015 piece asks well-known people like John Green, Shonda Rhimes, Alan Cumming and Stephen King, “What’s Your Favorite Poem?” and links to results from Yeats to Gwendolyn Brooks.
In 2015, The Times began running a weekly poem in the Magazine. What’s are your students’ favorite?
Post Your Own Found Poem — Our Found Poem Student Challenge is back again for a seventh year! Here are the details. along with links to the winners from the last six years.
Or, Create a Blackout Poem — In 2014, The Times challenged readers to create “blackout poems” by redacting words from Times articles. Here are the results, and you can make your own online.
Write a Poem for a Friend — “Poetry prevents everybody from feeling lonely,” says Nikki Giovanni in this video. “If I had a friend in the hospital, I would read a poem. But then, friends who get married, they read a poem. And then friends who die say, ‘Read this poem at my funeral’…Poetry is there with us, a part of us. Poetry is something we carry in our hearts.” Think about someone you know who might need the gift of a poem — for any reason. What poem would you give this person, and why?
Does Poetry Matter? Discuss. — Room for Debate recently challenged seven experts to debate this question, while in the Opinion section, William Logan asked, “Poetry: Who Needs It?” In another essay, “A Poet’s Boyhood at the Burning Crossroads,” Saeed Jones writes about how, as a teenager, poetry helped him “shatter silence into language.” After reading all of these, debate the question in your classroom: Does poetry matter?
Quite a Pair(ing) — Use our Poetry Pairings, a weekly feature we began in June 2010, to read a poem selected by the Poetry Foundation paired with an article from The Times. You might use our Teaching and Learning Ideas For Any Poetry-News Pairing to help students critique our choices, or pair their own original poems with another piece of writing. Or, to find more accessible poetry in the pages of The Times, in 2015 The Magazine began publishing a poem each week.
More Than You Expect — In “Galaxies in His Head,” Stephen Burt writes about the poet Terrance Hayes and how he “uses poetry to show that there is more to him, and to anyone, than what you expect.” Watch the video above, then read more about this poet and his work. How might you use poetry to show others that there is more to you than what people expect?
Lines That Live On — Read about the visual art/poetry collaboration that will commemorate life at Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing project as its last building is demolished. Have students write poems about a time or place from their own lives, or give them a common topic (their current school, the town park, etc.). You might even have them read poems about the Brooklyn Bridge for inspiration. Plan a site-specific event, perhaps a poetry walk through the place in which the poems are read, projected on structures, written in chalk on sidewalks or pavements or otherwise displayed. Collaborate with dancers, musicians and/or visual artists who will perform or present their related work at the event.
How Many Metaphors Have You Stumbled Over Today? — Metaphors are everywhere, points out Op-Ed columnist David Brooks. We often use food metaphors to describe the world of ideas, and war metaphors to talk about argument. Have students keep a journal for one day in which they record every metaphor they come across in print or speech. Then, have them react to this column, and to thoughts like, “To be aware of metaphors is to be humbled by the complexity of the world, to realize that deep in the undercurrents of thought there are thousands of lenses popping up between us and the world, and that we’re surrounded at all times by what Steven Pinker of Harvard once called ‘pedestrian poetry.'”
Rhythm, Meter and the Poetry Tweet-er — Have students read the Twitter poems by Billy Collins, Claudia Rankine, Elizabeth Alexander and Robert Pinsky. Then have them read and contribute their own work to this collection of Twitter poems. Our lesson Less Is More: Using Social Media to Inspire Concise Writing has even more poetry ideas.
Slammin’ Poetry — “When you imagine a poetry reading, the scene that comes to mind probably doesn’t involve battalions of underwear-slinging admirers,” begins a 2011 article about open mike night and poetry slams around New York City. View this related slide show, then invite students to attend a local poetry slam, or watch “Def Poetry Jam” in the classroom, then stage your own classroom or school-wide event.
Unofficial Poets Laureate — Read about Matt Harvey, who in 2010 became the official poet of Wimbledon, the world famous tennis tournament, whose duty is to write a poem a day about it. Have students learn more about what official poets like current U.S. poet laureate Natasha Trethewey or former poet laureate W.S. Merwin do in this position, and about the poet laureate of your state or city. Have them read the poet’s work, then think of other poets whose work might make them good candidates to be “official poets” of something — and of what. Or students can themselves become the designated poets laureate for a topic of their choice, preferably one that is little-written about, like baseball.
Best of the Best — Share Prof. Dean Rader’s list of the 10 best poets in history. Have students read or revisit their work, then write essays that respond to Professor Rader’s. Those who disagree with his choices can make lists of their own, complete with suggested reading lists. Or, students might write their own poetry-related lists like Best Poems, Best Books of Poetry, Best Poets of the Past Decade, Best American (Canadian, Irish, West African and so on) Poets, Best Student Poems, Best Poetry Written in a Language Other Than English or Best Poetry in Translation.
Telling ‘Where I’m From’ — Many teachers will already know the George Ella Lyon list-form poem “Where I’m From.” As Mr. Lyon writes, “People have used it at their family reunions, teachers have used it with kids all over the United States, in Ecuador and China; they have taken it to girls in juvenile detention, to men in prison for life, and to refugees in a camp in the Sudan.” In the project that resulted in the video above, young people at Open Meadow Alternative School and the Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Home were inspired by this poem, as well as by Willie Perdomo’s “Where I’m From,” to write their own verse about identity and community. They then learned to create hinged puppets and bring them to life through animation. Though this project might be too elaborate for most classrooms, schools might borrow the idea of making videos that bring a range of student work for the same assignment together. Or, consider pairing “Where I’m From” poems with the photography, writing or video ideas we suggest in our lesson What We Eat, Where We Sleep: Documenting Daily Life to Tell Stories.
Poetry Apps — Poetry Magazine celebrated its 100th year in print in 2012, and one thing keeping it fresh, this article reports, is poetry apps for readers’ smartphones. Above, a 2014 video review of even more poetry apps. How would students help infuse our smartphone and social-media- obsessed world with poetry in ways guaranteed to intrigue readers their age?
Party for Poets, Dead or Alive — Host an event in which students honor their favorite poets, researching the writers’ lives and finding ordinary details revealed in their biographies. Have students bring a dish to share that honors their poet’s favorite food or their native land (like Burns Supper Tuesday, which pays tribute to the Scottish poet Robert Burns). Students may also enjoy dressing up as the poet as they read from his or her body of work, or even staging a theatrical production or happening centered on a poem or poems. For inspiration, share with them this event based on Ernest L. Thayer’s classic poem, “Casey at the Bat.”
To Mark the Day — Look at the slide show “Seasons Greetings from Robert Frost,” which features chapbooks of the poet’s work that were released as holiday greetings. Then make illustrated chapbooks, using original or favorite poems to mark an occasion like a birthday or graduation — or celebrate Poetry Month with a chapbook of poems about poetry.
Trees, Transcendentalists and More — Read about how one teacher celebrated Arbor Day, then find an April event (spring break? the start, or end, of the Civil War? Earth Day?) to memorialize with poetry.
Verse for the Undead — Read about some new anthologies of poetry that explore the coming zombie apocalypse, and have students create their own undead-inspired verse, whether via limerick, haiku, or sonnets. Are zombies just metaphors for things like capitalism or racism? See what some in the article contend, then find evidence in popular culture for or against that interpretation.
Howl — How can poetry both reflect and transcend the era in which it is written? How can looking at a poem from multiple perspectives illuminate its meaning? These are the questions we pose in a lesson plan inspired by a movie about Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl.”
A Place for Poetry, Poetry for a Place — After watching and listening to “Mary Oliver’s Provincetown: A Poet’s Landscape,” or reading “For Wallace Stevens, Hartford as Muse,” or “The Bridge, My Muse,” have students look through personal photographs of favorite places, and then write poems inspired by them. (You might also take a look at other poems about places, such as Westchester or New Jersey.) Host an event in which students read their poems accompanied by a slide show of images.
Odes to the Unlikely — Love, death, the beauty of nature — these are perennial and rich subjects for poetry, but what about everyday objects like school buses and cellphones? Have students read Matthew Zapruder’s “The Prelude,” which is, in part, about Diet Coke, and “To Television” by Robert Pinsky, to inspire their own poems about quotidian details and objects that are generally not celebrated in verse.
Supplying the School — After getting permission, bring poetry to unexpected places around your school–perhaps inspired by these poets. Ask them to choose poems they have studied in school or elsewhere (or their own original works) to print and tape to cafeteria tables, bathroom mirrors, hallway walls, or even write in chalk on campus sidewalks. You might show students the Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk project in St. Paul, or the Poetry in Motion program in the New York City subway, to get an idea of what kinds of poems work well as public pieces.
Method to the (Divine) Madness — “What time do you sit down to write? Do you write your drafts in a notebook or on your computer?” These are the kinds of questions poets often hear at public readings and interviews, and which Brooklyn’s poet laureate Tina Chang addressed in the video “Birth of a Poem.” Have students research what their favorite poets have said about their own creative process and present it, along with a poem or two by him or her to the class. They might begin their searches with the Paris Review’s archive of writer interviews that date from the 1950s to the present.
Everyone, a Critic — Read a Times review of a poetry collection, likethis review of Maxine Kumin’s book “Where I Live: New and Selected Poems: 1990-2010.” Then read at least five poems by the same poet, preferably written over a long period of time, then write your own review, or assemble a poetry collection on the topic or theme of your choice, such as love or change.
Soothing Lines in Difficult Times — Ask the question “When do we most need poetry?”. Select poems you find uplifting or comforting, perhaps beginning with this sampler of “great apocalyptic writing” that “consoles even as it alarms.” Hold an in-class read-aloud or an evening reading called “The Poems That Matter Most.” Students may want to start a regular reading series, perhaps around other themes like poems that heal, bring laughter, challenge, instruct, assure and so on. You might use PowerPoint to project the poems, stanza by stanza, as the lines are read aloud, in this example featuring poems by Frederick Seidel.
Li Young Lee Vs. Jay-Z? — Share this article with accompanying song, which is about a singer-songwriter who turned to the poet Paul Muldoon to help him become a better lyricist. Host a debate in which students pit poems found in books against rap or other lyrics. Do lyrics need to be well-crafted for a song to be good? Can lyrics be considered poetry? Why or why not? Should both forms be held to the same artistic standards? To extend the activity, have musically inclined students set poems they have studied in school to music—and read lyrics aloud without musical accompaniment. (2011 Update: You might also be interested in our lesson plan on Jay-Z’s writing process.)
Recite, Memory — Have students choose a poem they will learn by heart to recite during your last class in April. Find tips to transform this potentially daunting task to a positive and meaningful experience (and one students may look forward to repeating) in our lesson By Heart. You might have students tell us what they chose by answering our Student Opinion question, What Would You Like to Have Memorized?
Poetry Contest – Take a page from some of the other Times blogs and hold a poetry contest, either school-, grade- or class-wide, or in a certain academic discipline. For inspiration, check out these past Times blog poetry contests:
- City Room’s New York City in Haiku contest
- “There Once Was a Fund Guy Named Bernie” and “An Economic Haiku Contest” from Freakonomics (the winners are here and here, respectively)
- “Poetry in Motion at the French Open” from Straight Sets
- “The Poetry of Science” from TierneyLab
- “Schott’s Vocab Is Splendid Because”, from – where else? – Schott’s Vocab.
Finding Poems Everywhere — Read some of Alan Feuer’s “found poems” made from “Missed Connections” postings on Craigslist. Mr. Feuer has written numerous such “Poetic Connections,” including this one, this one, this one and this one. Use these to create your own poems from newspaper articles, sports broadcasts, school lunch menus, field trip permission slips and the like. (Note that Craigslist specifies that “Missed Connections” is for users 18 and older and “may include adult content.” Teachers wanting to use Craigslist for this activity should choose appropriate “Missed Connections” posts for students to work with.)
Inaugural Poetry, Then and Now — Did you watch President Obama’s second inauguration and listen to Richard Blanco as he read “One Today,” a poem he wrote for the occasion? Guest blogger Carol Jago gives a brief history of inaugural poetry, then suggests discussion questions “One Today,” as well as activities for inaugural and occasional poetry in general in this post.
Why Afghan Women Risk Death to Write Poetry — Poems are the only form of education to which girls like Meena Muska have access:
Meena lost her fiancé last year, when a land mine exploded. According to Pashtun tradition, she must marry one of his brothers, which she doesn’t want to do. She doesn’t dare protest directly, but reciting poetry to Amail allows her to speak out against her lot. When I asked how old she was, Meena responded in a proverb: “I am like a tulip in the desert. I die before I open, and the waves of desert breeze blow my petals away.” She wasn’t sure of her age but thought she was 17. “Because I am a girl, no one knows my birthday,” she said.
Read this piece to understand the power of verse in a place where poetry has “long been a form of rebellion for Afghan women, belying the notion that they are submissive or defeated.”
From The Times:
Times Topics pages:
ArtsBeat blog: “The Reading Life: Parsing the Poetry Best-Seller List”
On the Web:
National Poetry Month
The Academy of American Poets, found at Poets.org, started National Poetry Month in 1996, and offer new ideas for celebrating it each year. For 2014, they are promoting their Poet-to-Poet project.
Poem in Your Pocket Day
Resources from The National Writing Project on reading, writing and teaching poetry, with special advice for the annual celebration of “Poem in Your Pocket Day.”
GottaBook’s 30 Poets/30 Days
GottaBook blog’s celebration of children’s poetry for National Poetry Month.
Scholastic: Celebrate National Poetry Month
A wide range of resources for all grade levels.
Favorite Poem Project
Program founded by the former United States poet laureate Robert Pinsky, in which Americans shared their favorite poems. Includes video documentaries.
A Poem a Day For American High Schools. From the Library of Congress.
From the Poetry Foundation, the online home of Poetry magazine. Includes podcasts, discussion guides, blogs and much more.
An anthology of contemporary poetry that features a new poem every day.
Edutopia | Integrating Daily Poetry in the Classroom: 5 Tools to Support Your Efforts
A post by Brett Vogelsinger, who has also written for The Learning Network