What a great way to start the summer term with a bit of poetry!  April is National Poetry Month and there are so many great resources out there to inspire our young poets.

One idea I found and plan on using is having a ‘Poem in Your Pocket’ day.  Simply pick a day and everyone finds a favourite poem to keep safe in their pocket.  During the day they share it with others, read it quietly, critique it and finally at the end of the day they can give their poem away to a friend. This could so easily move onto exploring song lyrics, their rhyme,  rhythm and implicit meanings which again is a great way to keep the boys hooked!

Here’s a powerful poem for older children (they sometimes don’t get the significance until they notice the date…)

The Garden

A little garden,
Fragrant and full of roses,
The path is narrow
And a little boy walks along it.

A little boy, a sweet boy,
Like that growing blossom.
When the blossom comes to bloom,
The little boy will be no more.

Franta Baas (1930-1944)

A couple of websites you might want to explore – lots going on here!

http://www.readingrockets.org/calendar/poetry/

http://teacher.scholastic.com/poetry/

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