Poetry Interactives

April is National Poetry Month so I have been looking for some great poetry interactive activities to share with everyone. My favorite go-to book of poems is Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. To make reading fun, I would let my students choose a poem they liked and they would be encouraged to practice reading it with intonation, expression, inflection, and fluency throughout the week. At the end of the week students would take turns presenting their chosen poem to the rest of the class. Students fell in love with the poems and from then on would always be looking for poetry books during library time. Here are a few interactive resources that I found that would be wonderful to implement into some of your poetry lessons.

Shel Silverstein's Official Site -  you can download a Poetry Workshop Kit or browse for lessons, activities, and games.

I used the poem Hector the Collector by Shel Silverstein to create the word clouds below.

Tagxedo - this is an excellent way for students to create shape poems. You can select from their shape menu or upload your own. There is also the option to customize the font and color scheme.

Wordle - is another great website where students can create word clouds and customize the layout, font, and colors scheme.

ReadWriteThink - there are several fun poem interactive activities students can complete. You can click on the images below to be taken directly to them.

RIF Reading Planet - Poetry Splatter is fun for all ages. Just choose a poem from the list and start filling in the poem with words splattered on the screen.

 

Rhyme Zone - Perfect for helping you create your own poem. You can search for rhyming words, synonyms, antonyms, homophones, similar sounding words, and a lot more options! I wish I was using this website a long time ago.

 

Giggle Poetry - Who doesn't love funny poems? This site has lots of funny poems for children to giggle away! You can explore Poetry Theater, Poetry Class, Poetry Fun, or even play word games. There are many things to check out on here.

And last but not least... Kenn Nesbitt's Poetry4kids website that has a plethora of poetry fun and information.

April isn't over yet so there is still plenty of time to check out these great resources for National Poetry Month. If you are like me, you'll spend just as much time as the students do reading all the fun poems! Enjoy :)