APRIL is National Poetry Month

Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

Sources and Sample Activities:
1.) http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/41
This website from the Academy of American Poets includes information on the history of National Poetry Month.

2.) The 2009 poster features the lines "Do I dare/Disturb the universe?" from T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" at http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20220 and in TextFlows format at http://www.textflows.com/player/playFlow/20220.

3.) http://www.readwritethink.org/calendar/calendar_day.asp?id=478
In honor of National Poetry Month, students are introduced to a variety of poetic forms. One (or more) student each day is assigned as "poet of the day" for the month of April. Students are provided with several models for creating different forms of poetry, such as Shape Poems, Acrostic Poems, Diamante Poems, or Instant Poetry Forms. Each student might select one form of poetry and write an original poem, which he or she may also illustrate. On their assigned days, students will read their poetry out loud to the class.

4.) http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=246
Is a Sentence a Poem?
Students are given (or directed online to) a picture and asked individually to describe the picture in one sentence of less than twenty words. Afterward, the class analyzes syntax, imagery, and meaning in a chosen one-sentence poem by a canonical author to decide what makes it a poem. Students return to their own descriptive sentence to decide whether it is, is not, or could be a poem, justifying their reasoning. This exercise encourages students to dissect an established poem while defining the characteristics of the genre of poetry. Students then apply their knowledge during reflection upon their own work.

*Excerpts accessed on March 31, 2009.