Poetry Month Activities

April is Poetry Month:

This play is based on a book of poems written by the author Vikram Madan. Here are some fun facts and examples of poetry.

What is poetry?

Poetry is written when the author wants to make the reader feel an emotion such as happiness, sadness, anger, fear, love, or excitement.

What is acrostic poetry?

An acrostic poem is a very fun poem for kids. Each acrostic poem has a topic idea running down the left side of the poem. Each letter in the topic word has a new thought that runs off the side from left to right and is relevant to the topic word. The topic word is typically the title as well.

What are syllables, and what are sonnets?

A syllable is a part of a word pronounced as a unit. It is usually made up of a vowel alone or a vowel with one or more consonants. The word "Sonnet" has two syllables: Son-net; the word "introduction" has four syllables: in-tro-duc-tion.

English Sonnets are a form of poetry that was created during the renaissance. English sonnets consist of 14 lines; three, four line stanzas accompanied by a two line closing stanza. The rhyming scheme for an English Sonnet is:

abab

cdcd

efef

This means that the first and third lines of each four line stanza rhyme and the second and fourth lines of each four line stanza rhyme. The two lines of the closing stanza should rhyme as well.

Each line of the stanza should have no more and no less than ten syllables.

What is a haiku?

"Haiku" is a traditional form of Japanese poetry. Haiku poems consist of 3 lines. The first and last lines of a Haiku have 5 syllables and the middle line has 7 syllables. The lines rarely rhyme.

Here's a Haiku to help you remember:

I am first with five

Then seven in the middle --

Five again to end.

Because Haikus are such short poems, they are usually written about things that are recognizable to the reader. Animals and seasons are examples of recognizable topics children might enjoy exploring.

Families and Teachers: Try making poetry with your children and students during this month of poetry

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