We Are Kicking Off Poetry Month With Lots Of Fun!

This was posted on John Schu and I's blog Two Libraries One Voice today, too.  

Today is April 1st and the start of one of our favorite months.

It is National Poetry Month!

In April every year, the Academy of America Poets celebrates Poetry Month.

On the Poets.org site it states, "Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month is now held every April, when publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets around the country band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events." 

One of the BEST events that they promote is Poem In Your Pocket Day....this year being held of April 26th. On this day, everyone is encouraged to find a favorite poem or write a new poem and put it in your pocket.  

Last year, we celebrated Poetry Month and Poem In Your Pocket Day together for the first time.  You can see how we celebrated by watching this Animoto of the special day at Brook Forest and Van Meter Schools. Throughout the day, we shared poems and celebrated poetry.  It was a blast seeing everyone in our schools and friends around the world get involved in this day.

This year, our friend, Sarah Ducharme, a teacher librarian in Budapest created a Google Doc for all of us who wanted to connect on Poem In Your Pocket Day.  Thank you, Sarah. :) 

Today, we planned out our schedule and activities for Poetry Month.  

We worked in the Google Doc that we set up for Poetry Month a few weeks ago.  Through the chat feature and by writing in the document itself, we were able to plan some very FUN celebrations, projects and connections. 

We will be creating Spine Poetry again with our students.  We will turn the photos into a collaborative FlipBook that will be shared with our schools and friends.

Our first and second graders are going to create collaborative Little Bird Tales and...

Tikatok eBooks featuring poetry and illustrations they create.

We will also be using our iPads and iTouches to create poetry.  We will use apps like Visual Poet.

We found time to connect each day this week with different classes to celebrate the kick-off for poetry month.  During these connections we will discuss Poetry Month and Poem In Your Pocket Day, show the Animoto from last years celebration and tell our students how we are going to work together to create digital eBooks, poems and other art work.  

And of course....we will be sharing a little poetry with them too. 

This is going to be a wonderful month. 

We can't wait to hear you are going to celebrate National Poetry Month too! 

It's Almost National Poetry Month....Time To Start Connecting & Planning Some Fun!

This week all of us are having the best time celebrating World Read Aloud Day with LitWorld's and our friends around the world.

I am having such a fun time in our library and really love seeing what everyone has going on in their library, school, and community too.

Around this time every year I am so happy when I receive this little envelope in the mail that contains the poster for National Poetry Week.

When I saw the beautiful poster for this year created by Chip Kidd inside of the envelope last week, I also knew that this meant this wonderful celebration in April would be here before we knew it.

At Van Meter, we celebrate National Poetry Month and poetry all throughout April.

We also celebrate Poem In Your Pocket on that day....and throughout the week too so everyone can participate.  This year it will be on April 24th.

One thing that makes National Poetry Month and Poem In Your Pocket Day extra special for us are all of the connections that we make with poets, authors, classrooms, librarians, teachers, and others around the world.

And it is never too early to start planning.....So let's start connecting and planning some fun!

I put together the Let's Connect During Poetry Month Google Document that we can all use to start this collaboration.

Please read the top of the document and add your information.  Then just started connecting and making plans.

On the Poets.org website from The Academy of American Poets there are lots of amazing resources for Poetry Month, Poem In Your Pocket, and all things to do with poetry. 

There is even a link at the top "For Educators" that will take us to beautiful projects and ideas like the one above.  

They have definitely included something for everyone on the website. 

Also, follow the Academy on Twitter at @POETSorg and 

on on Facebook, The Academy of American Poets. 

Thank you Academy of America Poets for bringing us all such a special day and for celebrating poetry with us all year long.

Celebrate Poetry Month With Lots Of Awesome Digital Tools & Resources.....and Have Fun Connecting With Others

Tomorrow is the first day of April and the start of one of our favorite months at Van Meter.

It's National Poetry Month and time to celebrate poetry, connect with poets, create all kinds of poetry, and share with all our friends.

One thing that I have created to help our students and others celebrate poetry is the Poetry, Poetry, Poetry Symbaloo.

This Symbaloo filled with lots of fun websites for our young people to create poetry....They love visiting these sites to learn how to write and create all kinds of poems.  There are also places to read wonderful poems and connect with amazing poets.

I have placed this Symbaloo on all of our grade level webmixes so they can find it easily and connect with poetry all through the month.  We have a lot of wonderful activities and projects plans.

And the BEST part....Lots and lots of exciting connections with our friends around the world are being planned!

A few weeks ago I posted It's Almost National Poetry Month....Time To Start Connecting & Planning Some Fun.  It gives you a few ideas on how to get connected to others too.

And there is a link to the Google Doc where several of us have already started connecting.  Please visit Let's Connect For Poetry Month & Poem In Your Pocket to sign up and start making fun plans for your students and school too.

Happy Poetry Month, friends.....Please share your ideas on Twitter by using #PoetryMonth.  If you have any websites and resources I should add to the Symbaloo, let me know too.

Here Are Poems For Your Pockets & Lots Of Fun Plans With A Few Of Our Favorite Poets, Authors, Songs, & Books!

As the weather warms up and the flowers start to bloom, we know that April is right around the corner.

And that also means that National Poetry Month is here.  

The website states, National Poetry Month is the largest literacy celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K-12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary event curators, publishers, bloggers, and, of course, poets marking poetry's important place in our culture and our lives. 

There is a very special day during the month that we all love to celebrate too.  

It is called Poem In Your Pocket Day.  

On this day, we celebrate by selecting a poem, carrying it with them, and sharing it with others throughout the day at schools, bookstores, libraries, parks, workplaces, and on Twitter using the hashtag #pocketpoem. 

         

You can read even more about Poem In Your Pocket Day on the Academy of American Poets website.

Also, you must watch this Animoto which shows John Schu and I's Poem In Your Pocket Day from 2011....It was so much fun!  

We celebrate poetry together by creating, sharing, finding, and reading poetry over Skype all week long.  It make such an impact on our entire school community and was day they looked forward to year after after. 

As we prepare for Poem In Your Pocket Day this year, I have planned a fun day with a few of my favorite poets, authors, publishers, teachers and students.  

My dear friends Mrs. P and Robert Forbes, who are both poets, are going to join me for a Google Hangout on April 25, 2016 with friends from Iowa, Colorado and a couple more places around the world.

We will be sharing poems from our pockets, creating poetry, and hearing poems from Mrs. P and Robert too.

Also, we have asked our wonderful friends at Cantata Learning and Capstone to join us.

They will be sharing poems, songs and books in the Google Hangout and online with all of us too!

I will share more details about the GHO on April 25 soon....And will tell you how you can be part of this fun celebration with all of us.  

To get ready for our Poem In Your Pocket Day Celebration, I have created several little poems that can be copied, edited, printed and shared with your students and communities for their pockets. 

I created these using Canva....my favorite graphic design tool!  It is very easy to use and by following this link you will be able to go to this set of poems and posters.  

I have created 15 poems for you to use.... Mrs. P and...

and Robert Forbes wrote a few for our celebration, two from one of my favorite poetry books Sing a Song of Popcorn, several from Cantata Learning including Happy and You Know It and Spring,    

and one by Blake Hoena from the Capstone book, Trust, Truth, and Ridiculous Goofs: Reading and Writing Friendship Poems. 

You can get them from the Poems and Poems for Poem in Your Pocket Day Google Doc. 

I included each poem as 4 on a page so it is easy to make copies and cut them out for your Poem in The Pocket Day. 

And a poster that is a full size sheet of paper.  

Remember....you can find this in Canva at this link to even make your own changes to the pocket for a poster. 

It is very easy to change the size and format while you are printing these pockets.  I made stickers from the pocket above.  I just selected 16 copies per page and then can either Print or Save as a PDF to use later. 

I used this for the poster and notecards too. You can select any size and make it really easy to make multiple copies of poems for everyones pocket.  

I would let my students and teachers pick from poems I had printed off....I just put them in a basket for them to look through easily.  Many of them wrote or found their own poem too.  The most important thing is that everyone has a poem in their pocket to share on that day. 

I also made this set of poems in Canva available as an editable design, so you can make copies and put in your very own poems too.  Or even posters, notecards and stickers just for your special Poem In Your Pocket event at your library, classroom, school, or community event.  

You can get them at this link.  

This would be a great activity to do with poems students and teacher write themselves or even finding their favorite poems and phrases from books and songs.  

You could go to the Cantata Learning website with your students and  have them listen for their favorite parts of these beautiful books....There is something for everyone here.  And the poetic words and phrases would be perfect for a poem in your pocket.  

As you prepare for Poem In Your Pocket Day and Poetry Month we have places you can go....

Brianna and I put together a Poem In Your Pocket Day Pinterest Board filled with ideas, projects, blog posts, poetry, pockets to print and use, and more.

We also created the April is National Poetry Month Pinterest Board which is growing every day.

And, the Poetry Month Symbaloo is a terrific collection of resources and places to find poetry but also filled with amazing digital tools that lets your students create their own poetry too.

You can find several poems for children and adults in this Poem In Your Pocket Day packet that the Academy of American Poets put together for us to download and print.

I will share more details about the GHO on April 25 soon....And will tell you how you can be part of this fun celebration with all of us.  

There are so many ways to celebrate poetry everyday but in April we hope you join us as we celebrate poetry, writing, words, songs and reading on Poem In Your Pocket Day....It is a day that will make a difference and one that your students, teachers and friends will always remember.

And you must listen to this sweet little song from my friend Emily Arrow as you get ready for Poem In Your Pocket Day....Thank you for the reminders Emily and I think we better keep one in our pocket all year long.