April Is Poetry Month

The Academy of American Poets created National Poetry Month in 1996.It has been held each April since then. Poetry month is the largest literary celebration in the world. Libraries, book sellers, schools and poets celebrate in a variety of ways.

Find out about Poetry month at this website: http://www.poets.org/national-poetry-month/home

Follow poetry events taking place nationwide at @POETSorg,

Tweet about your own using #npm15.

They call to him

_{by A. Gagliardi}

He spots their roundness yards away.

Whatever else he sees, I cannot say

but anyway, his gift dismays me.

He sees cold hard cash. He is one with them.

Yes. He detects coinage in all

their calibrated hiding places,

playing peek-a-boo in the grasses,

sleeping along the edge of the road, nestled

amongst the fallen leaves,

peeping from the concrete lip

of the sidewalk as we stroll hand in hand.

He sees each and every one.

They call to him, ringing out their round sound.

Summoning, beckoning – exclaiming their presence. Pick me!

Pick me! They shout for him.

As a homing pigeon he spies their curvature

of green or darkest brown,

the coins not one other person has found.

They signal and he hears their ballooned sphere

hollow and muted, yet distinctively there.

He picks them up, caresses their continuity

. . . and gives them all to me.

The above poem is for, and about my husband who finds cold, hard cash where ever he travels.

Walking My Dog

_{By Annette Gagliardi}

Walking my dog in Springtime

scrutinizing yards for freshly awakened buds of

Crocus & Hyacinth

that peek from lingering snow and reach

their necks recklessly into the frosty air,

unaware their presence sends the thrill of

long-anticipated regeneration through my soul.

Walking my dog during summer

before the buzz of the noon-day bee

and the lawn-mower- hum and the

heated roar of the mid-day sun.

As morning tip-toes softly into the day,

we slowly make our way, listening to the music of

Bluebirds and Orioles singing their summer hymn.

Walking my dog in Autumn

Through the out-of-chlorophyll fragrance of leaves that

crunch beneath my feet and the

mellow-mushroom-smell of decomposing.

Someone’s grilled-steak-scent mingles with

the acrid dog refuse I carry as we

stroll the fermented atmosphere.

Walking my dog in winter

as fast as we can, before the arctic air

and the mind-numbing-bone-chilling cold

renders us immobile on the snow-laden streets.

We hurry, shivering our way home,

feeling glacial cold penetrating our coats as we

scramble inside the safety & warmth of our home.

The above poem is about my dog, a Cocker Spaniel who now lives in sunny LA with my daughter.

Here are a few ideas for teachers that will help them incorporate poetry into your lessons.

1. Invite a poet to visit your classroom.

2. Create a writing center with poems and poetry prompts.

3. Host a Poetry Slam with your students offering their poems to parents or other guests.

4. Create a poetry book library in your classroom.

5. Have students illustrate their favorite poem.

6. Give each student a new notebook or folder to collect poems this month.

7. Have a poetry luncheon: Ask students to bring a sandwich and a piece of fruit. Stay in your classroom for lunch (or go outside under a tree) and read poems about eating, or about foods. (Such as William Carlos Williams' poem, "This is Just To Say")

8. Have a listening center in your classrooms where students can listen to poems being read.

9. Ask students to type, write or illustrate book marks with poems and then hand them out around the school to staff members, or to share them at home.

10. Host a "Poem in your Pocket" day or week at your school. Have students share the poems in their pockets with staff and parents.

11. Have a poetry parade: students/staff dress up as their favorite poet and recite poems as they march.

12. Post videos or audio tapes on your school website, of students choral reading favorite poems.

_{by Eve Merriam}

Don't be polite.
Bite in.
Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that
may run down your chin.
It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are.

You do not need a knife or fork or spoon
or plate or napkin or tablecloth.

For there is no core
or stem
or rind
or pit
or seed
or skin
to throw away.

Read this poem at lunch or before snack time in your classroom for poetry month. Ask the students what their favorite food is and to think of all the adjectives to describe that food. Invite the students to write a poem about their favorite food.

Here is my current favorite food poem:

ripe bananas

_{by A. Gagliardi}

the used-to-be-butter color

now turned to brown

makes me want another

fruit since this one’s grown

too mushy and old

I don’t want to hold

it or eat it at all

I’d rather fall

down a well

than have you tell

me to eat it

I think I’ll beat it

into a mash

make a little hash

of sweetbread

instead

Poem in your pocket day was originally planned and carried out by the office of the mayor of New York City, along with the New York City Departments of Cultural Affairs and Education in 2002, as part of National Poetry Month celebrations.

In this age of mechanical and digital reproduction, it’s easy to carry a poem, share a poem, or start your own Poem in Your Pocket Day event. Here are some ideas of how you might get involved:

• Start a “poems for pockets” give-a-way in your school or workplace
• Ask local businesses to offer discounts for patrons carrying poems
• Post pocket-sized verses in public places
• Have volunteers form a street team to pass out poems in your community
• Distribute bookmarks with your favorite poems
• Add a poem to your email footer
• Post a poem on your blog or social networking page
• Text a poem to friends

Poem in your pocket day is set for April 30th. However, our fifth graders plan to distributes poems to every student and staff person in the school at the beginning of the week, so participants can memorize their poem.

This section is dedicated to Mr. Feely's fifth grade student's poems.

Check out my other hubs that where written for students and include student's work.

The color of couplets: http://agaglia.hubpages.com/hub/The-Color-of-Couplets

Fish Poems at: http://agaglia.hubpages.com/hub/Fish-poems

Third graders tried their hand at Cinquains: http://agaglia.hubpages.com/hub/cinquains

I challenged the first graders to write a food poem at: http://agaglia.hubpages.com/hub/ripe-banannas-and-other-food-poems

I set aside space for second graders to write about winter at: http://agaglia.hubpages.com/hub/winterypoetry