The Poetry Times

If you have the words, there's always a chance that you'll find the way.
~Seamus Heaney

Today's National Poetry Month printables are for making poetry newsletters. When I was looking up what teachers' favorite printables are, "blank newsletter template" came up. I wondered how to make that poetry-related and came up with The Poetry Times.

My idea was that students could interview one another, either about their experience of being poets or about their favorite poems. There could also be guest interviewees, such as librarians, principals, P.E. teachers, etc. answering questions about their favorite poems.

If students have already been writing poetry in class, you're set. If they've already been reading poetry in class, same thing. If they haven't, you can take your class on a reading excursion to the school library or you can bring poetry books into your classroom. The students could explore the books, looking for potential favorite poems. I'm including a printable "favorites list" worksheet so they can take notes about their potential favorites as they are searching. (If you have poetry up in your halls, you could take the class on a "field trip" to read those!) After the students have lists, they can interview each other and write up their responses in their own newsletter.

Without further ado, here are this week's free printables:

* The Poetry Times template (The top section of the newsletter can include a poem, an illustration, and/or a drawing of a book cover. The other two sections are for interviews, but do what you like!)
* Student Poet interview form (Generally for students interviewing their fellow students about their experiences as poets, but they can also use the forms to interview the teacher.)
* Favorite Poem interview form (with figurative language info on the back)
* Potential Favorites List worksheet

Speaking of illustrations, if you would ever like to use Poetry Monster images for your projects, the gallery is here.

Here's the 1st printable for National Poetry Month: Poetry in the Halls

Karen Edmisten has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Karen!