Ignite Literacy Services

This is my first spring to experience in my new home in middle Tennessee and this weekend tulips bloomed in my front yard, a delightful surprise to herald in April which is National Poetry Month and state testing.

Poetry is the perfect activity for those state testing days when students’ brains are exhausted, the schedule is off, and teachers need something engaging yet easy to prepare.

When I was teaching 5th grade we held an annual “Poetry Madness” competition, where students competed head-to-head in reciting poetry using a competition bracket like March Madness in basketball. Each classroom’s winner would compete in a school-wide competition, crowning a student as the overall winner for the school. There was hoopla and trophies and it was the best.

Here’s how it works:

Use bulletin board paper to create a huge competition bracket, starting with one line for each student.

Print out a bunch of poems, one copy of each. Students can spend some time reading through them, taking the poem they want to learn to recite. Once students have their poems, they will write their name and their poem’s title on a line of the first column of the competition bracket.

Spend as much time as you need having students practice reciting their poems. Watch Poetry Out Loud winners for inspiration. Discuss speaking with expression, eye contact, and hand gestures. Have students analyze their poems, draw their poems, practice with a friend, line the wall and read it aloud, practice for homework, etc.

On the day of recitation (I think the first round took maybe three days to get to everyone because we were also doing other stuff) two students will recite their poems, then the class will vote on which one should move to the next round. You could create a rubric to use for grading and to help students understand what they are evaluating when they vote. To help feelings and be efficient, I had all students put their head down and then raise their hands to vote. I would count the hands, and then after voting would simply announce the winner without discussing the numbers.

Finish the bracket to find a classroom winner. Continue on with a block, grade-level, or school winner if you wish.

This is a great way to hit Reading Literature and Speaking and Listening standards and offer choice with lots of ways to extend.

If you try this or do something similar, let me know in the comments below!

Check out these other poetry resources:

• 41 Poems I Love to Teach in the Middle Grades
• Poem of the Week