Poetry Month

To celebrate National Poetry Month, we offer resources to encourage engagement with diverse voices through poetry. We also offer a range of resources allowing you and your students to access these materials: digital, print, audio, and video! Check out these diverse ways to include all learners in celebrating poetry.

Read, Write & Listen: In celebration of 25 years on National Poetry Month, The Telling Room has created an anthology of poetry by Maine students.  A New Land celebrates life in Maine while offering diverse perspectives of youth from a variety of countries. Last year, every Maine high school library received a free copy of this anthology, and the Telling Room has created a toolkit for teachers to bring these poems and writers into the classroom. The Telling Room site provides a PDF of the poems and links to Check out these resources and let MCELA and let colleagues know how you used this anthology and the resources.

Write: Wondering how to bring the writing of poetry into your classroom? Try this resource - Poetry in Schools. This guide for teachers allows you to create your own unit of poetry and to learn about new ways to inspire students to hone their craft. Check it out!

View & Listen: Check out this spoken word performance from Abdul Ali, where he reads his piece “System is a ‘Chess Game’”. From Maine Kids VOICE: “Abdulkadir Ali is an Ethiopian-American social activist, who brings his voice and experience to advocate for racial and criminal justice here in Maine. From human rights to community leadership, Ali is working to address issues that continuously occur in silenced communities caused by systematic oppression.”

View & Listen: ICYMI - Check out the Maine Poetry Out Loud Finals from April of 2021. Watch and listen to Maine students bring alive familiar and newer poetry. If you are a high school teacher, consider how you might participate in future POL competitions. Of course, any teacher can host their own celebration of the spoken word!​

Looking for more? Check out the NCTE Position Statement on “Resolution on the Need for Diverse Children’s and Young Adult Books.” And NCTE Verse.