Ready, Get Set...Rhyme!

Next week (April 11-17) is Young People's Poetry Week. What a great excuse to dig out your Shel Silverstein books. Mr. Silverstein is my favorite children's poet. Heck, maybe my favorite all time poet--at least I can understand what he's talking about!

A somewhat random thought: I pulled out a bunch of my college writing papers last night--I now realize there was a reason I quit writing for so many years. Those professors took all the fun out of reading and writing, which probably explains why I tend to be drawn to...shall we say...less serious reading and writing these days.

The Children's Book Council has these suggestions for celebrating Young People's Poetry Week:

Celebrating Young People's Poetry Week
1. Take a poetry trip to the library.
2. Read and discuss a poem every day. See our list of new poetry titles.
3. Help students memorize a poem and recite it to a family member.
4. Encourage students to write a poem every day. Try our poetry starters.
5. Host a poetry reading.
6. Host a Bad Poetry Reading.
7. Have students create an in-class display of favorite poetry books.
8. Share these crossword puzzles with your students.
9. Have students create a bulletin board of their favorite poems by famous poets, including illustrations.
10. Publish a book of poems by students, each student contributing his or her best work. Give a copy to the library for the shelves.
11. Print and share with your students the Nikki Grimes Q&A, our Young People's Poetry Week poet for 2005 answering a few questions about her life and work.
12. Share the Jane Yolen Q&A.

And, sometime this week, when I'm not writing while holding a baby in my lap (rare), I'll provide my own ideas....along with a few "poetry lessons" to get you started.