Transform your poetry lessons with these fun poetry games for the classroom! They're a fantastic way to invite your students to write their own poems or find their new favourite poems!
Poetry exposes kids to rich vocabulary and teaches them to become critical and creative thinkers about language. As well as enriching student vocabulary and teaching students how to paint a picture with their words, it can also boost comprehension, expression and fluency skills, rhyme, rhythm, phonological and grammar skills.
It also is a great way to support struggling readers, as it is easier (and less overwhelming) for them to deal with small chunks of text at a time.
Whether you're trying to celebrate National Poetry Month or want to incorporate fun poetry activities throughout the year, these activities and games are a fun way to foster a love for figurative language and creative writing!
Why you'll love these poetry games for the classroom
The great thing about poetry is how quickly it can grab even the most reluctant students! The metaphoric language is so evocative and can draw students out of their shells.
Plus, many students are naturally drawn to poetry in the form of songs or music. Once they recognise how much poetry exists in their lives, they begin to write and appreciate poems in new ways.
There are so many different types of poetry and ways to teach poetry that you'll want to incorporate this type of literature every day!
How to Teach Poetry in the Classroom
So how do I use poetry to focus on and boost all of these skills?
You'll find 30 fun poetry games & activities later on in this blog post, but first - here's how I love to incorporate a daily poetry focus into our classroom weekly routine. This blog post outlines the full process that would be followed in an ideal world.
But, we are busy, and it can be hard to envisage fitting all of this into an already crammed curriculum- so you can pick and choose the parts that work best for you within each week. Some days will just be a mini lesson focus or quick lesson break, other days will be a more extended lesson.
As you will see, I like to focus on far more than just poetry- we also build our comprehension, vocabulary, reading, grammar, and creative thinking skills.
Selecting Focus Poem
I select one focus poem for the week. These later become our 'warm up' poems at the start of our poetry sessions. I choose poems not because they link to a particular Key Learning Area or theme, but because children will be engaged by them and enjoy them- some will make them laugh, others will make them think.
Across the week, a daily poetry focus session can look like this:
- SESSION 1: COMPREHENSION FOCUS
- SESSION 2: WOW WORDS/VOCABULARY FOCUS
- SESSION 3: FLUENCY/EXPRESSION FOCUS
- SESSION 4: WORD WORK
- SESSION 5: RESPOND
SESSION 1: COMPREHENSION FOCUS
- We start with a warm up (3-4 minutes)- these are poems from previous weeks which we quickly recite together.
- Teacher reads the Focus Poem (I may read it through more than once)
- Comprehension questions from teacher- a mix of literal ('the answer is right there') questions, background knowledge, think and search, reading between the lines, compare/contrast, making connections, and asking for student opinions.
- Comprehension questions from students. Some ways that I may do this include: providing students with question stems to ask the class, Think/Pair/Share, interviewing a character, or basketball discussions where the students bounce ideas off one another.
- If time allows, we read the poem together, or I read it to them one more time.
- Read for enjoyment- I read them any other poem purely for them to enjoy.
SESSION 2: VOCABULARY FOCUS
- We start with a warm up (3-4 minutes)- these are poems from previous weeks which we quickly recite together.
- I read our Focus Poem to the class. Then we read it all together.
- Vocabulary Focus: we unpack any unknown words, look them up, discuss when we could use them in our writing, and practice using them in sentences (either verbally or on mini whiteboards). We create a mind map of words that we collect throughout our poetry sessions, which I then encourage students to use in their writing.
- If time allows, we read the poem together again.
- Read for enjoyment- I read them any other poem purely for them to enjoy.
SESSION 3: FLUENCY/EXPRESSION FOCUS
- We start with a warm up (3-4 minutes)- these are poems from previous weeks which we quickly recite together.
- We read our Focus Poem together (once or twice)
- Fluency/Expression focus: we work on expression, fluency, phrasing, pace, intonation etc. I particularly model to the students how they can use their voices to reflect the words that they are reading. E.g. in one of our favourite poems “The Super Tilting Hurlacoaster”, we use our voices to demonstrate words and phrases like 'nose-dive', 'threw me to and fro', 'queasy' or 'loop the loop'.
- Read for enjoyment- I read my students any other poem purely for them to enjoy.
SESSION 4: WORD WORK
- We start with a warm up (3-4 minutes)- these are poems from previous weeks which we quickly recite together.
- We read our Focus Poem together (once or twice) and ensure that we use the fluency/expression that we worked on yesterday.
- Word/Letter Work focus: using words from the poem as inspiration, we do some letter/sound work based around particular focus/es. These could be rhyme, contractions, strong verbs, adjectives, adverbs, similes, personification, or whatever focus you like!
- If time allows, we read the poem once more together. By this stage, students will probably know the poem off by heart, and will be reciting it with a lot of fluency and expression.
- Read for enjoyment- I read them any other poem purely for them to enjoy.
SESSION 5: RESPOND
This session can often take a little longer.
- We start with a warm up (3-4 minutes)- these are poems from previous weeks which we quickly recite together.
- We read our Focus Poem together (once or twice)
- Respond: Students respond in a creative way to the poem. I often just use drawings, but their responses could be anything creative, depending on how much time you have to dedicate to it! Some examples could be making a tune/rap, acting it out, making a poster, writing a review, continuing the poem, writing a story, painting etc.
- If time allows, we read the poem once more together. Students will most likely know the poem off by heart by this stage.
- Read for enjoyment- I read them any other poem purely for them to enjoy.
Where to find poems?
There are lots of wonderful, vocabulary-rich poems out there! One website that I recommend is https://fizzyfunnyfuzzy.com/poems. I've included some more free alternatives at the end of this blog post!
What to prioritise if you can't do it all?
At the very least, I try to ensure we read through our focus poem a couple of times a day, add new wow words to our vocabulary display, and spend some time on comprehension questions/fluency and expression. If I have time, I also schedule some time for responding to the poem, grammar work in relation to our focus poem, reading poems for enjoyment, and re-reading past poems together!
Ready to add poetry to your weekly lesson plans? Get my free poetry slides to help your students stretch and extend their understanding of each new poem.
30 Fun Poetry Games for the Classroom
These fun poetry activities would be wonderful for the Respond section of the poetry lesson plans above. They invite your students to take what they've learned from the poem each week to transform it into something new!
1. Make a tune or a rap
The most popular type of poetry these days comes in the form of a song or rap. Invite your students to write their own song and perform it!
2. Write another part of the poem
Imagine the poem hadn't ended. How could they add to it to take the poem in a different direction? Or could they write the poem from someone else's perspective?
3. Draw a picture
Since poems are so evocative, you could either have your students draw what they think is happening in the poem or invite them to draw how the poem makes them feel. This is a great activity for identifying mood!
4. Make a poster
Whether they want to advertise the poster or represent it visually, a poster can be a great way to encourage your students to spend extra time with a poem.
5. Write a review
Students are pretty used to rating things days with social media! How would they rate this poem? How many stars? What did they like? What did they not like?
6. Write a letter to the poet
What would your students want to ask or tell the poet? Have them write a letter to reveal their thoughts and questions.
7. Assign blackout poetry
In this poetry activity, you'll give your students a sheet of text, like a piece of newspaper or a full article from a magazine. Have them blackout any words they don't want and leave only the ones they do not want to create their own blackout poem. These look super cool and are one of my favourite poetry activities!
8. Host a poetry slam
Once your students have all composed their own poems, host a poetry slam for them to share their creations. Invite the school administrators or other important people to be the judges. This one is so much fun and is especially great for older kids or even high school students.
9. Have a poetry walk
Take your students for a nature walk, then invite them to write a poem about something they observed or noticed. It can be helpful to start by sharing other observational poems about nature first.
10. Make found poetry
Found poetry is made by combining lines or phrases from other texts. Think of it as a poetry collage. This activity is a little more manageable for older elementary students or middle schoolers.
11. Incorporate spoken word poetry
The beautiful thing about spoken word poetry is how playful you can be with the different sounds in poems. These allow the poet to express themselves in unique and compelling ways. For emphasis, your students can practice alliteration, onomatopoeia, code-switching, and various other literary and linguistic practices to express themselves in a unique way.
12. Write an I Am From Poem
Especially for younger students, this is a great way to help them play with sensory language for the first time. Inspired by George Ella Lyon's poem that sparked a movement, "I am from" poems can easily be scaffolded by incorporating sentence stems.
You can even assign students a link to this I am Poem generator for distance learning!
13. Draw out concrete poetry
Concrete poems, including shape poems, are written with consideration for the visual representation of the poem. This could look like writing a poem about the sun in the shape of a sun, etc. These are a lot of fun and can get really interesting and beautiful!
14. Write acrostic poems
Acrostic poems are a great opportunity for younger children who might not be ready for the full process of writing poetry. Choose a word to inspire their poetry, write it vertically, then have them write a word or phrase that starts with each letter of the initial word.
For example, they could write the word "winter" vertically, then create phrases starting with each individual letter in the word to share something about the season.
15. Join the Favourite Poem Project
Join the Favorite Poem Project and invite your students to interview people about their favourite poems, then share them with the class.
16. Create poetry journals
To cultivate a culture of poetry, have students make a designated writing journal where they can keep their initial drafts or keep track of their inspiration.
17. Stick some magnetic poetry tiles
Display magnetic poetry tiles on a metal surface in your classroom. Make this a station in your learning centers or invite students to use it whenever they would like to, which will help you foster a community of poets in your classroom.
18. Create book spine poetry
Similar to found poetry, you can have students write their own poems by stacking book titles. These are fascinating and such a fun surprise! It really limits the word choice available, so your students will need to be thoughtful about how to string the words together.
19. Paint chip poems
Paint chip poems are like letter tiles, but for poems. Each paint chip has different words or phrases that your students can string together to create a new poem. They are physical, interactive, and beautiful!
20. Read verse novels
Instead of a regular novel, incorporate novels written in verse in your class read-alouds. They are typically quick to read, and young writers will be inspired to see the ways the poets shape their poems and adjust them to tell the story in different ways.
21. Write a haiku tunnel book
These 3-D books are the best way to publish your students' haikus! They're absolutely stunning and would easily become a treasured heirloom they'll want to hold onto forever.
22. Memorise a poem
There's something so powerful about teaching yourself to remember something challenging. Encourage your class to memorise either a poem you assign or one of their choice (with some length requirements, as needed). Have them recite their poems to the class in a poetry reading!
23. Write an ice cream poem
If you've never read Jack Prelutsky's poem "Bleezer's Ice Cream," you're in for a treat! For this poetry writing activity, have your students add 4-5 ice cream flavours to the list. You can even have them draw a long ice cream cone and colour the scoops in different colours to match. This one will get really funny! It's so much fun for elementary students.
24. Sing it
Have your students turn their favourite poem into a song to perform in front of the class! This is a great partner or small group activity, especially. This is the perfect way to think about tone, intonation, and pacing.
25. Act it out
Encourage your students to perform a poem in a new way. Give them some creative leeway to act or perform the poem in a way that suits them, whether that's dance, turning it into a skit, or something else.
26. Analyse a popular song
Once your students understand rhyme scheme, alliteration, and other poetic devices, invite them to look for those things in a popular song and then share their findings with the class. This is a great project for middle school students, high schoolers, or advanced upper elementary students.
27. Picture-based poetry
Offer a few different compelling photos and invite your students to write a poem about what they see or feel. Invite them to play with figurative language or even the shape of the poem to make it stand out.
You can also do this with wordless picture books as well. The best part is that this poetry challenge tends to be really accessible, even for students with writer's block or who think they aren't creative. It's also amazing to see how differently the students in your class interpret the same images!
28. Paper bag poetry
Fill a paper bag with a variety of items and invite students to feel for an item one at a time. They should then create an original poem to share the experience or describe the item in a unique way.
29. Nursery rhyme blocks
For really young students, you can add the each of the words to popular nursery rhymes (or phrases from the rhymes) onto large paper blocks. Then, invite your students to put the blocks together in order. This is a great way to really focus in on the words in a rhyme and practice fluency.
30. Pop Sonnets
For older students, invite them to transform their favourite song into a Shakespearean sonnet!
Since they must be written in iambic pentameter, these are best suited to older students. You could simplify the process for younger students to make them sound Shakespearean (or old-fashioned) without adhering to the same constraints. These make poetry fun and are so memorable!
Where to find poems for kids?
There are lots of wonderful, vocabulary-rich poems out there! These are some of my favorite spots.
