Please join us in celebrating National Poetry Month!

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend April 2018 Happy National Poetry Month!   Since National Poetry Month was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world, with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets celebrating poetry's vital place in our culture. We hope the following poems and activities will inspire you to keep bringing poetry into the classroom all year long.

Lesson Plans for Introducing Poetry   Whether your students are encountering poetry for the first time or are already familiar with the art form, the lesson plans in this collection will help you help them engage with poems in a meaningful way. 30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month in the Classroom Last Chance to Receive the 2018 National Poetry Month Poster Poetic Sensibility: What It Is and Why We Need It in 21st Century Education Dear Poet Project 2018   Invite your students to participate in the Dear Poet Project by writing letters in response to videos of our award-winning Chancellors reading their work. We will consider all letters for publication on Poets.org in May 2018, and our Chancellors will reply to select letters of their choosing.   And, for the first time ever, American Girl—one of our 2018 National Poetry Month sponsors—is pleased to offer participating classes the chance to win a Gabriela McBride doll. We'll provide teachers with more information about this opportunity, if your class is eligible, once we've received students' letters. Dear Poet Project 2018   Students are welcome to write letters to Elizabeth Alexander, Forrest Gander, Linda Gregerson, Terrance Hayes, Jane Hirshfield, Marilyn Nelson, Alicia Ostriker, Alberto Ríos, and David St. John as part of this year's Dear Poet project. Poem in Your Pocket Day   On April 26, people across North America will carry poems to share with others throughout the day. Download a packet of poems for the occasion, which includes a free guide for how to celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day in schools, bookstores, libraries, public spaces, and on Twitter (with #pocketpoem). Sharing the Celebration   We want to hear from you! Please email us your photos and videos of how you celebrate National Poetry Month in the classroom, and feel free to join the celebration on Twitter (with #nationalpoetrymonth)! Poems for National Library Week Lesson Plans for Earth Day Recommended Reading: Alphabet Zwoop Announcing National Poetry Month Partnership with News-2-You   For National Poetry Month, we partnered with News-2-You to develop resources for special education. The special, extended edition of the News-2-You newspaper features an article about poetry and National Poetry Month, a poem, and a series of poetry-related activities, all symbol-adapted for students with unique learning needs. #NCTEchat on Teaching Poetry   We recently participated in a Twitter chat hosted by the National Council of Teachers of English around the topic "Teaching Living Poets." Take a look at the archived conversation, which also featured our education ambassador, Richard Blanco. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038