April Reads and Poetry Month

Is it just me or is April always the quickest month?  Seriously, it flew by!  As quick as it was, I did manage to read 15 titles.  I set out to read as much poetry as I could but I ended up with a nice mix of genres and formats.

And because it's fun poetry month, here's a haiku:

fifteen books this month

so many to consider

Swing is number one

Swing by Kwame Alexander was my favorite of the month.  For me, the true test of a great book is  when I finish it I immediately want to talk or text about it.  

Thankfully, I have a book bestie!  

Proof:

If you don't have a book bestie - get one!  I'm available...

In honor Poetry Month, here's a blackout poem inspired by Swing.

If you haven't done blackout poems with your students yet- DO IT!  Every single time I've done this with kids I have been blown away!  In my experience you'll have kids begging for more time - once they get on a roll they don't want to stop.

You can photocopy pages of text...ANY piece of text works.  Or, even better, find a few old, worn-out, ripped copies of something and tear the pages out! You can use blackout poetry to respond to texts, to summarize content -just think of it as another form of writing! 

Here are 2 links I've used for blackout poetry with 5th graders:

https://prezi.com/0kcwb7gk_la0/blackout-poetry/

http://www.nowsparkcreativity.com/2018/10/the-easy-guide-to-blackout-poetry.html

Did you read or write any poetry this month?  What was your favorite April read?  

I'd love to hear from you in the comments.