Explore ways to celebrate National Poetry Month for people of all ages, including special tools developed for the classroom, especially for K-12 students and educators.
Jump to "Resources for All Ages"
Jump to "Resources for K-12 Educators and Students"
Resources for All Ages
Sign-up for Poem-a-Day, curated this month by Willie Perdomo, and read a poem each morning.
Sign-up to receive a free National Poetry Month poster, featuring an excerpt from “Gate A-4,” a poem by former Young People’s Poet Laureate and Academy Chancellor Naomi Shihab Nye, as well as artwork by New York Times–bestselling author and illustrator Christy Mandin. Download the PDF and display it for the occasion.
Read 2024’s most-read poem by a contemporary poet, Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Kindness,” or the most-read classic: Dylan Thomas’s “Do not go gentle into that good night.”
Record yourself reading a poem and share why you chose that work online, using the hashtag #NationalPoetryMonth.
Subscribe to the Poem-a-Day podcast.
Check out a book of poetry from your local library.
Begin your meetings or classes by reading a poem.
Talk to the teachers in your life about Teach this Poem and encourage students in grades five–twelve to participate in the Dear Poet project.
Revisit an iconic poet or classic book of poems through the Academy’s literary seminars.
Share a poem for Poem in Your Pocket Day on social media using the hashtag #PocketPoem.
Read about your state poet laureate.
Read a poem before you go to bed.
Buy a book of poetry from your local bookstore or on Bookshop.org! Check out “enjambments,” a monthly interview series highlighting emerging and established poets’ latest poetry collections.
Send a poem to your accountant or tax preparer.
Create an online anthology of your favorite poems on Poets.org.
Organize a poetry reading, open mic, or poetry slam in your neighborhood.
Learn more about poetry readings near you.
Donate books of poetry to free libraries and mutual-aid networks.
Research and volunteer with poetry organizations in your area.
Take a walk and write an ode to an object that you encountered.
Read and share poems about the environment in honor of Earth Day.
Start a poetry reading group or potluck, inviting friends to share poems.
Attend Poetry & the Creative Mind on April 24, 2025, a free, virtual reading of favorite poems in celebration of National Poetry Month.
Read essays about poetry, like former Chancellor Edward Hirsch’s “How to Read a Poem,” Mary Ruefle’s “Poetry and the Moon,” former Chancellor Mark Doty’s “Tide of Voices: Why Poetry Matters Now,” Muriel Rukeyser’s “The Life of Poetry,” and Chancellor Kevin Young’s “Poems of Grief and Healing.”
Write an exquisite corpse or a renga with friends.
Browse the glossary of terms and try your hand at writing a formal poem.
Make a gift to support the Academy of American Poets’ free programs and publications and keep celebrating poetry year-round!
Resources for K-12 Students and Educators
- Invite your students to watch living poets read poems and have them write responses through Dear Poet project.
- Learn more about our free lesson plans and other educational resources on Poets.org with this brief video guide featuring Academy Education Ambassador Richard Blanco.
- Begin each day or class period with a new poem.
- Find your local state, county, or city poet laureate, or find out how you can create a local poet laureate position.
- Talk to your school librarian about getting new poetry books.
- Send your students on a scavenger hunt for favorite poems in the Poems for Kids section of Poets.org.
- Ask your students to choose a poem to read aloud to their families.
- Organize a reading of your students sharing original or favorite poems out loud.
- Ask each student to create an anthology of their favorite poems.
- Show your students these poets’ definitions of the word poetry and ask them to provide their own.
- Decorate your learning environment with the National Poetry Month poster.
- Read and share poems by Arthur Sze, Chancellor Emeritus of the Academy of American Poets and the twenty-fifth United States Poet Laureate.
- Explore the glossary and introduce your students to a different poetic term every day.
- Sign up for Teach This Poem to receive a weekly poem, classroom activities, and multimedia resources.
- Have your students make and send greeting cards to their family members featuring lines of poetry.
- Browse these lesson plans about ars poetica poems and assign your students to write their own.
- Follow a poetry lesson from the book Teach This Poem, Volume I: The Natural World.
- Have your class choose poems and write them in chalk on the sidewalk or driveway.
- Invite your students to read about ekphrastic poetry and write poems in response to their favorite pieces of art.
- Make a playlist of audio recordings of poets reading their work and ask students to share it with friends.
- Publish a school-wide literary journal or anthology of student poems.
- Help your students find poetry events in the Poetry Near You calendar.
- Celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 30, 2026 and ask your students to mail or email a poem to someone in their community.
- Talk about immigration and heritage in the classroom with these selections of poems and lesson plans.
- Browse this selection of poems about spring.
- Have your students illustrate poems and hang them around their homes.
- Celebrate Earth Day with this lesson plan which asks students to build a birdhouse out of reusable materials.
- Assign your students to watch and write a short essay or poem as response to a select Blaney Lecture recording.
- Challenge students to create a poetry notebook and write one poem per day.
- Broaden your poetry knowledge and attend a literary seminar for adult learners.
Read more ways to celebrate National Poetry Month outside of the classroom.