31Websites for Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month. For thirty days, we celebrate the value and joy that poetry brings to our world.  According to the Academy of American Poets, the goals are:

• Highlight the extraordinary legacy and ongoing achievement of American poets
• Introduce more Americans to the pleasures of reading poetry
• Bring poets and poetry to the public in immediate and innovative ways
• Make poetry a more important part of the school curriculum
• Increase the attention paid to poetry by national and local media
• Encourage increased publication, distribution, and sales of poetry books
• Increase public and private philanthropic support for poets and poetry

All across the nation, school, teachers, students, libraries, and families celebrate by reading, writing, and sharing poetry. Here are fifteen websites that do all that and more. Share them with students on a class link page like the class internet start page, Symbaloo, or another method you’ve chosen to share groups of websites with students:

Acrostic Poems

From ReadWriteThink–students learn about acrostic poetry and how to write it

Classical Poems for Kids

A collection of classical poems for children ranging from fun and lively to solemn and thought provoking

Crocodile’s Toothache

Video of a Shel Silverstein poem

Famous Children’s Poems

Classical children’s poetry including Tyger, Teddy Bear, Paul Revere’s Ride, and more

Favorite Poem Project

Americans sharing poetry they love. This includes videos of poems being read, including Frost’s Stopping by a Wood on a Snowy Evening

Fizzy Funny Fuzzy Poetry

An easy-to-maneuver website with fizzy funny fuzzy poetry by Gareth Lancaster

Giggle Poetry

This collection of fun poetry also includes poetry theatre, games, and a class

Glossary of Poetry Terms

Great collection of poetry terms that students can refer to. Includes domain-specific words like ‘blank verse’, ‘caesura’, ‘limerick’, and more

Kids Magnetic Poetry

Students drag-and-drop from a collection of words to a canvas, name their poem, then publish to Facebook or saved to student’s digital portfolio

Magnetic Haiku poetry

A great way to write this ever-popular form of poetry. Can be printed from the site

Magnetic poetry—big collection

One of the largest word collections I’ve seen. It shows how many people are playing with you. Must be saved with a screen shot.

Musical poem—write poem, add music

Students write their poem and it is put to music available on the website. Can only be saved via screencast

Poetry Engine—writes poem for you

 Step-by-step directions for writing a poem. Allows students to write haikus, free verse, limericks, and more. 

Poetry for Kids

A funny poetry playground funny poetry playground from Children’s Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt

Poetry Splatter

Choose a title and create the poem with words that are splattered on the page

Rhyming Dictionary

Enter the word and find rhymes–it’s that easy

Shaped Poems–fun

Fun website that walks students through the creation of a poem in a shape. One of my students’ favorites

Shel Silverstein’s poetry website

Poems, books, games, and more

TED: Why Poetry (video)

The Griffin Poetry Prize founder, Scott Griffin, talks about the importance of poetry

Word Mover

Create poetry using pieces of existing poems

Write Poetry and Decorate it

Select words, add a background, and share your poem

If you’re looking for iPad sites, try one of these:

1. Diamante Poems
2. Acrostic Poems (iPad, Android)
3. Poems by Heart From Penguin Classics (iPad – Free with in-app purchases)
4. Shakespeare’s Sonnets (iPad – fee)
5. Visual Poetry – Word Collage (iPad – fee)
6. Poetry From The Poetry Foundation (iPad, Android)
7. Haiku Poem (iPad, Android)
8. Poetry Magazine (iPad)
9. Theme Poems (Free – iPad, Android)
10. Word Mover app for iPad

What are your favorite poetry websites?

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-8 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, CSG Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, CAEP reviewer, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, and a weekly contributor to TeachHUB. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

updated 4-13-16