If you’re anything like me, you’re quickly realizing that National Poetry Month is right around the corner! My middle school teachers have very little time outside of what they are required to teach, so sometimes collaborations can be difficult. However, as I was scrolling the recent We Are Teachers article 35 Inspiring Poetry Games and Activities, all I could think about was how easy some of these activities would be for almost any teacher to include poetry in what they are already doing. I quickly brainstormed ways that some of these ideas could be used with history, science, world language, and more. Whether it is a full class, graded assignment or a simple warm up activity, students will be inspired by these new ways to interact with poetry!

Keep in mind, though, not to sell any particular kind of poetry activity to more than one content area at a time. Students will get really tired of writing the same kind of poem in every class they visit! Instead, pick and choose which “flavor” of poetry fits best with each department. If you have your own classes that visit the library for Library Time, you could use these yourself, too!

1. The “I Am” Poem (The Persona Project)

This one is a classic for a reason. It uses a template of sentence starters (I wonder, I see, I pretend) to help students step into another perspective. Use this template from We are Teachers if you need a quick structure for students.

  • Social Studies: Students take on the persona of a historical figure or an average person living through a specific era.
  • Science: Move from humans to the molecular level! Have students write as a carbon atom, a cell membrane, or a tectonic plate, depending on what they are learning at the time.
  • Career Investigations: Students can research a job and write from the perspective of someone “on the clock” (e.g., “I hear the hum of the server room” for an IT specialist).
  • English/Language Arts: This would be a great way for students to deep-dive into a character’s internal conflict or speculating on a minor character’s Point of View. Want an extra challenge? Have students write this I Am poem with something inanimate, like a meaningful part of the setting or object.

2. Scrabble Tile Starters (The Randomized Prompt)

Shake up a bag of Scrabble tiles and let students draw 3–5 letters. These letters become the starting point for their poem’s lines or the inspiration for their vocabulary. Poems can be as short or long as time allows.

  • Science/Health: If a student pulls C, R, and O, they might write about Carbohydrates, Respiration, and Oxygen as their topic. As another idea, the teacher might ask for a poem about being healthy and these words could begin the three lines of their poem.
  • World Language/ESOL: Students draw a letter and have to think of or find a vocabulary word in that language to use in a poem.
  • Math: Use the letters as variables! If they pull an X, they have to write a “mini-bio” for that unknown value.
  • Civics/Social Studies: Pull three tiles to create an acrostic about a founding principle like Liberty or Justice. If a student pulls F, L, and S, they might write:

    • Freedom for all people,

    • Laws that are fair,

    • Speaking our minds without fear.

3. Found or Blackout Poetry (The Treasure Hunt)

This activity really can be done in any content area! Students don’t have to come up with their own words—they just have to “rescue” them from a page of text. While black marker is ideal, you could have them use a simple line through the discarded words, crayon, or even another marker color.

  • Science: Give students a copy of a textbook page or even a Newsela article. They “black out” everything except the words that describe a specific process, like photosynthesis.
  • Social Studies: Use copies of primary source documents for Blackout poetry or for Found Poetry, students can lift phrases from a slide deck presentation or other resource. Students find words to create a poem that expresses the feeling of a time period rather than just the facts.
  • World Language: Teachers provide a page of text in the target language. Students circle only the words they recognize to form a “found” poem, building their vocabulary confidence. This would also be a great opportunity for teachers to talk about lyricism in the studied language.
  • Library Life: Perfect for those weeded books that are too damaged to circulate. Let students tear out a page and create art-meets-poetry!

4. A to Z Class Poetry (The Knowledge Quilt)

Give each student a different letter of the alphabet. They have to write a line or a short verse related to the current unit that begins with that letter.

  • Vocabulary Mastery: Use this to build a “Dictionary of Discovery” for any subject (e.g., in a Finance unit, A is for Assets, B is for Bankruptcy).
  • Unit Review: Compile everyone’s letters into a digital book (like Canva or Book Creator) to create a student-led study guide for the whole class.

  • The Adjective Abstract: Challenge students to write a poem using only adjectives starting with their letter to describe a specific topic or vocabulary word. This is a great way to build descriptive language skills for all learners. Then, combine students’ lists with others to create a full list of adjectives about that topic.

    • Example Topic: School

      • A: Academic, active, aspiring

      • B: Busy, bustling, bright

      • C: Creative, collaborative, crowded

5. Collaborative Couplets (The Partner Poem)

Students work in pairs or trios to write two rhyming lines based on a prompt or a “mentor” quote.

  • The “Famous Quote” Challenge: Give groups a short quote from a famous scientist, mathematician, leader, or even from a fiction novel. Each group writes a second line that “answers” the quote or applies it to what they are learning. Another option is to give the whole class the first line and have groups write the second line. Students will love seeing the similarities and differences between groups’ creations! 
  • Science Labs: After an experiment or activity, students summarize their findings in a single couplet. It’s the ultimate exercise in being concise.
  • Battle of the Books: If you have a Battle of the Books club, one person, trio, or group could write a couplet describing a plot or character of a book. Then, when everyone is done, they can share with the rest of the group to guess the mystery title.

Overall, National Poetry Month can be as loud or quiet as we want to make it – or have the capacity to make it. Sometimes collaborations with teachers can feel like a large undertaking, but hopefully these activities will make poetry accessible to teachers and content areas who may not have tried poetry before. 

What easy ways do you integrate poetry into the curriculum? Comment below!