How to Create Newspaper-Print Poetry

April is National Poetry Month, a perfect time of year to teach your students about poetry. Some kids might think poetry is boring, but you can change their minds by devising fun activities that have to do with reading and writing poetry. One fun way to get students involved in poetry writing is by having them express their creativity with newspaper-print poetry. All you need is lots of newspaper, scissors, glue and a bit of imagination.

Things You'll Need

• Newspaper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Construction paper

Instructions

1. Collect copies of the local newspaper weeks in advance of the project. If you subscribe to the daily newspaper, you'll be able to gather enough to distribute amongst students on the day of the project. Ask friends and family to save newspaper for you so that you'll have plenty of newspaper available for your students.

2. Tell students they will create their own newspaper poetry today. They must hunt for the words they need for their poem within the pages of the newspaper.

3. Distribute newspaper pages, including any advertising circulars inserted within the newspaper. Make sure each student has several pages through which to search.

4. Pass out scissors and glue to each child. Use child-safety scissors for smaller children. Give each student a piece of construction paper.

5. Ask students to flip through the newspaper pages to find words for their poems. Tell them their poems can be about anything they want. Stress to them that poetry doesn't have to rhyme. Encourage them to be creative with their poems.

6. Instruct students to use the scissors to cut interesting words from the newspaper and arrange them into a poem on the construction paper. Students must glue the words onto the construction paper to create newspaper poetry.

7. Present a poetry slam after every student has finished creating a poem with newspaper print. Students can volunteer to stand up in front of the class and perform their poem out loud. Students can use their favorite CD as background music to their performance. They can compete against each other to see who can give the most dramatic delivery. You can also collect the poems and have an outside judge determine which student wrote the best poem. Offer a small prize to the winner.

Tips & Warnings

• Encourage students to create poetry that does not rhyme, or free verse. If the students try to find rhyming words using newspaper print, it may stifle their creativity. Stress to them the importance of expressing their thoughts and ideas, not rhyming for the sake of rhyming.