Poetry is in season at Northwest Elementary School. Throughout April, which is National Poetry Month, second graders wrote their own poems before sharing their original works in early May.
As a Mother’s Day treat, students in Nancy Davi-Ortiz’s class welcomed in parents for a poetry reading on May 9. Children wrote poems about their mothers, which they shared aloud when their special guests arrived.
The Adams Family Poetry Café returned on May 10. The annual event in Franca Adams’ classroom highlights the hard work of her young poets as well as the confidence they have gained as writers throughout the school year. Students wrote dozens of poems and each selected his or her favorite piece to share. Parents were encouraged to snap, instead of clap, after each reader just like at a real poetry slam.
Ms. Adams sent their pieces off to the Student Treasures Publishing Company to be turned into a book, which will be used in her classroom as a mentor text. Her future students will be able to use the book to see examples of good poetry.
“The students have grown so much as writers,” she said. “They’ve done an amazing job and now they actually are published authors.”