Hope you know by now that April is National Poetry Month, and you have been celebrating poetry mightily all month with your children. Not quite? Well there are still a few days left this month to focus on poetry, and Poets.org has some suggestions as to how. They offer 30 of them to be exact, and you can find them here, but let’s focus on just a few that will be simple to do over this weekend:
- Sign up for Poem-a-Day and read a poem each morning.
- Memorize a poem. (This is great for you and the kids to do together!)
- Buy a book of poetry from your local bookstore (GCP suggestion: read some out loud with your kids).
- Celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day. The idea is simple: you and your children can select a poem you love, carry it with you, then share it with friends.
Here is the classic poem, “I, Too” by Langston Hughes (1902-1967) which is a great one for you and your children to try memorizing. However you celebrate, enjoy the last weekend of National Poetry Month!
I, Too
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh, And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed
I, too, am America.
Langston Hughes