Welcome to the AB April Poetry Challenge!

April is National Poetry Month! It is a wonderful time to read, consider, and write poetry.

My invitation to you is to come to this spot and write with me.

My personal goal is to write a poem every day. But I will not beat myself up if I need to skip a day or two...or three. Any poetry is better than none!

HOW IT WORKS:

Each morning I will post a poetry prompt. Because I am involved in a teacher-poetry group also (and I don't think I can write TWO poems a day!), I will adapt their challenges for us. (Many thanks to Ethical ELA for this model of poetry writing and sharing!)

Give yourself 10-20 minutes a day to write a poem. Some days it won't take that long. But if you find yourself writing LONGER than that, try to rein it in. You will be less likely to succeed in a month-long writing challenge if the time investment gets out of control. 

I like to write with mentor texts inside a table, like this. The strategy helps me notice aspects of the model poem I might miss otherwise. 

After writing your poem, post it in the comments. Then take a minute to notice something positive about the other poems left in this space. Here are suggestions for kinds of comments that are helpful to growing poets: 

Here are some various goals you might like to aim for:

1) Write at least five poems during the month of April.

2) Write every Sunday (or pick a day!) in April.

3) Write 10 poems!

4) Write 20 poems!

5) Shoot for the moon (and land in the stars!): 30 poems, one for each day of April!

Please comment in the space below and let me know if you're up for the challenge! If you'd like to set your goal publicly, you can do it here! While you're commenting, tell us one WORD you especially like. Mine is "thriven," which is the word "thrive" (which I also like!) in the past-participle form!

Happy writing,

AB