In April, Falk students celebrated National Poetry Month with class read-alouds, composition activities, special guests, and more.

Starting on April 1, an interactive poetry display was placed at the front desk in Falk's lobby. On their way into the building, students and teachers were encouraged to take a poem from the colorful stacks and share it with their classes and peers. Beyond the front desk, a copy of the National Poetry Month poster, which is selected from a national student design contest each year, was posted in the Falk Library window to raise awareness for the month.

Throughout April, second graders worked on acrostic name poems in Kevin Goodwin's class while first graders in Carolyn Mericle's class focused on figurative language, similes, and metaphors. During the April Buddy Read, they teamed up with their Intermediate buddies to read books of poetry together.

On April 10, fourth graders celebrated Poem in Your Pocket Day by writing down original poems on index cards, stowing them in their pockets, and sharing them with friends and passersby.

The following week, local poet Judy Robinson visited fourth-grade classes for a read-aloud and creative writing activity. Ms. Robinson, whose children attended Falk years ago, began by reading "Pale Blue Light," "Spring Fever," and "modesty*," pausing after each one for student reflection and questions. Next, she read "If Not Exactly Human," a fun and imaginative piece about living life as something other than a person.

After a brief discussion of the poem's tone and themes, students used a fill-in-the-blank template to create their own versions, saying they would have brain power, ideas, and the ability to live; would be a library, a dog, or a mushroom; and would not be used, despised, or a box. The poems were later scanned and shared with Ms. Robinson, who was "utterly charmed" by the "funny, poignant, brilliant and wonderful" fourth-grade works.

In sixth-grade, students used songs from their "Locura de Marzo" (March Madness) music bracket to make blackout poems. Starting with a printed copy of their chosen song's lyrics, students "blacked out" (or in this case, drew over) words they wanted to remove, leaving only ones that spoke to them. They ended up with unique poems, often with a completely different tone and meaning from the original song. Afterward, students wrote reflections about the process, including information about the artist/poet, a description of the song and poem, and the meaning of their creation.