Poems for Black History Month and Valentine's Day

Your students could be published on Poets.org!

Every National Poetry Month, we present Dear Poet, a multimedia project that invites young people in grades five through twelve to write letters in response to poems written and read by award-winning poets. This year, we present Dear Poet 2024 in collaboration with 826 National, the largest youth writing network in the country. 

Submissions for the 2024 Dear Poet project are now open until April 22. Invite your students to choose from nine videos and submit their letters, or you may also submit your students’ letters. Select letters will receive a reply from the poet and be published in a booklet on Poets.org.

Teachers can also use Spark lesson plans on voice and exploring connections from 826 National. More information and resources can be found on Poets.org.

The Academy of American Poets, along with Scholastic, is pleased to present the 2024 National Poetry Month poster in celebration of the active role poetry plays in young people’s education. The poster features artwork by award-winning children’s author and illustrator Jack Wong, and lines from “blessing the boats” by Lucille Clifton. The poster will be distributed free-of-charge to 85,000 classrooms, libraries, bookstores, community centers, and homes in time for the April 2024 occasion of National Poetry Month, the largest literary celebration in the world. Teachers can also use the Teach This Poem lesson plan featuring the poster.