This is National Poetry Month. “What is a poem?” might be the first question that students ask after, “why is it National Poetry Month?” The answer to that first question can be found in a TED-Ed lesson titled What Makes a Poem…a Poem?

By watching What Makes a Poem? students can learn the origins of poetry, the characteristics traditionally associated with poems, why poems don’t always rhyme, and the format of a haiku. The video can be seen as embedded below.

Take a look at Read Write Think for some poetry lesson ideas that incorporate their free Word Mover app.