April is National Poetry Month and, to celebrate as well as supplement your lessons on poetry writing, we found this fantastic bulletin board submission at Scholastic Teachers. Designed by Melissa Dean, New York elementary school educator, the board makes use of *Georgia Herd's philosophy of poetry - that there are different "doors" that students can "unlock" when writing poetry.

According to Herd, there are six doors, including:

• The Heart Door. The poet taps into things that they love.
• The Wonder Door. The poet explores things that they have been wondering about.
• The Humor Door. The poet pulls from things they find funny or humorous.
• The Observation Door. The poet uses things they have observed in the world around them.
• The Memory Door. The poet pulls from personal memories.
• The World Door. The poet explores things that they are concerned about or things that they want for the world.

*Georgia Herd is an educator, poet, and author.

Doors of Poetry Bulletin Board

• Background: Pink bulletin board paper.
• Title: "Doors of Poetry".
• Border: Solid red trimmer.
• Decoration: 1) The Six Doors. Melissa chose six different colors as well as a symbol to create a poster for each of the doors on her bulletin board.
  1. On a sheet of pink construction paper, Melissa glued a red construction paper heart cutout, labeling the poster, "The Heart Door".
  2. Creating the shape of an eye {almond shape} on white construction paper, Melissa mounted it onto a full sheet of green construction paper and used a marker to add detailing {lashes, etc.} as well as script, "The Observation Door".
  3. Melissa pasted a yellow construction paper question mark cutout onto a sheet of violet construction paper, finishing the poster with the script, "The Wonder Door".
  4. Using dark blue and green, Melissa created a model of the planet Earth, mounting it onto a piece of light blue construction paper and scripting, "The World Door", to complete the poster.
  5. From white construction paper, Melissa created a thought bubble cutout, glued it to a piece of yellow construction paper, and scripted "The Memory Door" as a final touch.
  6. From white construction paper, Melissa created a thought bubble cutout, glued it to a piece of yellow construction paper, and scripted "The Memory Door" as a final touch.

Melissa mounted these on the left and right sides of the board, three on each side. 2) The Poems. Students were charged with the task of authoring several poems that unlocked each of the doors. These were scripted into handmade booklets, and the cover decorated to look like a door. Have your students start with a brown piece of construction paper, adding in details with markers and construction paper scraps, or provide them with a white piece of construction paper to design a door the color of their choosing. Melissa mounted these poetry booklets onto a full sheet of pink construction paper, added a small piece of red construction paper with their name scripted on it, and placed them in the center of the board.

This is a fantastic exercise for practicing poetry writing and a fun colorful way to display your students' works!

We'd love to know how you incorporate poetry in your classroom lessons and decor, so be sure to leave us a comment below!