April 2025 Reading Challenge - Granite State Home Educators (GSHE)

Inspired by reading challenges offered by many public libraries but limited to people in those specific communities and the success of our 2023 Reading Challenge, GSHE is organizing a 2025 Reading Challenge for NH’s homeschool community!

It is just for fun, to help young readers explore new authors, subjects, and genres. Our monthly challenges will be very broad so families may choose whatever book they wish and feel is appropriate for their children.

Participants are not required to complete book reports, give oral presentations, create a formal project, or send in anything to GSHE. Families are free to incorporate our reading challenge into their child’s learning as they see fit. If you choose to keep a record of participation, it can be part of your child’s homeschool portfolio!

Participation

For 2025, GSHE will not collect reading logs, track participation, or issue a year-end prize. Families are free to extend the Reading Challenge in any way they wish; perhaps provide a monthly incentive to encourage your child’s reading such as a new book if they complete all monthly challenges.

For kids that are not reading independently, audio books and books you read together are perfectly fine. Any reading ability is welcome to participate.

Let’s get started!!

For April, read some poetry!

April is national poetry month! It started in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets as a special recognition of the role that poetry has on culture and literature.

When asked “Does poetry matter,” the Academy of American Poets answered this way:

“Perhaps no other art form is asked to defend its value, impact, relevance, and existence as often as poetry. Through the centuries poets have explained how poetry connects us to ourselves. With a mastery of language and its possibilities, poets elevate the material of everyday communication to art that requires reflection and contemplation, and ultimately elucidates our location in the world.”

One of the most recognized and celebrated American poets is Robert Frost. Although he was not born in New Hampshire, he lived and wrote many of his famous poems in Derry. Consider adding a field trip to the Robert Frost Farm! The historic site is open to tours from May through October for a small fee, and the grounds and trails are open to the public at no cost year-round.

There are dozens of different poetic forms, each with unique characteristics and structure. Here are common types:

Haiku: This is a traditional Japanese form of three lines with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern, often about nature.

Epic: This is a long narrative poem that has a celebratory tone about great achievements and heroes. Homer’s “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” are classics.

Limerick: This is a humorous style of five lines in an AABBA rhyming pattern. Famous limerick poets include Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling, John Updike, and Ogden Nash.

Ballad: This narrative poetic form tells a story about a person or event, often with a repeated line that is called a refrain.

Sonnets: This style originated in Italy during the Renaissance, is often 14 lines with a specific rhyme scheme. Shakespeare is one of the most famous sonnet poets.

Couplet: This refers to two lines in poetry that rhyme with each other to complete phrases or concepts.

Free Verse: This style does not have a traditional form or rhyming pattern.

Here are sources about various styles of poetry.

BBC Maestro: 18 Poetic Forms Every Poet Should Know

BookBub: 10 Essential Types of Poetry

Jericho Writers: 25 Different Types of Poems to Explore

Literacy Ideas: 7 Types of Poetry for Kids (With Examples & Tasks)

MasterClass: Poetry 101 – Learn about Poetry, Different Types of Poems and Poetic Devices with Examples

Vibrant Teaching: Types of Poems for Kids to Read and Write