When I first started having my high school students participate in Poem in Your Pocket Day, they thought I was nuts. Carry a poem around in my pocket for a day? What? Take it home and read it to people? What? Have them sign the back of the poem? What?
Of course, it helped that I awarded bonus points for the signatures, which many of the students then turned into a competition. Here’s what happened: Poems were being read everywhere that day. In the halls, the bathrooms, the classrooms, at lunch, in the parking lot. Students took them to work and made their bosses and customers listen to them. Some of my more dramatic students mobbed people on the sidewalks and read poetry to them. For some reason the downtown Dollar General store was a favorite place for them to grab an audience.
Teachers, please take advantage of Poem in Your Pocket Day. This year it is Thursday, April 24, 2014. It is a great way to have fun with poetry. So much happens from this simple act:
A poem is valued
People communicate
Laughter ensues
Thought is invoked
Emotion is evoked
Families interact
Words are shared
Life happens.
Visit this page for more information about Poem in Your Pocket Day.
–Shaun Perkins
