Haven’t gotten around yet to celebrating National Poetry Month in your school or classroom? Feeling kind of guilty about it, aren’t you? (I’m feeling kind of guilty that we haven’t mentioned it till now.) Well, you still have next week, and here’s a nice opportunity: Thurs., April 26, is National Poem in Your Pocket day. On that day, readers are encouraged to find a poem they love and carry it with them to share with colleagues, friends, classmates, etc. If you need materials, the Academy of American Poets has an extensive online poetry library, as well as a special selection of pocket-sized printable poems. The Poetry Foundation also has a good, perhaps more idiosyncratic online collection. Meanwhile, on her blog on edutopia, Lisa Michelle Dabbs offers some practical suggestions on how teachers can incorporate the poem-in-your-pocket idea into their lessons.
A version of this news article first appeared in the Teaching Now blog.