Posting poetry

Here’s a tidbit that I picked up from a teacher that I think is a wonderful way to promote poetry. Post poems in places children stand, stare, and wait. In her classroom she posted a poem on the wall above the pencil sharpener. Whenever kids sharpened their pencils, they stood idly and read a poem. Ingenious! (Are there still pencil sharpeners on classroom walls?!) I started to think of other places throughout the school where children stand and have a moment to read a poem.
* at the water fountain
* on doors
* on lockers
* at entrances
Can you think of other places? This kind of incidental sharing of poetry is a lovely, gentle way of making poems a part of children’s everyday lives. In addition, once this practice is established, kids could take over choosing favorite poems to post on a rotating basis. They could copy their favorites (for handwriting practice), create an original illustration to accompany the poem (for an art activity), or even share their own original poems. They might even have creative ideas for WHERE to post poems. And when it’s time to take down a poem and replace it with a new one, the “old” poems can be compiled in a class anthology to revisit in book form. Surrounding children with poetry in these incidental ways shows children we value poetry as an everyday part of life. We know children are learning from us and from their surroundings every minute. Why not maximize their absorption with their environment by infusing poetry in subtle, yet powerful ways?