It is National Poetry Month and no matter what you teach you can celebrate by asking students to carry a poem in their pockets this Thursday. Students can either choose a poem (poets.org will be a great resource for this) or write their own.
If you teach math, science, physical education, art, technology, or a foreign language, this assignment might be especially interesting as your students will not be expecting a poetry-writing task from you. Imagine the fun, however, of asking geometry students to write a haiku about angles or charging those in your PE class with writing an Ode to Cardio. What a great literacy across the curriculum idea!
Asking students to share their poem with several classmates during the day (or week) is an easy and novel way to work on reading fluency. Further, if you have students who use augmentative communication systems, this exercise provides the repeated practice needed by so many users of new or complex systems.
About Paula Kluth
