2022 Post #29 -- Discover Something New

 by Brett Vogelsinger

Believe it or not, the least-used shelf in my classroom library is the poetry shelf.  I share a poem every day of the school year with my students, and most find it to be an enjoyable routine.  But when it comes time to make a choice for independent reading, poetry collections and anthologies are never their first choice. (Novels-in-verse, however, are a different story; they tend to fly off their shelf!)

One day during National Poetry Month, I pull the books from that shelf and scatter them across the desks for the students arrive.  Click the link in the tweet below to see a video of what this looks like!

Today for #PoemADay I pulled books 📚 from the poetry section of my classroom. We defined “poetry collection” vs “poetry anthology.” Read for a few minutes. Find a poem that’s worth sharing aloud w a friend in the class. pic.twitter.com/VirGqHobZ8

— Brett Vogelsinger (@theVogelman) April 6, 2022

 Each student has at least two poetry books on their desk. On the board I have two definitions:

• Poetry anthology: a book of poems by various poets around a theme
• Poetry collection: a book of poems written by the same poet

"Check the books on your desk," I say. "Can you tell which type of books you have right now?"

I continue, "Pick one of these books, and let's take five minutes of silent reading.  If the first one doesn't grab your attention at all, you have a second book available too. In that short time, find a poem or part of a poem that you'd like to share aloud. First we'll share with a seat partner, then a second time with a different person of your choice."

By the time our Poem of the Day routine is complete on this day, the students have read/heard a minimum of three poems and experienced the joy of choice reading, all in a short span of time at the start of class. The room is full of discovery. Maybe they will even sign out one of the books from that unfrequented poetry shelf in my classroom library!

If you do not have a poetry section in your classroom library, try this activity with the help of your school librarian and a squeaky cart that brings the book to your room.  Some teachers call this sort of thing a book tasting and fill the room with red-checkered tablecloths to add the ambiance. 

Since no particular link to a poem is featured in this post, below are links to five poetry books I think would make a good start to a classroom poetry library for middle or high school. Dust regularly. Read daily. 

Further Reading: 

Brett Vogelsinger is a ninth grade English teacher and NBCT at Holicong Middle School in Doylestown, PA. He is the founding editor of Go Poems, facilitates his school's literary magazine, Sevenatenine, and contributes monthly posts at Moving Writers. Follow him on Twitter @theVogelman.  His new book for teachers, Poetry Pauses, will be available from Corwin Press just in time for National Poetry Month 2023.  

2021 Post #25 -- Achieving Victory

by Nathan Harris

Earlier this school year, I introduced my eighth graders to “Victory”, a poem by Sherman Alexie. I asked six volunteers to read it aloud to the rest of the class (one student per quatrain), and then I asked them to read it to themselves while answering one question in their notebook: Why does the father weep? A large number of students thought that the father wept because he was ashamed of and disappointed in his son’s actions, whereas a smaller number of students were able to correctly recognize that the father wept out of shame for his own inability to provide the best for his son.

I then briefly lectured to my students about the concept of identity, which had been a topic of ongoing conversations in my classroom since we read The Outsiders. My students were first reminded that part of our identity is written without our say: who are parents and family are, how and where we are raised, and everything that comes with the ripple effect from those circumstances and decisions. None of us can alter the exposition of our lives.

But then I present the most encouraging news of all: the story of their lives is still largely unwritten. Just like Ponyboy Curtis and the boy from the poem, my 13 and 14-year-old students are realizing that the biggest part of their identities is going to be shaped by their own decisions going forward. No matter their beginnings, all of my students are now old enough and capable enough to make decisions that can put them in a position to be happy, maximize their talents, and achieve their own victories as they do their best to write the rest of their life story.

Further Reading:



My name is Nate Harris, and I am in my seventh year of teaching English Language Arts at the middle school level. I am excited and humbled to be a part of a collection of inspirational ideas. I have not had any social media since my senior year of college, but I can be reached at nharris@cbsd.org.