The broad objective of this unit is for students to learn about poetry and develop some skills to use as we learn to listen to and enjoy a variety of poems together. Students learn to think about and communicate their importance in their understanding of the power of poetry. They will hear poems from many authors from diverse backgrounds and across time. Each time the students hear a poem, they can tuck a copy in their pockets and carry it around for the day.
Session One: Poem in a Pocket
Materials: a variety of pockets; lanyard material such as yarn, ribbon, and boondoggle of various colors; small rhinestones; stickers; buttons; fabric markers; permanent markers, such as Sharpies; glue; copies of the poem, printed and cut to fit in the pockets, approximately 3”x 5”.
To prepare for the unit, gather several clothing items with pockets, particularly a pants back pocket or a shirt front pocket. Cut the pockets apart from the clothing, leaving an inch or so around the perimeter of the stitching that holds the pocket to the background. Also, cut rectangles of card stock to match the size and shape of the pockets, to be used as support backing for the pockets. Once they are separated from the garment, they will lose some structural integrity and the card stock, attached to the back, will keep the pocket flat and supported. Attach the card stock and then punch two holes at the top of the pocket, one on the left, the other on the right, making the pocket into a necklace. The holes should go through all the layers. Students will select a lanyard to string through the holes, tie to secure, and place over their heads to adjust the sizing. They now have a pocket for their poetry collection.
With a variety of materials, students can customize their pockets, adding their names, decorating, and personalizing. While these are drying and setting up, it is time to introduce how their pockets will be used during the month.
The first poem to hear, learn, and then slip into their pocket – Keep a Poem in Your Pocket by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers.
Students should wear their lanyards during class time only and pockets should remain at school until the end of the unit.
Session Two: Poetry Toolbox
Materials: printed images (laminated), pocket chart, bulletin board area as alternate
Figure 1: Elements of a Poetry Toolbox
A visual aid to use with the students is a Poetry Toolbox. Each image is printed individually and tucked behind the picture of the toolbox. The toolbox can be positioned at the top of a pocket chart or tacked up on a bulletin board. Once the students discover a new tool, take it out of the toolbox and display it in the classroom. This not only helps them know what to can look for in a poem, but they can later use these tools when they are writing their own poems. The toolbox has laminated visual reminders of each tool we discover. A new tool will not be introduced each day, so often repeats and reminders of familiar tools can be helpful for each new poem. Images include love and friendship, colors, music, imagination, repeated words and repetition, onomatopoeia, alliteration, simile, and the senses.
Session Three and Beyond: Daily Poems for the Month
Materials: selected poems, typed and prepared for pockets; folders or booklets for storing daily poems.
Below is a list of poems to use daily. The list contains many more poems than days in the month, by design. This offers options for what would best work at the time, allows for student choice, and provides an opportunity to extend the experience beyond the unit. Poems should be prepared in a size that fits into the poem pockets, roughly 3” x 5”.
As students begin to collect their many poems, a folder or small notebook would provide a place to store the poems at the end of each day. Poems can be used in additional ways beyond listening and sharing together. Highlighting rhyming words, locating beginning sounds, finding color words, acting out the story, and making pictures to demonstrate understanding are all examples of how to extend the learning in small groups.
The daily poem should be posted in the classroom, either written out on chart paper or displayed on a smart board so that students can enjoy it throughout the day. The power of poetry strategies and skills can be incorporated into discussions and likely prompt additional questions. At the end of the day, post a printed copy of the poem on a bulletin board that is dedicated to the collection. By the end of the month, the entire collection will be on display.
1. Dreams by Langston Hughes
A poet, novelist, fiction writer, and playwright, Langston Hughes is known for his insightful, colorful portrayals of Black life in America from the twenties through the sixties and was influential in shaping the artistic contributions of the Harlem Renaissance.1
2. April Rain Song by Langston Hughes
3. Snail by Langston Hughes
4. Alligator Pie by Dennis Lee
Dennis Beynon Lee OC is a Canadian poet, teacher, editor, and critic born in Toronto, Ontario. He is a children's writer, well known for his book of children's rhymes.2
5. Dear Basketball by Kobe Bryant
Born August 23, 1978, Kobe Bryant was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant wrote this poem after he announced his retirement from the game in 2015.3
6. The King’s Breakfast by A.A. Milne
Born January 18, 1882, Alan Alexander Milne was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry.4
7. Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne
8. Brown Girl, Brown Girl by Leslé Honoré
Leslé is a Blaxican poet, activist, and author. Her poetry helps youth find their voices through the arts. This poem was written in 2016 and updated in 2020 to honor Kamala Harris as Vice President.5
9. Mrs. Moon by Robert McGough
Roger McGough was an English poet, journalist, and playwright. He was one of the leading members of the Liverpool Poets, a group of young poets influenced by Beat poetry and the popular music and culture of 1960s Liverpool.6
10. About the Teeth of Sharks by John Ciardi
Born June 24, 1916, Cardi was an American poet, translator, and etymologist. While primarily known as a poet and translator of Dante’s Divine Comedy, he also wrote several volumes of children's poetry, pursued etymology, and contributed to the Saturday Review as a columnist and long-time poetry editor.7
11. Rabbit by Mary Ann Hoberman
Mary Ann Hoberman (born August 12, 1930) is an American poet and author of over 30 children’s books. In 2003, Hoberman was named the second US Children’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation, where she served from 2008 to 2011.8
12. The Rose That Grew from Concrete by Tupac Shakur
Born Lesane Parish Crooks in 1971, Tupac is considered one of the most influential and successful rappers of all time. His music addresses contemporary social issues. He is considered a symbol of activism against inequality.9
13. Falling Asleep by Kenn Nesbit
Born February 20, 1962, Nesbit is an American children’s poet. In 2013, he was named Children's Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. He is a writer of humorous poetry for children.10
14. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Jacqueline Woodson is an American writer of books for adults, children, and adolescents. She is best known for this National Book Award-Winning memoir, and her Newbery Honor-winning titles After Tupac and D Foster, Feathers, and Show Way. She served as the Young People’s Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017 and was named the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress for 2018–19.11
15. Jump or Jiggle by Evelyn Beyer
Born in 1907 in Auburn, New York, Evelyn Beyer attended the University of Rochester and New York University. She wrote and published stories and poems for young children, as well as a book for teachers, Teaching Young Children.12
16. Honey, I Love by Eloise Greenfield
Eloise Greenfield was an American children’s book and biography author and poet famous for her descriptive, rhythmic style and positive portrayal of the African American experience. She was born May 17, 1929, in Parmelee, North Carolina. Greenfield decided against becoming a teacher, instead joining the D.C. Black Writers’ Workshop in 1971. She received many honors throughout her life for her poems and books.13
17. To Catch a Fish by Eloise Greenfield
18. Since Hanna Moved Away by Judith Viorst
Born in Newark, New Jersey, on February 2, 1931, Judith Viorst is the author of many works of fiction and nonfiction, for children as well as adults, including the well-known picture book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.14
19. Mother Doesn't Want a Dog by Judith Viorst
20. My Chinatown: One Year in Poems by Kam Mak
Kam Mak grew up in New York City’s Chinatown. He has illustrated book jackets for numerous publishers and taught painting at the Fashion Institute of Technology. My Chinatown explores a boy’s first year in the United States—after emigrating from China—as he grows to love his new home in Chinatown through food, games, and the people surrounding him.15
21. Friends by Abbie Farwell Brown
Born in Boston, Massachusetts on August 21, 1871, Abbie Farwell Brown published her first children’s book, The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts, in 1900. Along with producing poetry for children, she wrote song lyrics, including the official song of the Girl Scouts of the USA, "On the Trail."16
22. maggie and milly and molly and may by e e cummings
Edward Estlin Cummings, who was also known as e. e. cummings, was born on October 14, 1894. He was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. During his lifetime, he wrote approximately 2,900 poems.17
23. The Purple Cow by Gelett Burgess
Frank Gelett Burgess was an artist, art critic, poet, author, and humorist. Burgess was born in Boston and, after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1887, he moved to the west coast. An important figure in the San Francisco Bay Area literary renaissance of the 1890s, particularly through his iconoclastic little magazine, The Lark, he is best known as a writer of nonsense verse.18
24. Bronzeville Boys and Girls by Gwendolyn Brooks
Gwendolyn Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas on June 7, 1917, and raised in Chicago. She began writing poetry in her teenage years and published her first poem in American Childhood magazine. She sent her early poems to both Langston Hughes and James Weldon Johnson, who both encouraged her to continue writing. Brooks was the author of more than twenty books of poetry.19
25. Poor Old Lady by Anonymous
26. After the Winter by Claude McKay
Festus Claudius McKay in Sunny Ville, Jamaica, on September 15, 1889. McKay was educated by his older brother, a teacher who had an extensive library of English novels, poetry, and scientific texts. McKay was encouraged to write and in 1912, he published his first book of verse, Songs of Jamaica, which recorded his impressions of Black life in Jamaica in dialect. His publication of the work earned him a grant from the Jamaican Institute of Arts and Sciences.20
27. Rathers by Mary Hunter Austin
Mary Hunter Austin was born on September 9, 1868, in Carlinville, Illinois. She graduated from Blackburn College in 1888 and moved to California in the same year. She was a prolific novelist, poet, critic, and playwright, as well as an early feminist and defender of Native American and Spanish-American rights. Austin is best known for her tribute to the deserts of California, The Land of Little Rain.21
28. Sick by Shel Silverstein
Shel Silverstein was born on September 25, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois, and began writing and drawing at a young age. Silverstein is best known as the author of iconic books of prose and poetry for young readers, including A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and The Giving Tree. Runny Babbit, a posthumous poetry collection of spoonerisms, was conceived and completed before his death. A cartoonist, playwright, poet, performer, and recording artist, Silverstein was also a Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated songwriter.22
29. Rock ’n Roll Band by Shel Silverstein
30. Caterpillar by Christina Rossetti
Christina Georgina Rossetti was born on December 5, 1830, in London, one of four children of Italian parents. Both her father and her brother were poets. Rossetti’s first poems were written in 1842. Rossetti is best known for her ballads and her mystic, religious lyrics. Her poetry is marked by symbolism and intense feeling.23
31. The Rainbow by Christina Rossetti
32. Tan and Tamarind by Malathi Michelle Iyengar
Fifteen poems celebrate many shades of brown. Words that conjure up smells, sights, sounds, tastes, and textures create imagery that helps to bring the hues to life. Iyengar celebrates the beauty of brown skin with tender, joyful odes.24
33. The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee by N. Scott Momaday
Navarro Scott Mammedaty, a Kiowa Indian, was born in Lawton, Oklahoma, on February 27, 1934, and grew up in close contact with the Navajo and San Carlos Apache communities. He is a novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. 25
34. The Swing by Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet, and travel writer. He is best known for works such as Treasure Island, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Kidnapped, and A Child's Garden of Verses.26
35. Drum Dream Girl by Margarite Engle
Born in 1951, Margarita Engle is a Cuban American poet and author of many award-winning books for children, young adults, and adults. Most of Engle’s stories are written in verse and are a reflection of her Cuban heritage and her deep appreciation and knowledge of nature.
This poem was inspired by the childhood of a Chinese-African-Cuban girl who broke Cuba's traditional taboo against female drummers. In 1932, at the age of ten, Millo Castro Zaldarriaga began performing with her older sisters as Anacaona, Cuba's first all-girl dance band and went on to become a world-famous musician, playing alongside all the American jazz greats of the era. At age fifteen, she played her bongó drums at a New York birthday celebration for U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.27
36. Trees by Joyce Kilmer
Joyce Kilmer was born on December 6, 1886, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The author of Main Street and Other Poems, he was killed while fighting in World War I.28
37. Autumn by Alexander Posey
Alexander Posey, born August 3, 1873, was a Muskogee Creek poet, journalist, and humorist known for his poems and Fus Fixico letters, a series of satirical letters written from his fictional persona, Fus Fixico, that commented on local and national politics of the time.29
38. This is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams was born on September 17, 1883, in Rutherford, New Jersey. He was both a writer and a doctor, following both interests throughout his life. Williams sustained a medical practice and enjoyed a prolific career as a poet, novelist, essayist, and playwright.30
39. Life Doesn’t Frighten Me by Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928. She was an author, poet, historian, songwriter, playwright, dancer, stage and screen producer, director, performer, singer, and civil rights activist. She was best known for her seven autobiographical books, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.31
40. Cat by Marilyn Singer
Marilyn Singer, born October 3, 1948, is an author of children's books across genres, including fiction and non-fiction picture books, juvenile novels and mysteries, young adult fantasies, and poetry. She was born in the Bronx and lived most of her early life on Long Island, attending both Queens College and New York University. She has published over one hundred books for children and young adults.32
41. Recess! Oh, Recess! by Darren Sardelli
Darren Sardelli is a humorous poet who focuses on getting kids excited about poetry. He speaks at schools and libraries nationwide to help reluctant readers and writers become poetry fans. His poems have been featured on Radio Disney, in bestselling books on the Scholastic Book List, and appear in children’s books in the U.S. and UK.33
42. Wallet Size by Nikki Grimes
Nikki Grimes was born in Harlem in 1950. At the age of 13, she gave her first poetry reading. As a teenager, she began publishing her poetry and was mentored by writer James Baldwin. She attended Rutgers University, where she earned her BA in English and African languages. Grimes is the author of numerous award-winning books for children and young adults, winning many awards for her work.34
43. Remember by Joy Harjo
Joy Harjo was appointed the new United States poet laureate in 2019. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1951, Harjo is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.35
44. The Quarrel by Maxine Kumin
Maxine Kumin was the author of eighteen poetry collections as well as numerous novels, essays, memoirs, and children’s books. She was born on June 6, 1925, in Philadelphia. She received her BA and MA from Radcliffe College. She received several awards for her work throughout her career. Kumin served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress and Poet Laureate of New Hampshire and is a former Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.36
45. I'm Glad I'm Me by Jack Prelutsky
Jack Prelutsky was born in Brooklyn in 1940. He attended Hunter College in New York City, and although he claims to have hated poetry through most of his childhood, he rediscovered poetry later in life, and has devoted many years since to writing fresh, humorous poetry aimed specifically at kids. In 2006, Prelutsky was named the first Children’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation.37
46. Crayons: A Rainbow Poem by Jane Yolen
Science fiction and fantasy writer, editor, children’s author, and poet Jane Yolen was born in New York City. She grew up in Hollywood, New York City, and Newport News, Virginia, and attended Smith College and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Yolen’s stories use rhythm and rhyme in conjunction with elements of folklore and fantasy. Yolen is the author of more than 300 books, and her work has been translated into almost two dozen languages.38
47. Firefly by Elizabeth Madox Roberts
Born on October 30, 1881, Elizabeth Madox Roberts was a Kentucky novelist and poet, primarily known for her novels and stories set in central Kentucky's Washington County. Her distinct, rhythmic prose characterizes her writings. During her career, Roberts received several major prizes during her lifetime, including the John Reed Memorial Prize, an O. Henry Award, and the Poetry Society of South Carolina's prize in 1931. The Time of Man was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1926.39
48. Winter Poem by Nikki Giovanni
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni Jr., born on June 7, 1943, is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. One of the world's most well-known African American poets, her work includes poetry anthologies, poetry recordings, and nonfiction essays, and covers topics ranging from race and social issues to children's literature. 40
49. The Parakeets by Alberto Blanco
Alberto Blanco is a poet, translator, essayist, and visual artist. Born in Mexico City, Blanco studied chemistry, philosophy, and Oriental Studies. He is the author of over 30 books of poetry and has published translations, essay collections on visual art, and children’s books.41
50. Mary’s Lamb by Sarah Josepha Hale
Sarah Josepha Hale, born in 1788, was America’s first woman editor and the author of many novels and poems, publishing nearly fifty volumes of work in her lifetime. President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1864 after Hale had spent 40 years campaigning for a National Day of Thanks. An early activist for women’s education and property rights and editor of the 19th century’s most successful woman’s magazine, Godey’s.42