Poetry Unit

As noted in our Writerly Life unit, publication is an important part of the writing process. By publishing—which means making the text public in any fashion—writers really gain a sense of purpose and motivation, as the work then becomes more than just an assignment to be seen by a teacher. There are many ways to celebrate student writing and make it public.

Below are a few examples.

Create a class anthology that includes one poem by each student. These anthologies can be given a permanent place of honor in the classroom library, so students can view the work of other students like them through the years. Anthologies can be as simple or as complex as time and resources allow.

Exhibit poems in a gallery. Poetry—like all literature—is art, so you can display it in ways that mirror the ways visual art is exhibited.This class printed their poems on transparent paper and hung them in the windows of the school entryway:

This class built a poetry tower for display in the hallway outside of their classroom:

Host a public reading. You can emulate a poetry reading in a coffee shop if you’d like, complete with refreshments and snacks. Invite family members, students from another classroom, school administrators or any combination of guests. Hold the event in your classroom, in the school cafeteria or auditorium, in a nearby coffee shop, park, or local book store. The clip below (which also appeared in our Writerly Life unit) is an example of one student publishing her poem by reading it publicly at an after-school event at the Indianapolis Marion County Public Library.

There are many more ways to publicly share your poetry. The documents below contain more ideas to inspire your own creative celebrations.