With Poem in your Pocket Day coming up on Thursday, we studied Amy Ludwig VanDerwater’s poem by the same name. In her poem, Amy sees a bird out her window and wonders, “if this bird had pockets, if this bird could write, would it scribble poems about nectar? humming?flight?” The poem comes from her book, If This Bird Had Pockets: A Poem in Your Pocket Day Celebration where she includes poems written from a variety of different animals’ point of view. So after reading a couple more poems from this book, of course we had to write our own pocket poems. While I suggested writing about a favorite animal, and after yesterday’s success with 16-word poems I encouraged students to try another short poem…students went in their own directions. And in a short period of time, pocket poems began to emerge from the pencils of the first graders in my class. Here’s a taste:

E who often writes about wolves and dogs, today wrote her pocket poem about friendship

You and Me

we walk to my

home

a tornado of

friendship

just you and

me

we are

together forever

C took me up on the animal invitation

Hedgehog

a spiky prickly ball

of sweetness uncurling

to its burrow

going to its mother

to eat breakfast

And G explored one of our favorite ocean animals

Dolphins are Amazing

dolphins zip to

me

leap up up

up

and back down

again

caring considerate and

loving

My own poem featured a hummingbird

Hummingbird

If this iridescent

jewel

had pockets they’d

hold

whipped-cream air

spun

from wings blindingly

fast

Maybe we’ll tuck these poems in our pockets tomorrow to share with those who cross our paths. How will you celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day?