Over the last three years, the project staff has been cheered to see the many ways Favorite Poem reading events bring schools and communities together. Below are some of our suggestions for planning vibrant, exciting school events, along with some wonderful lessons and projects we have received from teachers. A useful exercise that many successful teachers of poetry have used with students from primary school to Ph.D. programs is to ask them to type or write out a poem. The physical process of copying out the poem can help one to look closely at the words and the nature of the lines.
Students can share favorite poems by giving a Favorite Poem reading.
If the student chooses to start with the words of a silly song even in a defiant or teasing spirit the requirement to say something to one's peers about the importance of the choice can lead to the fulfillment of the educational goal. The reading and the hunt for choices may motivate class discussion of particular poems. Always begin with the poem read aloud, whether by the teacher or a student. Photocopies can be very useful, but there is much to be gained from careful listening, with no text to rely on, and for welcoming the idea that a poem or parts of a poem can be heard over again, the way one plays or sings a favorite song more than once. Such an event demonstrates that poetry is part of life as well as an object for study.