poetry

Spreading the joy of poetry

Stacey Shubitz

One of my dearest friends is turning 31 today. I just sent her an iomoi card with a poem tucked into my online greeting. I give each of my students a poem on their birthday… why not do it for a friend?

I’ve come to realize that poetry is something we do a lot of in elementary school classrooms, but poetry doesn’t exactly permeate through most of the adult circles I run in. Perhaps it’s because of the way poetry was taught to people in elementary school: maybe they think it has to rhyme and therefore they don’t like it. Or perhaps it’s because poetry seems a bit scary… like you need to do some major mind work in order to interpret it (and thus people shy away from it).

Regardless, I’m going to start tucking-in a birthday poem for all of my friends, whether the card is handmade or electronic, to see if I can “start something” poetic. Will you join me on this journey?

Published by Stacey Shubitz

I am a literacy consultant who focuses on writing workshop. I've been working with K-6 teachers and students since 2009. Prior to that, I was a fourth and fifth-grade teacher in New York City and Rhode Island. I'm the author of Craft Moves (Stenhouse Publishers, 2016) and the co-author of Jump Into Writing (Zaner-Bloser, 2021), Welcome to Writing Workshop (Stenhouse Publishers, 2019), and Day By Day (Stenhouse, 2010). I live in Central Pennsylvania with my husband and children. In my free time, I enjoy swimming, doing Pilates, cooking, baking, making ice cream, and reading novels.

2 thoughts on “Spreading the joy of poetry”

  2. I’m with you on spreading poetry throughout our lives. Our family has a tailgate after Christmas mass and we bring a poem to the table. We read/ shared original poems while eating hors’doeuvres. This year the genre was “rap”. Hilarious, moving, fun, and memorable all at once!

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