NEWS
Abram Lansing students celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day
April 15, 2011 - First graders at Abram Lansing Elementary took
advantage of some seasonable weather this week when they headed
outdoors to celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 14. This is
the second year students from Abram Lansing have participated in the
national celebration of poetry.
Last year, Principal Cliff Bird -- an avid fan of lyrical prose -- introduced the idea of bringing Poem in Your Pocket Day to the school. The daylong celebration began in New York City in 2004 in as part of National Poetry Month. It is sponsored in part by the Academy of American Poets.
This year at Abram Lansing, the first graders -- from the classes of Ms. Hansen, Ms. Skidmore, Ms. O'Neill and Ms. Mosher -- were encouraged to select a poem they like and share it with their classmates. The students each made special "pockets" to hold their poems and they carried them throughout the day. At the height of the celebration, the kids made their way outside where one by one, they stepped up to a microphone and recited the poem of their choice.
Not just here in Cohoes, but across the country, poems from pockets were unfolded throughout the day at events in parks, libraries, other schools, workplaces, and bookstores in celebration of poetry.
A few of the poems from the students included: "Ten Fluffy Chickens", "What Do You Need?", and "My Pets". Below is a favorite poem from the Abram Lansing First Grade celebration of Poem in Your Pocket Day:
Trees
Trees are the kindest things I know
They do no harm they simply grow,
And spread a shade for sleepy cows
And gatrher birds among their boughs,
They give us fruit in leaves above
And wood to make our houses of,
They are the first when day’s begun
To touch the morning sun,
Trees are the kindest things I know,
They do no harm they simply grow.
