Say the Word by Wendy Chaulk

Say the word
POETRY

Hear the responses

What?
NO!
Why?
Seriously?!

See the reactions
Scrunched foreheads
Evil eyes
Hunched shoulders
Heads down

Explain the plan
April is
POETRY month
Daily reading
Daily writing
Of POETRY

Scan my students
Not happy
Angry even

In my head
Suck it up
Why the hostility?

Begin day one
Immersion
Groans
Technology
Moans
Books
Ignore

Day two comes
Just surround them
Groans
Change out websites
Moans
Find new books
Ignore

Day three arrives
Students see
Links missing
Books gone
Smug smiles
They think they’ve won

Day four changes
QR codes plaster walls
Moving, scanning, laughing, chatting
30 minutes---time’s up
What?
NO!
Why?
Seriously?!
Let’s move on.

Day five surprises
Rushing, scanning, smiling, sharing
Chimes ring; students gather
What poems stood out?
You mean from earlier?
No; today and yesterday.
Poems? No--they’re songs!
But songs are poems
What? NO! Why? Seriously?!
Smug smile.
I know I’ve won!


Wendy teaches in a fifth and sixth grade looping classroom in Gillette, Wyoming. This is her eighteenth year as a teacher and first year as a Teacher Consultant for the National Writing Project. She loves her husband, reading, writing, cooking, eating, and traveling. You can find her on Twitter at @wluvs2teach and on her blog at www.chaulk-it-up.blogspot.com.