Gilbert Celebrates Literacy through Poetry

Poetry can be celebrated at any time of year, but students at Gilbert Elementary recently participated in a day dedicated to this form of literature. Titled “Poem in Your Pocket Day,” students chose a poem and kept it in a special pocket. Throughout the day, students shared their poems with fellow classmates and campus visitors. This builds fluency as students practice reading their poems. The event is organized by the campus Literacy Committee which aims to engage students in literacy and spark a lifelong love of reading.

“I am proud of the campus committees and how they have kept campus traditions like Poem in Your Pocket Day alive during this year, as well as adapted some of our events to virtual platforms,” Gilbert Principal, Lindsey Gonzalez said. “It is so important that literacy is celebrated in many ways across the campus to engage students in both reading and writing. Our students have different interests and backgrounds, so I believe it is very important to provide a variety of experiences to reach our students.”

Gilbert’s librarian, David Massman, helps run the literacy committee and ensures that the library supports all campus literacy initiatives. Primary grades wrote poems about colors and upper grade students wrote “I am” poems during library time  in the last week of April. “My favorite thing about celebrating poetry is that it allows students the freedom to express themselves fully,” Mr. Massman said. “Poetry engages some students that may be reluctant with writing. Poetry takes down those barriers and allows students to write without so many rules.”

The campus is excited to end the year by giving several books from a variety of genres to students for their home libraries.