Holes in my Underwear - Poetry Playoffs
- Andrew Hacket
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
Hi friends! I'm here today to share all about a brand new poetry anthology that just hit shelves, that you and your teacher and parent friends all need to know about.
If you love Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky this book is a must for you!

HOLES IN MY UNDERWEAR by Matt Eicheldinger has taken my class by storm. It had innocently been placed face out on a bookshelf since our first day of school, receiving a few passing chuckles from the title here and there, waiting for the time when I would give it a grand introduction to the class.
Well....my thunder was stolen by an unforseen, early in the year absence (thanks hot water heater!) and my students took it upon themselves to discover the magic and hilarity tucked inside the pages of this anthology without me.

When I returned to school and picked up the book to give the students (what I thought would be) their first listen, I was bombarded (which I usually hate, but this bombardment was so joyful) with requests for this poem or that poem with all sorts of reasons as to why I simply must do it now. It seems a crew of my boys had discovered the book the previous day and were completely enamored and that energy spread through the class. There seemed no other choice than to simply comply with their requests.
After reading to the class "Fear" and the instant favorite, "Egg-Filled Burrito" it was clear this book was student-approved and deserved a larger space in the classroom.
Enter the ...
POETRY PLAYOFFS!

*Warning - a little bit of teacher complaining up ahead - feel free to skip to the POETRY PLAYOFFS if you are not interested - OR - if you are a fellow teacher you might skim through and nod your head in knowing agreement. The choice is yours.
Let's have some real talk for a minute. At least for me, my curriculum has become increasingly prescribed over the last handful of years, leaving little room for creativity and often taking little account into what kids are currently excited about. It wears on the kids and quite honestly, on me too. So when I saw the universal joy HOLES IN MY UNDERWEAR was bringing the class I knew this was an opportunity to create something that would uplift the entire class, including me!
As I listened to the students chime in over one another about which poem I just HAD to read next, my mind instantly wandered to the March Madness Book Battle I host in my classroom each year. This seemed like the perfect structure to bring daily poetry, joy, and excitement to my class?
I don't know if Matt was intentionally thinking in divisibles of 16 when he created the 112 poems for this book, but I am grateful that he did because it made putting the brackets together much easier. It's like it was meant to be! With a little bit of Canva magic and a bit of data entry the brackets were set and the Poetry Playoffs were ready to begin.
HOW IT WORKS
Select a bracket to start with (There are 7 but you don't need to commit to doing all of them)
When you have time, read two battling poems to your students
Have a quick vote to determine the class favorite
Rinse and repeat as time allows
THAT'S IT! It really is this simple and I needed it to be because of the aforementioned district curriculum demands. But that is also why I love this activity and it works.
It sparks creativity and joy in the students, builds a genuine love of poetry, is low prep, and can be completed in minutes with lots of opportunities for extensions if desired.
In my class we are doing a minimum of 3 battles a day. We do one at the end of morning meeting, one when we return from recess (before our picture book read aloud), and one before dismissal begins.
To make life easy, I have simply printed and laminated the pages and we will mark our winners with dry erase marker as the playoffs continue. My students can't wait until we have a winner of each bracket and can have a GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF to discover our favorite poem in the entire anthology.
This is just one of the many ways I try to make poetry a regular part of my classroom. Others include our Poet-Tree, Poetry Highlighting, and writing Poetry Anthologies. All of which I'd love to chat about another time. But right now, I have a feeling you might want to get your hands on the resources we just talked about.
Want to give the POETRY PLAYOFFS a try in your class with HOLES IN MY UNDERWEAR?
Grab the pdfs here! These are TOTALLY free. Use and enjoy!
HOLES IN MY UNDERWEAR along with all of Matt's other amazing books can be purchased here.
And while you are there check out Matt's wonderful, FREE TEACHER GUIDE to help you bring poetry to life in your classroom.
I hope you have a blast with your POETRY PLAYOFFS and that your students and you get as much joy from it as it has brought my classroom!

In the mood for more school ideas?
I'd love for you to check out IN THIS CLASSROOM, by me and Arthur Lin, which will be hitting shelves on 6/9/25.
In This Classroom is a heartwarming celebration of the school year, capturing the joy, struggles, and growth of students and teachers as they embark on an unforgettable journey of learning, friendship, and personal achievement.
Ways to support IN THIS CLASSROOM:
Tell your teacher friends

Andrew Hacket  is a writer, second-grade teacher, and father of three. He is the author of Ollie, the Acorn, and the Mighty Idea, Curlilocks and the Three Hares, and Hope and the Sea.Â
His next book, IN THIS CLASSROOM, illustrated by Arthur Lin, hits shelves on June 9, 2026!
Andrew recognizes that being a kid is hard and he writes to create ways for kids to see themselves in stories and characters, to accept and overcome their insecurities, or to escape for just a little while through the power of their imaginations.Â