Poetry
A Flipbook of Photo Poems
May 8th
Poetry Month may be over,but enjoying poetry is something everyone can do all year long. Sometimes, all you need is a really great photograph! Make sure the photo you choose is one either you took yourself, or is a Creative Commons photo. Insert it onto a Powerpoint slide, add some text and you are a poet! Super easy!
We hope you will enjoy this mini FlipSnack book of poems from Mrs. Adair’s students.This link will take you to the full class version.
**********
What kind of photo would you choose for a poem?
What would you write about?
Poems
Apr 30th
Our students have been celebrating National Poetry Month by writing some of their own poems. I hope you enjoy their efforts!
Kindergarten – We played with nursery rhymes and twisted a few with new verses.
Jack and Jill went up the hill
Riding on a truck.
They ate some lunch
With a chicken and a duck!
*************
Hickory, hickory dib.
a cat ran up a bib.
He scratched my back
and never came back!
Hickory, Dickory dib!
***********
First Grade – We wrote list and triangle poems based on descriptions of common object.
Tiara Crown
It’s hard
Sparkly
Meant for your hair
Sharp
It’s for girls!
********************
Dolphins
Dolphins jump
high in the air
from the warm ocean water.
By Mrs. Hovis’s class
*************
Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs fight
dangerously and fiercely
in grasslands near volcanoes.
by Mrs. Daly’s class
****************
King cobra
The kind cobra sliters
loudly hissing
with sharp venomous fangs.
by Mrs. Olsen’s class
2nd grade – They wrote acrostic style poems – poems that describe something both vertically and horizontally.
DOGS
Does like water
Often playful
Good
Sometimes funny
by Danny
**************
CATS
Clearly cute
Also play games
That drinks milk
Seems cute
by Sarah
*****************
3rd grade – The 3rd graders have been working on Photo poems. These will be published in a separate blog post.
4th and 5th – They read poems in class and on Poem in Your Pocket Day.
6th grade – These students used Instant Poetry maker to help them create their poems.
I Remember
I remember I remember going to the beach
I remember I remember my face burning
I remember I remember the cold water touching my feet
And sitting by the water
I remember my dog rolling around in the grass
I remember I remember the smooth orange sand going through my feet
I remember eating ice cream that was melting in the sizzling sun
Even when I fell of my chair
I remember leaving the beach and I was so sad.
But my favorite memory’s yet to come
by Ana
*************
What If
What if I was rich?
I might buy all the cars in the would
What if I own my own state?
I could buy my own monkey named Oscar
What if all my friends lived with me?
I would have my own skate park in my backyard
Can somebody get me some nachos?
By Dakota
********
I Remember
I remember when school was easy
I remember math without letters
I remember getting A’s on every test
And I especially remember finishing my homework early,
so that I can play outside
I remember the sun and the blue skies
I remember when the water was clear
I remember less polution
even no war and no hate
I remember making this poem
But my favorite memory’s yet to come
by Matias
************
She is….
She is a muddy soccer ball in a grassy field.
She is quiet but loud.
She is crying while she laughs.
She is a littlest pet shop talking.
She is Glen Coco.
She is ostrich.
She is sparkly shoes.
She is playing spy on her dog.
She is ninja.
She is my best friend.
by Rowan
************
Forget It!
Forget it
you must be kidding
I can’t think of anything
I don’t like poetry
this is hard
my head hurts
this is taking too long
this is really boring
I hate writing
this is stupid
Time’s up? Uh oh!
All I have is a dumb list of excuses.
You like it? Really? No kidding.
Thanks a lot. Would you like to see another one?
by Mason
*********
What if?
What if I barfed?
I might be sick.
What if there was a zombie apocalypse?
I could survive.
What if a bomb hit the school?
I would die.
What if poems became true?
by Tom
***************
Excuses
Forget it
You must be kidding
I can’t think
I’m hungry
I’m tired
I’m bored
How am I supposed to know how to write a poem?
I’m busy
Why do I have to write a poem?
I’m asleep
Time’s up? Uh oh!
All I have is a dumb list of excuses.
You like it? Really? No kidding.
Thanks a lot. Would you like to see another one?
by Taylor
***********
I Remember
I remember when I went to Lake Chelan
I remember going swimming
I remember going wakeboarding
And falling on my face
I remember eating ice-cream
And the brain freeze it gave me
I remember the hot sun
Even the sun burn it gave me
I remember having a great time
But my favorite memory’s yet to come
by Kalle
*************
Forget it!
Forget it
You must be kidding
i don’t know how to rhymn
all i think is “BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH”
the words are confusing
makes my brain explodes nuclear bomb
gives me a giant knife in the face
I hate anything that involves “HAVE TO”
poem makes me want to choke somebody
I can’t understand what poem means, WHAT DOES IT MEANS?!!
Time’s up? Uh oh!
All I have is a dumb list of excuses.
You like it? Really? No kidding.
Thanks a lot. Would you like to see another one?
by Thuan
************
My Shadow
My shadow wears
a red polka dot dress,
purple heels,
and a blow in her hair
and she knows’
the order of things
her hair is like
a pig tail, curly.
My shadow is like a rainbos,
happen then…
gone. Just ina second….GONE!
happy and shy and hidden. No one will ever really know me.
by
Cassy
******************
Mask
I am a mask
I am purple and blue and green as a cave
I stare through hollow eyes
I’ve seen joy and sadness
I can be worn to tell stories
I can be worn to dance
I am a mask.
by Max
**********************
Finding Poetry in Rap
Apr 23rd
On Friday, the 5th graders welcomed Aleca Gleser to our library to share her form of poetry. Aleca writes a rap style of poetry. And as Kris commented, “Poetry + Rap = Prap”! She is a Prapper!
Aleca finds writing a way to release her thoughts and emotions about subjects important to her. In this excerpt from her poem, The Tragic Mulato, she raps about what it is like to be bi-racial, and not completely accepted her ethnic cultures.
She got the idea for her next rap when she was learning about different styles of poetry in class.
It’s always interesting to hear how writers get their ideas or begin the writing process. Because Aleca’s writing completely rhythmic, she relies heavily on the alphabet! At the top of each rough draft she writes the alphabet, which helps her to think of rhyming words for her pieces.
Like Katherine Applegate, she keeps an idea box, but it’s a slightly different style. She stores ideas on her phone! If she hears something that triggers an idea, or sees something, her phone acts as her storage device, ready at any given time.
Aleca writes free verse, preferring socially and politically movitated verses, similar to the origins of west coast hip hop in the late 1980′s and early 1990′s. Drawing attention to racial inequities or social injustice is the essence of her work. In her last rap, she talks about elevating the game, pushing a battle to rise above commercialism.
Thank you Aleca for visiting our school for National Poetry Month! We hope you keep writing!
****************
Have you ever listened to rap poetry before?
What topic would you write about?
Famous Artist Poems
Apr 13th
Our 5th grade students have been learning about the research process in library through our Famous Artist biography Project.
Claude Monet, photo by Nadar, 1899
In their art class with Mrs. Lustgarten, they learned about a variety of artists. Then in library, they chose an artist as the focus for their research. We got the idea for this project from Mr. Avery in Massachusetts. You can see some of his student videos here.
Students used books and websites to find out out the answers to these questions:
When and where was the artist born?
What interesting event happened during the artist’s childhood?
Did the person ever get married or have children?
Where did the artist live for most of his or her life?
What kind of art is the person known best for?
What other interesting story happened during the artist’s adult life?
What painting did the researcher like the most?
The last step of the project was to create something about the artist. The 6th grade classes made biography videos. Ms. Breier’s class wrote biography comments. We got that idea from a post Mrs. Yollis had on her blog. However, we did something different in Mrs. Coffey’s class. They wrote poems about their artist using the website Instant Poem Maker. You can make your own poem here:
I chose this particular assignment to correlate with National Poetry Month. Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month is now held every April, when publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets around the country band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture.
Many students find writing poetry to be nerve-wrecking. They worry about syllables and accents and proper this and proper that. The rules get in the way of creativity. However, when you use Instant Poem Maker, the stress is gone, and the creativity can come shining through. All you do is select a type of poem. In this case, I selected a Biography Poem. Then these blanks come up for you to fill in as you can see below.
After you fill in the blank, you press 
And voila, you have a poem! Anyone can be a poet! You just have to try.
Claude Monet
Born in France
Child of Claude and Louise
Lived in Paris and Giverney
Studied how to paint outside using sunlight
Overcame father’s wish to become a grocer
Worked as an artist
Challenged by criticism of his work
Personal traits perseverance and creativity
Always stayed true to his artform
Never bowed under pressure to conform
Best known for Impressionist Art
We hope you will enjoy our student poems! You will find them by clicking on the comment button. Each student has logged on as their artist and written a poem. We welcome comments from our readers!
***************
What famous person could you write a poem about?
Who is your favorite poet?
What is your favorite kind of poetry to read or write?
Paperbag Poetry in First Grade
Apr 10th
April is National Poetry Month!
In first grade we are learning about poetry by playing the paper bag game. I don’t tell the students what we are going to be studying for the next few library lessons. Instead I introduce poetry with a game – The Bulldog Paperbag Game!
When I was in Canada in February, I stayed at the Bulldog Hotel.
Of course, the Bulldog Readers Librarian would stay at the Bulldog Hotel, right?
It was actually a coincidence, but when I got this bag for something I purchased, I knew it would come in handy at some point! Our poetry game was the perfect use for my bag.
The object of the game is to become observers, by using their senses, but not their sight! Their observations would become a poem.
Then I selected four objects I had in the library and had them ready to place in the bag.
After I blindfolded a volunteer, I had the student reach inside the bag and describe what they felt.
As each student described what they felt, I wrote their words on a piece of chart paper. Then we took the blindfold off and the students had the chance to guess what was inside the bag. The name of the item became the title of the poem.
Marker
Plastic
Oval
Pretty hard
Has bumps
Stamp
Shiny
Bottom part
Shaped like a square
Hard
Teddy Bear
Fluffy
Arm
Nose
Eyes
Ears
Foot
Head
Scissors
Plastic
Not Squishy
Stuck together
Two holes
Skinny
After writing four of these descriptions, I asked the students what we were writing. We had several guesses, until someone said, “A Poem!” That was followed by, “No, that’s not a poem. Poems have to rhyme!”
It was the perfect transition to the idea that poems can be written about anything or in any style, rhyming or not! Stay tuned for next week’s lesson on writing group poems about an object.
The idea for this lesson came from the book, Joyful Ways to Teach Young Children to Write Poetry by Jodi Weisbart.
Poetry Made Easy -Black Out & Book Spine Poetry
Apr 27th
Do you groan when a teacher tells you that you are going to have to write a poem?
Does the idea make your stomach twist itself inside and out?
Do you want to run screaming out of the classroom screaming,
“No!!!! NOT POETRY MONTH!? I HATE POETRY MONTH!”
or
Are you the poetry cheering section screaming,
“YES! I love Poetry and FINALLY I get to write something I LOVE?”
I recently found two types of poetry that help both the lovers and haters of poetry!
Book Spine Poetry and Black Out Poems
Book Spine Poems are made with book spines! They are very easy to create!
1–Find some book titles that interest you.
2–Stack them on top of each other.
3– Mix and re-arrange until you have the combination that works for you.
4–Voila! You are a poet!
I found out about this idea from another blogging librarian, Travis Jonker, who was inspired by the artist, Nina Katchadourian. The rest is history!
Here are some Bulldog Readers Book Spine Poems!
- Bulldog Reader Book Spine Poems
The second kind of poem that we tried are called Blackout Poems. Austin Kleon is the inventor of the blackout poems. They started quite by accident. Graduated from college and suffering from a bad case of writer’s block, Austin started playing with newsprint and crossing out words he didn’t like. The leftover words became a new style of poems!
To make a blackout poem all you need is a newspaper, a marker and you are ready.
1–Find an article
2–Outline the words you like
3–Cross out the ones you don’t like
4–Admire your poem!
What kind of poems do you like to write?
Have you ever tried to make a Book Spine Poem?
What about a Blackout Poem?
Leave us a comment and let us know!
