I’m in three classrooms at Moos Elementary – Ms. Ramirez’s 4th graders, Ms. Morales’s 6th graders, and Ms. Moss’s 4th graders. Each class has it’s own personality and even through I’m teaching the same lessons at all three, the results are wildly different.
Because of the introductory first class, I was only able to capture a few poems for the blog, by Bryce and Dominic in Ms. Moss’s class. It was for the lesson to write a poem where you teach someone something you’ve learned (based on “Do You Have Any Advice For Those of Us Just Starting Out?” by Ron Koertge). I told them they could make up what they’ve learned, like if they want to teach someone magic.
Magic Lesson
Bryce
I was going to do magic
I ask mom for a pencil and paper
So I can write down what I had to do
So I traced another thing
magic didn’t work
poetry
next thing I know I saw
a notebook and pencil
Fly pass my window
it was magic
a poem
right by me
I also have the students make lots of lists before they write poems because that’s what Lynda Barry told me to do and I do whatever that woman says. In Dominic’s list for things he’s learned he has:
Learning List
Dominic C.
I learned how to tie my shoe
I learned how to play baseball
I learned how to ride a bike
I learned how to drive a car (ed. note: 4th grader!)
I learned how to rollerskate
I learned how to call 911
I learned how to jump in a volcano
I learned how to drive a boat
I learned how to eat tissue paper
I learned that you don’t eat dogs
I learned how to look at the sun
