For our sixth and seventh sessions Kozminski 4th graders read Francisco X. Alarcón’s “Ode to My Shoes” and discussed personification. They brainstormed objects and non-human things doing human activities before writing their own poems. 5th graders returned to discussing the blues. Their list of reasons for having the blues included: being lonely, feeling broken-hearted, losing something important, getting bad grades, missing someone you love, and having difficulty writing a poem!
Ms. Manning
4th Grade
Time
by Samuel D.
Time goes by so fast
rushing to get to school because it’s running late.
you can’t know time’s next move.
I can’t wait for college
I’ve just got to wait.
I want to travel the world
it takes time
like my baby brother walking slowly
waiting is not easy!
A Pencil
by Abobakar N.
a pencil is going to school
the pencil is sitting in a paper
and talking about going to school
and glasses roll their eyes
Sketch Book
by Phoenix B.
My sketch book is like a friend
who goes everywhere with me
I watch tv with it
And take it to bed
To help me remember
what I dreamed.
My sketchbook listens to my ideas
And it always says “good job”
My sketchbook knows all of my secrets and thoughts
My sketch book is my best friend.
Milad A.
An eraser changes its mind
It gets a better idea
Hieroglyphics
by Xion B.
Hieroglyphics hoping to survive forever
Thinking about what they will do
Saying they want to explore the galaxies,
In a spaceship,
Hoping not to run into a black hole.
Hieroglyphics wanting to climb the tallest mountains,
And win awards.
Or be a soccer team winning the world cup.
Hieroglyphics having a big imagination in their minds.
a cloud
by Torion Jackson
A cloud who floats on a floor that sleeps.
A cloud who eats all day and all night.
A cloud who fell to the ground.
A cloud who likes to sleep a lot.
A cloud who goes to school.
A cloud who goes to mom when brothers do something bad.
A cloud who builds a house.
A cloud who goes to dinner.
5th Grade
Crystal clear
by Curly Foot Hopkins (Krystal C.)
it’s crystal clear that I have the blues
the New School Blues
it’s crystal clear
I miss that school
I miss that person
It makes me feel like I can cry a lake
this school is okay, I just have to succeed
Make new friends and make it count
it’s crystal clear that I have the blues
This could be my next home or not
I wish
This was easy but it’s not.
Money
by Jailhouse Bones McGee (Major B.)
I might not have money
Because I am a child
So if I want something I can’t get it
There are so many things I would want to buy
But I am still a child
So I would have to ask my mom or dad
But sometimes they say NO and sometimes say YES
The only way I might get money is if I clean the WHOLE house.
I can’t get money. What can I do?
And it makes me feel a little Blue.
Losing someone
by Ugly Mama Jackson (Goodness A.)
I have the Losing One of Your
Family Members Blues
I feel so sad
He made me smile
He made me laugh
Everyone in my family
has the blues now that he’s gone
He got me things that mean
something
I gave my sister
everything he gave me because
She misses him the most.
I have the Losing One of Your
Family Members Blues.
My blues hurt
by Sleepy Parker Fingers (Prince L.)
When ever
I have the
Blues it
Hurts me
Bad but I
Listen to
Music and
it helps me because I’m hurt
But the music fixes
Blues like someone
Fixing what is
broken
Blues and Clues
by Sticky Harp Rivers (Cambria H.)
I have the blues but I don’t have a clue
I have the blues because I tripped on my untied shoe
I’ve lost all my thoughts, what should I do?
But I don’t know because I don’t have a clue.
Even though I like to sit alone in the rain
I’m still living in a world of shame.
Everyday I wake and nothing feels the same,
But I don’t care anyways because I’m constantly called lame.
Old Bones Bradley (De’Kirra B.)
Old bones Bradley has bad grades blues,
She has the sibling gets her in trouble blues,
Can’t get the shoes you want blues,
She can’t have her poetry class anymore blues
And have to do chores blues.
