Last week, we discussed Lucie Thésée‘s poem, “Poem.” When the students received their handouts, many thought it odd that it was titled that way, and I asked why the poet might’ve called it by such a plain title? One initial thought was that perhaps she was making a statement about poetry in general. Since the word “handsome” appears so often in it, I asked why it wasn’t titled that instead, then asked why would she keep repeating “handsome” in the poem? We’ve talked about using repetition in poetry, but this is an instance where a certain word (or form of it) is repeated in sixteen out of eighteen lines, which is a lot! I then read the poem. Interestingly, in every class, right after finishing, each room was quieter than usual, and I suggested that Thésée’s use of repetition made the poem hypnotic while being heard. The conversation then turned back to “handsome”—I asked what the word means, and once we had a definition, I asked if what the poet describes in the poem are things that are handsome, nice looking, or pretty? Well, yes and no…and if not, then why? I reminded them about imagery in poetry, and we talked about some of the more striking images in “Poem.”
I then wrote simile on the board, and made sure we remembered what that means. I asked if there were any in Thésée’s poem? In fact, it uses similes for comparison almost exclusively. I followed that question up by asking what an adjective is, and pointed out that “handsome” was one. Right below a brief definition of simile written on the board, I asked each classroom to give me some adjectives, and listed them. The idea this week, then, was for students to pick one of the adjectives (or choose one of their own) and model their poem on Thésée’s.
Below are some examples, demonstrating the greatest variety. Check ’em out!
Ms. Rupp, 2nd Grade
Blue
Jaren B.
Blue like the sky
Blue like a blue crayon
Blue like someone is sad
Blue like water
Blue like part of the American flag
Blue like blue jeans
Blue like a blue bruise
Blue like rain
Blue like the ocean
Clean
Xavier B.
Clean as the burning sun.
clean as an angel.
Clean like water.
Clean as the sky.
It’s so clean!
The Poem
Joseph D.
Great like a pot full of gold.
Great like a big silver mansion.
Great like a 511 ft cliff.
Great like an A+.
Great like a big teleporter.
Great like a row of fire.
Great like a gift.
Great like a soccer game.
Great like a big truck.
Great like a big party.
Great like a 3 course meal.
Great like a free ticket.
Great like a video game.
Great like tons of fun.
Great like a trip to Pluto.
Great like a big parade.
Great like a world record.
Great like a bag of treasure.
Great like a giant.
Great like a high chest.
How Nice
Nathan D.
Nice as me
nice as you
nice as an ice-cream cup
nice as rolling waves
nice to be through.
Rough Mr. Stone
Eloise G.
Oh Mr. Stone so rough, yes you are,
Rough as the concrete sidewalk.
Rough as the rockiest cave.
Rough as a rhino’s skin.
Rough as your voice, so grouchy…
What? You said you would be nice again?
Pretty Dress
Samantha P.
Pretty like the flower dress I saw
Pretty like the ocean in the night
Pretty as a wonderful pattern
Pretty as a butterfly flutter
Pretty like a party and
Pretty like a show
Pretty like flowers and diamonds!
Pretty as water ripples on the stream
Pretty as a sunset
But as pretty as I can be
Where is the pretty dress for me?
Poem
Kallie W.
Yummy as a cookie.
Yummy like a candyland.
Yummy as apple pie.
Yummy like ice-cream.
Yummy as a shooting star.
Yummy like a rockstar.
Yummy as nature.
Yummy like science.
Yummy as the leaves turn red.
Yummy like a rainbow.
Yummy as a sunset.
Yummy like friendship.
Yummy as a colorful rainbow.
Yummy like a crowd of cheer.
Yummy as a pile of books.
Yummy like a cup of hot chocolate.
It’s yummy like me.
Ms. Beaudry, 2nd Grade
Pretty As
Isabelle D.
Pretty like those flowers grown
Pretty as a caught golden fish
Pretty as a treasure buried in sand
But pretty as a night time star
Pretty as a shining crown
Pretty like the best family,
friends, and my pets.
Vain
Lennox G.
Vain: like a peacock.
Vain: like a fish with thousands of scales.
The world, maybe yourself, is vain.
Vain: like a black labrador.
Vain: like you and me.
It is okay to be vain.
Always be yourself.
Do what you want.
Strong as a Wrestler
Max L.
Strong as a wrestler
or strong as metal
they are both strong.
Hard shells are strong.
Like armor they are all strong.
Some smells are strong too.
Strong as heavy weights
and lions. But titanium
is very strong. Many
things are strong.
Sad!
Carter M.
Sad as a little boy without
a Christmas present.
Sad as a little puppy by
himself.
As Brooklyn crying!
Fast
Amber P.
Fast like a cheetah. Like
lightning. Fast as a race car
in first place.
Fast like running in a race.
Fast. Not like turtles. Fast, like
this poem.
Nice as a Bird
Anjali R.
Nice as a bird in the air.
Nice as a puppy standing there.
Nice as a kitten running everywhere.
Awesome
Riley S.
Awesome, in a nice way,
Awesome, very cool,
Awesome me, as a dude,
Awesome, like the burning sun.
Awesome, as a cool guy,
Awesome, like the future’s gonna be,
Awesome, like iPods and Xbox.
I like being awesome!!
Popular
Andy W.
Popular as a president
popular like a mayor
popular as an animal
popular like a newspaper
popular like a diamond
popular like a good book
popular like a new movie
popular like a comic
popular like a limo
popular like a country
popular as a state
popular as a fancy TV
popular as an awesome house
popular as fancy furniture
popular as a new restaurant
Ms. Schwartz, 2nd Grade
Beautiful
Hannah B.
Beautiful, like the world. Like butterflies in
the sky.
Beautiful, like the sun in the sky.
Beautiful, like chocolate in the air.
Beautiful, like water coming from the
clouds.
Beautiful, like celebrating Christmas.
Beautiful, like spending time with
family.
Beautiful, like money.
Beautiful, like friends.
Beautiful, like being yourself.
Beautiful, like Ms. Schwartz.
Beautiful, like God.
Humongous
Daniel B.
Humongous like a bunch
of worms free from
an experiment. Humongous
a monster with a scared
look. Humongous
as a butterfly.
Humongous as a T-Rex
running then extinct.
Golden
Curtis B.
Golden as the sun
Golden like a treasure
Golden as firework sparks
Golden like sunshine
Golden as sparkles
Excited
Pranav J.
Excited as a hopping kangaroo
Excited as a happy monster
Excited as a happy gun
Excited as a happy fairy
Excited as getting a present
Excited as a funny joke
Excited as jumping
Excited as everything.
Red As
Charlotte M.
red as apples
red as fire
red as a red book
red as a flag
red as a book
red as a box
red as a folder
Mad
Samuel M.
Mad as a T Rex
Mad like a guy with a gun
Mad as revenge
Mad as a ferocious rhino
Mad as a bulldog
Mad like the sea roaring
Mad a rave and riot
Mad like a zombie.
Humongous
Nolan M.
Humongous as a building
Humongous as a school
Humongous as a dinosaur
Humongous as a hippopotamus
Humongous as a skyscraper
Humongous as a whale
Humongous as a city
Humongous as a grownup.
Wonderful
London T.
Wonderful as a butterfly
flying in a tree.
Wonderful like Ms. Schwartz.
Wonderful like my
nails.
Wonderful as snow.
Wonderful like a
chipmunk.
Wonderful like a Christmas
tree.
Wonderful like being
in Skinner West.
Wonderful like Chicago.
Wonderful like Mr. D.
Wonderful like being fantastic.
High Stuff
Lilly W.
High as the stars in the
sky. High like the towering
buildings. High like the grass that
used to be low but tiny
pieces went up into the sky.
High like the clouds in the
sky. High as up up and
away!
High as you felt!
Ms. Ward, 2nd Grade
Fast
Dalton F.
Fast like lightning.
Fast like the speed of light.
Fast like running.
Fast like biking.
Fast like falling.
Fast like snowboarding.
Fast like moving.
Pretty
Isabella G.
Pretty as a princess. Pretty as
gold. Pretty as a flower.
Pretty as a sea at night.
Pretty as 100 dollars. Pretty
as a queen. Pretty as 1,000
dollars. Pretty as the sun. Pretty
as a model. Pretty as lights
in a light show. Pretty as
the sun. pretty as Ms. Ward.
Pretty as Ms. Schwartz.
Pretty as a sunflower.
Pretty as a meadow of
flowers. Pretty as a
butterfly.
Slow
Isaiah I.
slow as a turtle
slow as a snail
slow as a cloud
slow as a slug
slow as a bug
Beautiful
Sophia N.
Beautiful like the sunset.
Beautiful like the blue sky.
Beautiful like a red blooded rose.
Beautiful like the world.
But beautiful like falling snow that drifts
down from the sky. Beautiful like the
ocean and waves splashing when the
wind is pushing the waves. Beautiful like us.
Blue
Damian P.
Blue as a crayon
Blue as a water bottle
Blue was water
Blue as a marker
Blue as a pen
Blue as a paper
Blue as a folder
Lovely
Molly S.
lovely as a birthday
party lovely as
a person lovely
like a lady
lovely as a sweet
heart candy lovely
as an elf on the
shelf lovely like a
game lovely like a
basketball and
court lovely as
earth lovely as a
nice little cute
dog lovely as a
playground
lovely as math
and reading lovely
as the moon lovely
as the sun lovely
as moms and dads
lovely as the cold
and warm things
