Once again, we had an appropriately wintry poem this week: Bernadette Mayer‘s “Very Strong February.” Unlike recent poems we have read, this one is longer and more narratively difficult. One of my first questions to the 2nd graders was how many stanzas does the poem have? After a variety of answers we reached the correct number of two, which prompted a discussion on what makes a line a line in poetry? After being reminded that a line can contain as few as one word—and in some cases, even just a part of a single word—I asked why Mayer might’ve singled out certain words to be isolated on their own lines? Aside from doing so for emphasis, what might be gained visually by having those words appear that way? Would it affect their meaning at all? As the discussion turned toward certain parts of the poem’s text, I asked how many colors the students could identify in it? “Very Strong February” mentions at least fifteen distinct colors, repeating some and using variations on others, such as brown and brownish. I followed that question up by asking students to name some things that typically have multiple colors in them, and listed them on the board—rainbow, butterflies, Earth, clothes, and so on.
This week’s prompt was to write a poem using as many colors as possible. Here’s a sampling.
Ms. Rupp, 2nd Grade
Color
Joseph D.
The universe has
all the color you can
imagine the planets
and the stars like
the little yarn balls
that light up with
color the swirly
galaxies that contain all
the stars and planets
imagine the black holes
sucking in all the
color and making
it into a larger
amount of color
and the large
amount of things
that you can
sort out from color
and the color
of the universe.
The most important
thing is color!
Rainbows
Aamira H.
When you have dream you must
have color and when you have
a dream that bad like an icy
white and a bad queen that
has found your favorite doll
her sky blue eyes hear seaweed
green dress you have nothing to do
with it you need to do
something so you strike back
with your violet nail and
oh no she can not handle
purple so she just falls to
her knees and her power have
gone away with her silvery hair
has gone black she is just
so let’s see…emotional (a lot).
Colored
Vincent L.
What above me
is underneath
me —red
from planets out
of this world —rainbow
flying into
space —very dark blue
all colors are
around me —everycolor
eating things
everywhere —brown
for all to me
is for colored
of all —navy blue
Sunny July
Lillie M.
It is soooooooo
hot. I think I
am going to melt.
I am a snow
man. The sun is yellow
but I am white. I love
the child who built
me she was wearing
raindrops. I know
next year another boy
or girl. Lavender
is the color I like.
I don’t like pink.
I love red though.
By the way
I am a girl.
Ms. Beaudry, 2nd Grade
One Step
Rebecca B.
Brown dirt on my shoes
as I reach the pink
side. One step did it. I
know why. The purple
lady lets me in.
I am blue. Lavender
smoke from outside.
Greasy green grassy
fields. One step has
got me here. Dreaming
white dreams. Making
yellow sounds. Getting
away from the black
side. Misty gray lives.
Turquoise swimming pools.
I’m home! One step
did it. I don’t have to
work. Orange grace
circles me. No more
red people this is
home! But I think.
No I will not stay I’ll
free more gold people I’ll
free more brown people for
I am I!
Colorful Monster
Jonathan C.
There stops the colorful monster.
The one who wakes up in the midnight
wearing black.
That’s the monster I know.
That’s the monster I want to see.
And I see it.
? is red. ! is blue, that
monster is filled with :
The monster I want to see wears blue 8.
yellow.
On Sundays.
That is the monster I want to see
+.
The Blue Sky
Ailey K.
The blue sky so peaceful,
The green grass, The yellow
sun so bright, the moon shining
so white in sight, The grey
storm forming inside my
heart to my sorrows are
more than my life
The Rainbow Sun
Elisa X.
Maybe you know
Maybe you don’t know
The sun is rainbow
Scientifically
A lot of colors
The sea green
Umber brown
More colors
Than you can imagine
Colors you never heard of
More than 20 colors
Colors related to these:
Red, Orange, Yellow,
Green, Blue, Purple,
Pink, Brown, Grey, Black,
and White
A lot of colors
From the rainbow sun
The sun is very colorful
Though never look
At the rainbow sun
Ms. Schwartz, 2nd Grade
Untitled
Rakiyah H.
Red like an apple.
Blue like the sky.
Pink like a pig.
Green like a frog.
Brown like tree bark.
Untitled
Pranav J.
The blue and black sky the yellow
sun is really a mask of colors.
The Earth
Niziya S.
The school has pink, blue the Earth is blue.
Green the blue is water the Green is people’s
homes.
Untitled
London T.
Yellow like the sun.
Green like the grass.
Pink like a flower.
And white like some glass.
Blue like skinny jeans.
Red like a meteor.
Colors
Lilly W.
In the icy white, white, white that
turns to blacky, blacky, blacky, black ice
then to spring green, green, green
grass. Then rainbow!!!
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue,
indigo, violet the rainbow is
for you!!!
Ms. Ward, 2nd Grade
My Colorful Butterfly
Maddison L.
My butterfly has sparkling sky blue wings
with glitter at the end the glitter is pinkish
purple and the body is shimmering green
now that is my butterfly!!!
Monsters
Jackson O.
Colorful monster dancing on a
rainbow with 3D glasses on and
zombie wrestler, Wilson having a
colorful painting bday party and
after that they go for red, green,
black, orange tacos. Then ducky moo
moo goes to the Skinner play-
ground. Then a colorful meteorite
hits. Then, then Earth is spattered
with paint.
Colorful!
Emmy T.
The color of the rainbow it’s colorful yellow
blue red a variety of colors I tell you
it’s beautiful just look at the
red blue pink purple colors it’s just so
beautiful the shimmer in the sun it’s
beautiful blue yellow red pink purple green!
Friend
Maximo T.
The animal is rainbow like a flower. The sky
is pleasant as a friend. The book she writes the
writing she does is another world to me.
The earth is together with color. The
sun shines. She’s pretty as a god.
Untitled
Wilson Z.
An airplane travels in the
sky colors flowers are on grass
these colors math so even here’s
a cool one the sky is in
the earth I love colors!
