This week, we read Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s “Hummingbird Abecedarian.” Our initial discussion, pre-poem, focused on the titular birds: what students think of when they hear the name, colors associated with them, and if they’ve ever seen them in real life? As far as the poem itself, it includes a number of words that were defined upfront (such as thrum, ululate, and xenia), but I encouraged students to enjoy the poem as it is, using context clues as necessary, and without worrying about ‘understanding’ the meaning of everything. The poem does talk about hummingbirds, but also references the speaker’s “kin across the ocean,” family living on the other side of the world including a grandmother whose “mostly grey braid snaked down her brown / neck,” and their father’s language. Nezhukumatathil incorporates interior rhyme and similes into her poem, as well as alliteration, and we looked for examples of the latter in the text, thinking about its effects.
“Abecedarian” means arranged alphabetically. Each line in Nezhukumatathil’s poem begins with successive letters, but for their own iterations, students could choose to do whatever range of letters they preferred.
Mrs. Rosenzweig, 4th Grade
ABCXYZ
By Lucas B.
Abcd Awesome broski
Cool dude
Also dude
abcd
Abcd
Zyxw
And bro can we wellgame
Desserts Abecedarian
By Gayatri G.
As my Apple Pie says Goodbye
Banana Split would love to admit
Charlotte is about to lose it
Dacquoise also known as crack wise is as
Everybody knows almost as
Funny as Fruitcake
German Chocolate Cake claims
Halvah screams as the boss shall the comp. Begin
Ice Cream Sundae screams someday maybe Monday
Jelly Roll is ready to roll that’s his goal
Key Lime Pie is out to dry
Ladyfinger helps as she lingers beside
Mousse goes loose and demands a truce
Nougat just forgot to go the race
Oatmeal Toffee Cookies are the best the billboard screams
Parfait Strongly Disagrees
Quindim cheered him on
Rice Cakes being the judge is really fake
Scone has grown and is also well known
Tapioca Pudding was craving for Boba to put in his stomach
Umm the match has ended the judge hollered
Vanilla Cream Pie crashed to the ground panting hard
Wait who was the winner. The winner is Vanilla Cream Pie! *Excited Shouting*
Xuixo was Nilla’s Best Friend and she did it Xuixo started screaming out loud
Yellow Layered Cake sighed she really needed that medal to help her family
Zingers whispered to Nilla, “Hey You should give the prize to Yellow Layered Cake.”
Personality
By Gabrielle H.
Arriving at the castle in my limo bringing food to my people in the land of Garzania. Beautiful flowers everywhere! Cats meowing all around. Dogs barking ”RUFF RUFF.” Elephants being independent. Fungus is all on this one flower so I have to fix that very quickly. Gabrielle is my name. Howard is my brother’s. Ice cream is my brother Howard’s favorite. Jam and peanut butter is my favorite!
Hiding Game
By Sydney H.
Because of a little stuffed animal my family has gone crazy
Chasing people and tug of war
Dad hiding the stuffed animal
Everyone gets mad
Finding it is hard. But she is in the microwave
Get her out
Hide her again nobody can find it
I rehide it and can’t find it anymore…
Random Abecedarian From A-D
By Sasha L.
As it feels the shining sun.
Bees fly and and go “bzz”
Children play, flying their kites.
Dads and moms watching with such delight!
My Life Abecedarian
By Ryan L.
A life is a wonderful thing, and must not be taken as a minor object
Be yourself, you are the only thing that you have
Cookies by the fire are smelling like home, a nice place with all my family
Dudes hang out together, not lonely at all
Eggs. I don’t know of them, but I have learned to try new things
Faces glint in the moonlight
Good times by the campfire are arriving
Hey you, can I have some marshmallows please?
In this moonlight
We will light a fire, and good times tonight.
Games Abecedarian
By Raymond M.
Arriving on the couch ready to play.
Books in my face,
Couldn’t do a thing.
Dancing for an hour,
Eating for half.
Faking reading books,
Gobbling dinner.
Life is cruel, wishing happiness
Mom sniffs it out,
Playing on the couch, after done reading.
Wish I could do my thing.
City Abecedarian
By Raahil M.
A city it can be
Big or small. The big ones are
Crowded with people and cars and
Definitely noisy and
Everybody is rushing around. No time to stop
For they might be late if the do
Grandly towering over all the noise are skyscrapers people
Hurry past or go
Inside
Just in time for whatever they were there for.
Kids go to school to
Learn for jobs to get
Money that they
Need to live.
Otherwise they might end up homeless with other
People on the streets needing help but everybody, not
Questioning anything
Rushes past not looking back not
Stopping
Family
By Siena W.
Always kidding around
Being loud as a crowd
Careless for all that surround
Doing everything around
Everyone is loud
Forever we will love
Going to places
Happy as can be
I will always be proud
Just like it should be
Kidding all the time
Lovely as can be
My lovely family
Mrs. Johnson, 4th Grade
Grandma’s Meals Abecedarian
By Benjamin C.
After I have a meal with my grandma,
Boy do I have a really good time.
Craving,
Delicious,
Excellent,
Filling my mouth with tamales is the best.
Guacamole on the nacho or the taco.
Happy, hungry,
Interesting,
Joyful.
Kneading the flour with my grandma is relaxing.
Love cooking with her so much especially the,
Mmmmmm,
Nutritious
Omelette.
Popped in my mouth is a tamale with
Quite the flavor of strawberry bubblegum, I’m like,
Rising,
Surviving,
Tasting,
Understanding feelings when I eat grandma’s recipes it’s
Very easy because they are always super,
Wonderful,
X-traordinary,
Yummy,
Zee end!!!
Untitled Abecedarian
By Jayden E.
A family loves tacos,
But some families don’t like seafood,
Cats and Dogs love food,
Dogs and Cats love food,
East Is Piece and that piece is a family’s love,
Going somewhere with your family members is very fun,
Heights Heights Heights!! Families do not love heights.
Untitled Abecedarian
By Hamza H.
At my house
Belongings are everything
Cat is what my cousin wishes
Dog is what I like
Elephant is what my brother wants
Five people in my family
Gap is my brothers favorite shopping store
Hat is what I wear
Ice is what I like
Lemonade and Ice is the best
Maybe coke and Ice
Now I will eat
Over at my cousin’s house
Pass Madison Street
Quarter I found one of the floor
Rocks are also on the floor
Sunday is tomorrow
Today is Saturday
Unfortunately the party at my cousin’s house is canceled
Violin is my favorite Instrument
What is that my brother shouts?
Xray it’s an Xray my toy Xray
Yay I found it
Zach is my name and this is the end of my story.
My Fam Abecedarian
By Jake K.
All together with my fam
Brothers going everywhere
Cats flying around
Dad doodling
Equal we all think of each other.
Family means everything to me.
Googly eyes is what we like
High fiving each other
Including each other
Joking around with each other
Kicking each other
Loolly pop loolly pop
Mom also doodling.
Nickles falling down
Outing the house
Popping balloons.
Rough housing.
Seeing sound
To the sun
Wowsing about the sun xylophone
Zebra at the zoo
Mrs. Barnes, 4th Grade
Fam
By Zoeyah A.
Altogether we sit
Belonging together for forever
Care forever
Dad on his phone
Entertaining with stuff
Fun is happening all the time
Great. We are great.
Happy while hanging out.
Interesting…. Always something new
Joy so much
Kindness is happening
Laughing a lot
Mom is telling us what to do
Nature we love going out
Options lots.
Partner ALL THE TIME….
Related literally
Sister annoying us
Terrific like….
Unity mhmhm
Value in stuff
WHAT????
Yupp
ZOEYAH is my NAME!!!!!
Old House
By Nathan G.
All together in Pilsen
Belonging together
Care for each other
Duke the dog
Emotions good and bad
Family house
Grandma makes me eat to much
Happy
Oma
By Kohner N.
A leopard pattern reminds me
Of oma so much
Activities is what we do
Busy is what we are
Care is what we have for each other
Dare is what we sometimes give
Emotions is what is very big
Fun is what we have
Great is the time were having
A leopard pattern reminds me
Of oma so much
Untitled Abecedarian
By Raji S.
A language that my dad uses is called
Cocani!!!
I feel
Left out
Whenever he talks to my grandparents.
You think I am over reacting?
Color Abecedarian
By Corinne T.
Aqua
Bronze
Coral
Denim
Emerald
Fuchsia
Gold
Hazel
Indigo
Jade
Key lime pie
Lavender
Magenta
Navy blue
Orange
Periwinkle
Queen blue
Ruby
Salmon
Turquoise
Ultramarine
Violet
White
Xxxtentacion
Yellow
Zucchini
Letters
By Kaylin W.
A: All
B: Be
C: Cat
D: Dog
E: Egg
F: Frog
G: Glow
H: Holly
I: Ice
J: Juice
K: Kind
L: Lint
M: Mine
N: None
O: Out
P: Please
Q: Queen
R: Rock
S: Soup
T: Time
U: Use
V: Vine
W: Winter
X: Xebec
Y: Yes
Z: Zoo
Mr. O’Brien, 4th Grade
Untitled Abecedarian
By Rieyecon B.
Aren’t Britney, Candie and Daisy crazy? Frank, Gary and Harry are lazy. Ice cream man Jerry and his best friend Kerry and his other friend Larry wish they could be a fairy.
Mystic
By Xavier G.
An animal with the fire of a dragon.
A being which represents happiness.
A creature of truth.
A dragon can’t win against it.
A giant can’t knock it down.
A yeti can’t freeze it.
What is this animal you ask? She’s the fiery bird, the burning pterodactyl, she is the goddess of mythical animals, she’s a phoenix.
Families
By Arianna J.
Altogether at a family party
Being altogether feels nice
Cats and dogs as our pets
Dads and moms are here
Everyone in the family is there
Family is the best
Guys and girls are there
Hats and scarfs on the coat rack
I love my family
Jacksons and others are in the family
Key, we are the key to fun!
Leap for the stars and we do!
My family is special in their our way
All Together
By Zia R.
Connected like my dadi’s knitting
Elegant our family is a herd of elephants
Together think of each other every day
We will always stay together forever
We’re celebrant
We party every day.
Anxious for Texas
By Georgia R.
Billed for flight
Buc-ee’s in sight
Captivated by turbulence
Created a game on the plane
Gracious for speed
Lucky
Thrilled for the landing
Family
By Clara S.
A family like mine is too hard to find. But becoming a family like mine could be quite fine. Courageous and caring is what my family is all about. Daring and driven to any challenge. Enjoying time with family is all that we need.
Untitled Abecedarian
By Andrew W.
Arriving in the US
Diverse place we come
Some of us come for learning
While some people come to escape war
