All posts in Leslie Reese

“We use tools”

For our 2nd sessions, I showed up in Brennemann 5th grade classrooms all set to introduce them to the Gwendolyn Brooks poem, “We Real Cool,” but they were already familiar with it from a […]

2nd Grade Wishing-Well

I met Brennemann 2nd graders for the first time this week. They were curious about everything from what I was wearing, to what is a poem? and what do I think about animals? and […]

What a monster looks like!

For our first session upon returning from spring break, I thought we could spend time reviewing, as well as looking at some illustrated poetry books and reading poems aloud. This is what we did […]

“yo sueño en hacer poesia y ser grande”

It was my pleasure to meet with Brennemann 5th graders for the first time last week. They were energetic, curious, and open to going with me on a creative writing journey with poetry. We […]

Jealous clouds, guitars, and more

In our recent sessions, Swift 2nd graders were counting down the hours before spring break began! We read “Ode to My Shoes” by Francisco X. Alarcón, and talked about giving non-human things – like […]

2nd Grade Experts Weigh In

Today Swift 2nd graders talked about (1) things they know how to do well; (2) the recipes they know how to cook; (3) and how to give someone expert instructions. We passed around different […]

“It’s really easy to get a pet…”

Last week at Swift – rather than introducing a new lesson – I asked students to look through their folders to select a poem that they would like to spend more time on. Many […]

What if we lived in a world without color?

Swift 2nd graders pondered this question, and then came up with responses such as “It would be boring,” “It would be sad,” and “Artists wouldn’t be able to have any fun!” In Ms. Pendola’s […]

Do you love sour pickles?

Valentines Day landed on my most recent sessions with Swift 2nd graders, so we read Eloise Greenfield’s poem, “Honey, I Love.” Students enjoyed lines in which the poet said she LOVED “a flying pool” […]

Would you like to see…?

As usual, when working with 2nd graders – many of whom have never had a creative writing practice – the first 5 sessions are meant to introduce students to how poems look on the […]

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I’M FROM THE CITY LIGHTS / STREAMING OUT IN THE NIGHT / AND HUGE SKYSCRAPERS / TOWERING OVER THE LAKE – MELISSA E., 7TH GRADE POET