All posts in Poems

Rainbows and Crayons, Part One

For our 12 sessions each class engaged poetry uniquely. I brought in books of poems and Swift students and teachers took turns reading aloud in both English and Spanish. In one classroom students danced […]

Shoesmith 4th graders 2024: Let us Introduce Ourselves

The 1st session in my 4th year of being invited to engage Shoesmith 4th graders in poetry was 🔥! It included sweet reunions with staff, teachers, and former students at the front desk, in […]

Poetry at the Movies

This week the young vikings explored cinematic poetry. We discussed what are the components of a movie: dialogue, setting, sound, actors, etc…We read “Please Refrain from Talking During the Movie” by Robert Polito and […]

Eclipsed By Memories

Twain 6th graders not only traveled back in time for their third week of poetry, they also welcomed the solar eclipse. All the students, teachers, and staff at Twain stood in the playground and […]

Swift Students String Letter Sounds

Last Friday Swift students tried their hands at using alliteration in their poems. It was challenging! Ms Urquiza2nd Grade A Baby Bee and Birdby Breanna V. On one beautiful day it wasWednesday and it […]

‘sometimes stare’: Self-Portrait Poems

After reading student poet Noor S.’s poem ‘Self Portrait with my Loose Hijab, ‘ students wrote self-portrait poems focusing on one aspect of themselves! Self-Portrait with my loose hijab  By Noora S.  Trying to […]

Editing- 7th Grade

This week instead of working on a writing exercise, I shared a few of my favorite writing resources with students. I walked students through how to use a free online visual thesaurus, Etymology sites, […]

We are Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made of

Spring is in the air! For our session before the spring break students worked on poems about dreams. Dreams for the future, or the wild and strange things that we see on the movie […]

‘when there’s more in the world?:’ Self Portrait Poems

After reading student poet Noor S.’s poem ‘Self Portrait with my Loose Hijab, ‘ students wrote self-portrait poems focusing on one aspect of themselves! Self-Portrait with my loose hijab  By Noora S.  Trying to […]

‘Quinceañera’: Poems of Play

Students made the old-school paper game called a ‘Cootie Catcher,’, which is a form of origami used in children’s games. Parts of the catcher are labeled with words that serve as options for a […]

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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