All posts in Shoesmith

Asking questions with 5th & 6th graders

For their fifteenth week of poetry. Shoesmith 5th and 6th graders experimented with question poetry. Why do people ask questions? Does every question have to have an answer? Most students thought that people ask […]

4th Grade Odes Part 2

For our 13th session, Shoesmith 4 graders were waiting to wow me with their understanding of figurative language, which they said is used to “spice up” and “add flavor” to poems and stories. They […]

5th & 6th graders get into shape with poetry

For their fourteenth week of poetry 5th and 6th graders learned how to be creative with Concrete Poetry. A concrete poem sometimes called “shape” poetry, is when words are arranged on the page to […]

Forever Fabled with 5th and 6th graders

For their 13th week of poetry Shoesmith 5th and 6th grades learned about fable poetry. This lesson was inspired by the wonderful poetry teaching artist Tim Rey. Fables are short stories that use animals […]

4th graders Draft Odes

Three weeks ago, Shoesmith 4th graders had standardized testing. The following week I was involved with Chicago Poetry Center’s video-shoot for “Queen Zee’s Poetic Adventures;” and last week was spring break! So today was […]

Meditating with 5th & 6th graders

For Shoesmith 5th and 6th graders their 12th poetry week was on April Fools Day. There were a lot of funny shenanigans from teachers, staff, and students. Despite the hilarious pranks we had a […]

4th Grade Worlds of Color

After considering and writing about the meaning of blackness, Shoesmith 4th graders turned their attention to the blues. Beginning on March 11 they opened their eyes and hearts to more colors, and possible similes […]

Signed and delivered letters from 5th and 6th graders

For their 11th week of poetry Shoesmith 5th and 6th graders explored epistolary poetry. Epistolary poems are poems that can be written as letters, notes, or diary entries. We discussed the different ways people […]

4th Grade Blues

Shoesmith 4th graders have been learning about the blues, listening to the blues, discussing the blues and snapping their fingers to the blues! After finding out our “blue names” using a blues name generator, […]

Let’s rewrite with 5th and 6th graders

It’s time to share and rewrite for week 10. Shoesmith 5th and 6th graders chose poems they wrote during the first half of our residency that they wanted to edit. Most students wanted to […]

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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