Poem #20

Here it is - Carter's poem...


      Holidays   and   Games


     Christmas   and   Hanukah
     Ornaments   and   presents
     Easter   and   Passover
     Eggs   and   Charoset
     Cookies   and   Matzoh  bread
     Carter   loves   holidays
     Battleship   and   Pokemon
     Carter   hits   a   destroyer
     The   destroyer   sinks
     Carter   loves   games
     Carter   gets   games   for   Hanukah   and   Christmas


See you tomorrow!

Poem #19

Today we wrote Alessandro's poem.  Among other things, he loves lions and bowling! And, because poets are like magicians, we decided to do the impossible and make a poem about lions and bowling and Alessandro! We learned that metaphors are sometimes made by putting two very unlikely things together and then finding something true that they both share...

   Alessandro - Defender of Men

    Brave   like   a   lion

    Alessandro   rolls   the   bowling   ball

    And   gets   a   spare

    The   ball   booms   into   the   pins

    Like   a   lion's   roar

Oyasuminasai

Poem #18

Here's the poem of the day...


         Marcos


   Marcos   draws   like   an   artist
   He   tries   his   hardest
   He   sits   shoulder   to   shoulder
   With   his   reading   partner
   He   said,   "Are   you   okay?"
   When   his   sister   fell   off   her   bike.


Aloha po

Poem #17

Cole brought in a book by a young poet named Mattie Stepanek.  Last week we read several poems from that book and today we picked one to study. The poem is titled Leaf Play. The class noticed that it tells a story in a poetic way and so we decided to try and do the same thing.

Here's our poem...


               Stephen


Maybe   he   thought   the   fish   was   hungry
  The   purple   rubber   frog   went   into   the   tank
Maybe   he   thought   the   fish   was   lonely
  Stephen   loves   his   purple   rubber   frog






See you tomorrow!
godnatt
(It's Scandinavian, but which country?)

Poem #16

Each day we choose a name from a Wizard of Oz tin can full of popsicle sticks to see whose biography we'll read and whose poem we'll write. Until today, the Oz can dispensed boys' names exclusively. The first girl's name has now been chosen!

Here she is...


    Her First Name Sounds Like Rain


  Her   first   name   sounds   like   rain
  You   can   wear   her   middle   name   like   a   necklace
  When   she   sleds   at   night
  And   gets   to   the   bottom   of   the   hill
  She   says,   "More,   more,   more!"


              Raina   Jade   Moore



Raina's poem, like all of them so far, started out with lots of ideas.  She loves milk. She has long blond hair. She doesn't make other people sad... Any or all of these ideas could have been used to write a good poem. But the idea to make a poem about Raina's name popped up. Another idea popped up too - the idea that writers sometimes discover what they're writing about in the middle of their work. In fact, one way to get an idea is to just start writing and see what happens!

Laku noć and have a good weekend!
(laku noć anyone?)

Poem #15

Picture Day tomorrow!

Here's our poem...


     Michael


  He   does   mischief
  Every   day   he   smiles
  He   makes   funny   faces
  Like   an   opera   singer


Spokoinoi nochi
(phonetic pronunciation)

Poem #14

Dear Families,

Hope to see you tonight at Open House!   6PM.

An alphabet chart is attached to your child's homework for his or her use at home.  In class, we use them to match letters to sounds and vice versa when we write...  There's no specific task for the alphabet chart just yet, other than finding a good spot for it at home.  Thanks!

Today we read James' biography and here's the poem we all constructed:


     James


  Boy   Scout
  Karate   learner
  Scientist
  Catches   fish   like   a   crane


        James


(The kids debated the type of bird for the last line... "what's good at catching fish?" they wondered. The other choices included a seagull and a loon.  Crane won, and we all thought "crane" and "James" sounded nice together.)

boa noite
(can you guess this one?)

Poem #13

Quick reminders:
     1. Open House tomorrow,  6PM at NFS!
     2. Book Fair tomorrow!

Today our poem is all about Patrick!

Here it is...

                                    Patrick


    He   makes   funny   noises
          like   a   cat   meowing.
    He   loves   his   mom
          like   he   loves   dancing.
    He   plays   legos
          like   a   construction   worker.


Buona Notte
(Can you guess?)

Poem #12

Hello, everyone!

A couple of announcements:

1. We have a new student!  His name is Jordan Chase. Welcome Jordan!
2. Open House this Wednesday night at 6PM in our classroom.  Hope to see you there!

Now for our poem...

We started reading the green student books, "About My Family and Me." It's a fun time - lots of great pictures and lots of funny stories. Everyday we'll pick one more to highlight and read aloud with the author. On that day, the poem will also be about the author.

For today's poem, we talked about how poets search for just the right word. Mark Twain said, "the difference between the almost right word, and the RIGHT word is the difference between the lightning bug and lightning." In our poem about Will Chamberlin we worked hard to find "lightning" words!


     Will


  Baseball
  Cows   and   milk
  A   good   partner
  A   friend   at   recess
  An   awesome   fisherman


Gutenacht...
(German)

Poem #11

Here's the latest in the Classroom Poem Series...

            Poem

  A   poem   is   just   a   piece   of   paper.

  If   you   put   water   on   it,   it   will   rip.

  Unless   it's   magic   water.

  Then   the   poem   will   come   to   life.

       A   poem   says,    "hello!"

       A   poem   says,   "goodbye!"

       A   poem   wants   to   play.

       A   poem   wants   a   friend.

Have a great weekend!

Poem #10

Hello Families,

Sorry about the homework confusion yesterday.  I hope it's clearer now... but please let me know.

Here's a quote for the day:

Michael - "Of course I know the future.  I'm FROM the future!  It's a miracle."
                      (I'm assuming he heard that somewhere, but I like it)

Now for the poem...


     Clock


   Tick-tock
   A   cuckoo   clock,
   Tick-tock
   It's   10   O'clock,
   Tick-tock
   It's   12   O'clock,
   Tickety-tock
   Time   is   ticking.
   Ding-dong!   Kuckoo!   Kuckoo!
   Time   is   precious.


So true!
Have a good night!

Poem #9

Here's today's poem...

          Ukulele


  Strum,  strum
  The  strings  play  music,
  The  strings  are  like  electric  cords
  Plugged  into  the  wall.
  Sweet  songs,  like  a  cat's  purr.
  Swagman
  Wonder  Wheel
  Hello
  Jump  Up!


Have a good night!
Mr. Fleischer

Poem #8

Internal rhymes, sound words and using as few words as possible were all part of the thinking that went into today's poem...

     Class   Pet


  Swimmy   is   a   Betta   fish.
  Splish,   splish,   SPLASH!
  Swimmy   likes   to   eat,
  Swimmy   is   sweet.
  Swimmy   swims   fast   to   his   food.
  He   eats   slow,
  Spit,   spit,
  Suck   it   in,   spit   it   out.
  The   blue   and   green   rocks
  Shine   through.
  Swimmy   Swims!


Bonsoir
(Goodnight in French.  I looked it up)

Poem #7!

Today, a family letter about homework went home.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  We'll go over the routines and expectations more in depth at the Open House, which happens September 22nd at 6:00 PM in our classroom (room #1).

The class talked about upsetting a reader's expectations as a way to make our writing more interesting. We started our poem with a predictable pattern and then, suddenly, threw a wrench in and watched where that took us.  So really, we decided, it's not only the reader who finds the writing more interesting,  it's also the writer who becomes more interested in his/her work when a predictable path is twisted a bit.

Here's our poem...


    Math   Time


   4   +   4   is   eight
   5   +   5   is   ten
   4   +   5   is   ten
   Oops!   That's   not   right,
   Unplug   the   TV!
   Close   the   playroom   door!
   Turn   off   the   radio!
   4   +   5   is   NINE!


See you tomorrow!

Poem #6!

Quote of the day:

Marcos - "I couldn't go 100 days without pizza. I could go, like... 99 but not 100."

Mr. F - "What would happen?"

Marcos - "I'd flip out!"


Hello, Families!

Next week a letter will come home with details about homework routines. And, thank you again for all of your blog comments! The kids are very impressed that their work reaches far and wide.

Here's the latest...


        Mystery Poem

   Things   in   the   pockets.
   A   broken   top   strap.
   A lunchbox   inside.
   Squares   and   hearts   and   cross-bones   for   designs.
   Outside   skin,   stiff   and   strong.
   Like   an   allosaurus'   head   with   straps   for   horns...


   What   am   I?


   A   BACKPACK!


Have a nice weekend everyone!
Mr. Fleischer

Poem #5!

Yesterday we looked to another writer for inspiration and today we looked to our OWN writing for inspiration. We reread an earlier poem we'd written and that gave us the idea of writing a series of "classroom poems" about the things we see and work with everyday in our class.

And here's today poem:

     Classroom Library


           A   math   book
           Seagulls
           Snow  White  and  the  Seven  Dwarfs
           Sharks
           I-Spy
           Dinosaurs!


We   read,   we   read,   we   read...

Poem #4!

Today we read a book called The Bug in Teacher's Coffee (and other school poems) by Kalli Dakos. A lot of her poems make inanimate objects talk and think and feel, so we decided to try and do the same kind of thing. Here's what we came up with:

 The Grouchy, Talking Classroom Rug

          You can sit somewhere else!
          Don't sit on me!
          Get off!
          I'll sit on you!
          Go sit on that other rug!
          Can you please get off?
          I'm squished!
          Ouch!


Thank you for your comments! It's been fun reading your responses!
Mr. Fleischer

Poem #3 and Some News!

First, here's today's poem:


     Sports!

Tackling in football
Missing the birdie
Missing the ball
Getting a strike
Hitting the ball out of the park
Digging in the dirt when I take 3rd


     Sports!


We discussed how a writer can make the ending of a poem the same as the beginning and give it a nice circular structure if he/she chooses.

Now, some class news - We have a class fish (it's a Betta) and today we named him... her?
"Swimmy" won out with 7 votes. The runners-up were "Flame" and "Robin Hood" with 3 votes each. So, welcome to the class, Swimmy!

In other news, we started our first science unit today. We're studying weather, which will include a big detour into the study of water.

Last, there is a schedule change. Our class now has Art on Monday at 1:30 and PE on Tuesday at 12:40.

Buenas noches!

Mr. Fleischer

PS - Also, thank you to everyone for making sure that in-class snacks are nut-free! It's going great!

This Class Can Take the Heat!

Today we talked about repetition in a poem, and we talked a little about metaphor, too. Here is the class' work:


My  Bike


The  first  time
I  rode  a  two-wheeler
I  went  fast
The  tires  were  bumpy
Like  monster  truck  tires
The  bell  was  ringing
Like  a  car's  horn
The  gears  were  turning
Like  lightning
I  love  my  two-wheeler


See you next Tuesday. Have a great weekend!
Mr. Fleischer

First Day of School! Poem #1

Hello Families,

What a wonderful first day of school! What a great class we have!

We were very busy learning each other's names, singing songs, puzzling out math problems, reading and writing books (you should see some of the titles: Little Sister;  I Want a Dog;  I Love Horses... etc).


Here is the first poem of the year!


My   loose   Tooth


My  friend  has
A  loose  tooth, too.
My cousin has
A loose tooth, too.


My tooth came out!
When my tooth comes out,
It bleeds.


ta-da! There it is...

We collaborated line by line to put this together. I thought it fitting because the transition into first grade is a defining one, much the same as losing a first tooth. And, with any important transition, it's a little bitter sweet.

Have a good evening!
Mr. Fleischer