Thank you for a really great Halloween party today! The food was super tasty! The notebooks and mazes were big hits! And the costumes and decorations were a lot of fun! Thanks again everybody!
Now for our poem...
Michael brought this one from home.
Cranes
Cranes pour sand
And when the sand
Hits the pile
Some pieces blast
out
Then it turns back
To get more
Cranes reach sand
For the sand pile
Thanks, Michael!
Have a great weekend and a happy Halloween!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Poem #38
Here's Kaytlyn's poem...
Kaytlyn
Sometimes shy
She sometimes hides
Poof! Behind the teacher
She thought everyone
Would laugh at her
Self-portrait picture
She came out
They didn't laugh
She made new friends
See you tomorrow!
Kaytlyn
Sometimes shy
She sometimes hides
Poof! Behind the teacher
She thought everyone
Would laugh at her
Self-portrait picture
She came out
They didn't laugh
She made new friends
See you tomorrow!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Poem #37
Dear Families,
A good number of the songs we sing in class are by the singer-songwriter Dan Zanes - a native of New Hampshire! He has crazy hair and a talent for lyrics. On November 20th he performs at the Portsmouth Music Hall, in case you're interested. I've taken my sons to see his band several times before and it's always an uplifting, rollicking show and I always go home afterward and pick up my guitar.
Now, on to our poem:
Raina has begun work on a poem and she gave me permission to publish it in draft form . I thought it would be interesting to post it now and then see how she revises it later. Here's what the poet has done so far...
Untitled
Bandits come in
To the castle
At night they
Steal our
Diamonds the
King chases
The knights to
Fight back
The knights
Win the
Battle and the
King is sad
Thanks, Raina! We're looking forward to what you do next!
A good number of the songs we sing in class are by the singer-songwriter Dan Zanes - a native of New Hampshire! He has crazy hair and a talent for lyrics. On November 20th he performs at the Portsmouth Music Hall, in case you're interested. I've taken my sons to see his band several times before and it's always an uplifting, rollicking show and I always go home afterward and pick up my guitar.
Now, on to our poem:
Raina has begun work on a poem and she gave me permission to publish it in draft form . I thought it would be interesting to post it now and then see how she revises it later. Here's what the poet has done so far...
Untitled
Bandits come in
To the castle
At night they
Steal our
Diamonds the
King chases
The knights to
Fight back
The knights
Win the
Battle and the
King is sad
Thanks, Raina! We're looking forward to what you do next!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Poem #36
Here's Eva's poem...
Eva's Poem
Loves to jumprope
When the jumprope comes
She hops once
She can't feel the ground
She feels nothing
The sound of the jumprope
Whhh Whhh Whhh
Hitting the ground
Khhh Khhh Khhh
When she stops
Her feet vibrate
See you tomorrow!
Eva's Poem
Loves to jumprope
When the jumprope comes
She hops once
She can't feel the ground
She feels nothing
The sound of the jumprope
Whhh Whhh Whhh
Hitting the ground
Khhh Khhh Khhh
When she stops
Her feet vibrate
See you tomorrow!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Poem #35
Here are three from Marcos!
Frankenstein
Frankensteins
Are green
And crabby
Frankensteins
Hold their arms straight
Frankensteins Frankensteins
My Family
My Family is important
I love my Family
You should love your Family
Families care about you
You care about your
Family
Bees
Bees can sting
Bees love honey
Bees can be boys
and girls they
Are black and yellow
Thanks, Marcos!
PS - Halloween parade this Friday at 1:15 PM! Hope to see you there! Class party to follow!
Frankenstein
Frankensteins
Are green
And crabby
Frankensteins
Hold their arms straight
Frankensteins Frankensteins
My Family
My Family is important
I love my Family
You should love your Family
Families care about you
You care about your
Family
Bees
Bees can sting
Bees love honey
Bees can be boys
and girls they
Are black and yellow
Thanks, Marcos!
PS - Halloween parade this Friday at 1:15 PM! Hope to see you there! Class party to follow!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Poem #34
We decided to write a poem that took a different angle on fall than most of the other poems you read...
Fall
The flowers die
The leaves fall off the trees
Can't go outside
Because the leaves are muddy
Birds fly south
It feels cold
Winter is starting
The snow falls
Sort of a downer, but we had fun writing it!
Have a good weekend!
Fall
The flowers die
The leaves fall off the trees
Can't go outside
Because the leaves are muddy
Birds fly south
It feels cold
Winter is starting
The snow falls
Sort of a downer, but we had fun writing it!
Have a good weekend!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Poem #33
Today we tried to create a poem using mostly sounds...
Birthday
Noise makers -
Bbddddddddddrup!
Birthday Song -
Da da da da da da
Da da da da DA da
Da da daaaa da da daaaa da
Da da da da da da!
Wishes -
Whooooooooo!
Presents open -
Rrrrrrriiiiiiiiip!
Balloons -
Pop!
Have a good night!
Birthday
Noise makers -
Bbddddddddddrup!
Birthday Song -
Da da da da da da
Da da da da DA da
Da da daaaa da da daaaa da
Da da da da da da!
Wishes -
Whooooooooo!
Presents open -
Rrrrrrriiiiiiiiip!
Balloons -
Pop!
Have a good night!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Poem #32
The other day Carter brought in a book of poems he'd written all about school. Here's one of them...
Writing Time
"Writing Writing
I like to write
Because the stories"
Pencil
"Paper and books"
Illustrator
"Author and
Have fun"
Thanks, Carter!
Writing Time
"Writing Writing
I like to write
Because the stories"
Pencil
"Paper and books"
Illustrator
"Author and
Have fun"
Thanks, Carter!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Poem #31
Here's a poem Patrick recently wrote...
Motorcycle
They go fast.
When they go dirt flies everywhere.
Motorcycles are cool.
Speeding! Down the track.
I wish I had a motorcycle.
The End
Thanks, Patrick!
Motorcycle
They go fast.
When they go dirt flies everywhere.
Motorcycles are cool.
Speeding! Down the track.
I wish I had a motorcycle.
The End
Thanks, Patrick!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Poem #30
Today we went to Applecrest Farms! The weather was beautiful, the tour guide was engaging and the donuts were scrumptious. Unfortunately, a surprise frost killed 80% of the apples last spring so we had to pick ours out of crates. None were left on the trees! And, there was one last adventure that deserved to be remembered in verse...
Field Trip
We heard an alarm
It was a beeping sound
The bus driver called the office
We got off the bus
We walked on the green grass
A black crow flew through the trees
We did exercises on the grass
A truck gave the bus a jump start
See you tomorrow!
Field Trip
We heard an alarm
It was a beeping sound
The bus driver called the office
We got off the bus
We walked on the green grass
A black crow flew through the trees
We did exercises on the grass
A truck gave the bus a jump start
See you tomorrow!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Poem #29
We read Spencer's biography today and here's Spencer's poem...
Spencer's Froggie Poem
Spencer used to
Carry Froggie
On his head
Spencer's Froggie
Now sleeps
On the fridge
Sometimes Spencer takes him down
And puts him on his head
Tiny beans inside Froggie
Tiny beans falling out
Spencer says,
"Let's play leapfrog, Froggie!"
Have a good weekend!
PS - Field trip at 9AM on Monday!
Spencer's Froggie Poem
Spencer used to
Carry Froggie
On his head
Spencer's Froggie
Now sleeps
On the fridge
Sometimes Spencer takes him down
And puts him on his head
Tiny beans inside Froggie
Tiny beans falling out
Spencer says,
"Let's play leapfrog, Froggie!"
Have a good weekend!
PS - Field trip at 9AM on Monday!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Poem #28
Today we talked about how writers sometimes give themselves little challenges by making up games for themselves as they write. A game works best when the rules aren't too hard or too easy. Cole wrote a poem about names. He said, "I'm rhyming each name with another word." Then, he decided to give himself an even bigger challenge - to rhyme each name with a kind of animal. He was playing a little game... "Can I do it? Can I come up with an animal rhyme for each name?"
Let's see how he did...
A Name Poem
Cole
Mole
Sam
Clam
Neil
Seal
Patrick
The End
Have a good night!
PS - Our field trip is rescheduled for Monday morning, 9AM!
Let's see how he did...
A Name Poem
Cole
Mole
Sam
Clam
Neil
Seal
Patrick
The End
Have a good night!
PS - Our field trip is rescheduled for Monday morning, 9AM!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Poem #27
Dear Families,
Two quick things:
First, we have a new student! We are happy to welcome Eva to our class!
Also, on a less exciting note, our field trip has been canceled due to bad weather. We're looking for a make-up date and I'll let you know as soon as I have more information about that. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Now, on to our poem...
Writers in our class are preparing to start a new study (personal narratives). They are reflecting on what they've learned so far this year, and they are cleaning out their folders and figuring out appropriate places to send certain pieces of writing. Also, in the meantime, they are making different kinds of writing (letters, lists, poems, stories... etc.) But today, for the first time, everyone wrote a poem. Here is one of them:
Bees
-by James Becksted
Bees fly
Bees collect pollen
Bees hum bees strum
Bees bunch together in the winter
Bees live in beehives
Bees touch flowers
To collect pollen
Bees are busy
BzzzzzzzzzzBzzzzzzzzz
Awesome Bees
Thanks James!
Two quick things:
First, we have a new student! We are happy to welcome Eva to our class!
Also, on a less exciting note, our field trip has been canceled due to bad weather. We're looking for a make-up date and I'll let you know as soon as I have more information about that. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Now, on to our poem...
Writers in our class are preparing to start a new study (personal narratives). They are reflecting on what they've learned so far this year, and they are cleaning out their folders and figuring out appropriate places to send certain pieces of writing. Also, in the meantime, they are making different kinds of writing (letters, lists, poems, stories... etc.) But today, for the first time, everyone wrote a poem. Here is one of them:
Bees
-by James Becksted
Bees fly
Bees collect pollen
Bees hum bees strum
Bees bunch together in the winter
Bees live in beehives
Bees touch flowers
To collect pollen
Bees are busy
BzzzzzzzzzzBzzzzzzzzz
Awesome Bees
Thanks James!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Poem #26
We have a few more student poems to complete but today we took a little break and put the topic up for suggestions. It was clear very quickly where most of the class' thoughts had begun to roam...
Leaves
Vampires walk through red leaves
Falling from the trees
The orange leaves fall on the jack-o'-lantern
Ghosts float through the dark cool night
Kids go trick or treating
On Halloween night
See you tomorrow!
Leaves
Vampires walk through red leaves
Falling from the trees
The orange leaves fall on the jack-o'-lantern
Ghosts float through the dark cool night
Kids go trick or treating
On Halloween night
See you tomorrow!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Poem #25
First grade quote of the day...
"I'm half Irish! Actually, I'm not Irish. My cat is!"
Here's Lylith's poem...
Lylith
I tried to ride my bike
But I can't
It won't let me
My handlebars fell down
Dad promised
He'll go into the basement
And fix it
See you next week!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Poem #24
Here's Kyra's poem...
Kyra
The woods
Dark with little corners of sun
Trees green and brown
Kyra has woods near her house
Birds sit on the branches and sing
Squirrels run over the crinkling leaves
Kyra smiles
Leaves fall on her head
Writing is like everything else. Some days words flow with ease from the pen, other days it's like mining through granite to find one lousy word to put down. Anyway, today was one of those good days. Kyra has a love of the woods, as it turns out, and beautiful little images just kept falling from her mouth as she talked about it. We wrote them all down and there was a poem. Voila!
Have a good night!
Kyra
The woods
Dark with little corners of sun
Trees green and brown
Kyra has woods near her house
Birds sit on the branches and sing
Squirrels run over the crinkling leaves
Kyra smiles
Leaves fall on her head
Writing is like everything else. Some days words flow with ease from the pen, other days it's like mining through granite to find one lousy word to put down. Anyway, today was one of those good days. Kyra has a love of the woods, as it turns out, and beautiful little images just kept falling from her mouth as she talked about it. We wrote them all down and there was a poem. Voila!
Have a good night!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Poem #23
Here is Grace's poem...
Grace
Little wild dancer
Made her mom and dad laugh
Mom sings
Every night
Daddy reads stories
Every night
Grace galloping on a horse
Today Grace gave us a real challenge! She said, "Let's make every line a little story." Eventually we had to settle on another structure but not before working super hard! We all discovered it's a lot harder to write a story short than to write it long... So we'll keep Grace's challenge and try again another time. Meanwhile, this poem benefitted from all that hard work and each line definitely has its own glow, if not its own story.
Grace
Little wild dancer
Made her mom and dad laugh
Mom sings
Every night
Daddy reads stories
Every night
Grace galloping on a horse
Today Grace gave us a real challenge! She said, "Let's make every line a little story." Eventually we had to settle on another structure but not before working super hard! We all discovered it's a lot harder to write a story short than to write it long... So we'll keep Grace's challenge and try again another time. Meanwhile, this poem benefitted from all that hard work and each line definitely has its own glow, if not its own story.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Poem #22
Here's Cole's poem...
Cole
Cole likes loud wolf howls
Cole likes Iron Man music
And wishes his dad was Iron Man
When Cole was a baby
He didn't like spiky grass on his toes
Cole likes to go in deep water
At the end of the day today we looked back at Cole's poem and made a few changes. Poets mainly try to use as few words as possible to say what they mean, so we got rid of some. And, because poets pay a lot of attention to the sound of their words, we made more changes. "Wolf howling" became "Wolf howls" - it sounded better. "Cole likes to listen to Iron Man music" became "Cole likes Iron Man music" - it was more economical without losing meaning. We talked about how writers return again and again to their work to make changes, move things around, make it better than it was.
Have a good night!
Cole
Cole likes loud wolf howls
Cole likes Iron Man music
And wishes his dad was Iron Man
When Cole was a baby
He didn't like spiky grass on his toes
Cole likes to go in deep water
At the end of the day today we looked back at Cole's poem and made a few changes. Poets mainly try to use as few words as possible to say what they mean, so we got rid of some. And, because poets pay a lot of attention to the sound of their words, we made more changes. "Wolf howling" became "Wolf howls" - it sounded better. "Cole likes to listen to Iron Man music" became "Cole likes Iron Man music" - it was more economical without losing meaning. We talked about how writers return again and again to their work to make changes, move things around, make it better than it was.
Have a good night!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Poem #21
Here's Sophie's poem...
Sophie
Sophie went in the attic and hid,
The clothes bag was dark like outer space.
Her mom called, "Sophie, come get fudge!"
Sophie smacked her lips and ran downstairs
Sophie loves to lick the fudge off the spoon!
We continue to write poems that tell a story. We worked hard on Sophie's to make sure it sounded more like a poem and less like a story. One way we did this was to make every line into an image. We talked about how to make an image by using our senses to describe action. So, instead of "Sophie loves fudge" we asked, "What does it look like to love fudge? What does it sound like? Smell, taste, feel like?" And the poem grew from there.
Have a great weekend!
Sophie
Sophie went in the attic and hid,
The clothes bag was dark like outer space.
Her mom called, "Sophie, come get fudge!"
Sophie smacked her lips and ran downstairs
Sophie loves to lick the fudge off the spoon!
We continue to write poems that tell a story. We worked hard on Sophie's to make sure it sounded more like a poem and less like a story. One way we did this was to make every line into an image. We talked about how to make an image by using our senses to describe action. So, instead of "Sophie loves fudge" we asked, "What does it look like to love fudge? What does it sound like? Smell, taste, feel like?" And the poem grew from there.
Have a great weekend!
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