Today my class and I wrote cinquains. Basically it is a poem with the following structure:
noun
description of noun
action
feeling or effect
synonym of the initial noun
Here’s mine:
Books
Endless adventures
Read to get away
Full of hope
Novels
Please click on the other poems by my seventh graders.
This is not a cinquain, but it is a great poem.
Today my sixth graders had a special treat. The Wild Goose Chase Theater came to our school! Matt Sandbank made his shadow puppets come to life with his voice and poetry. He taught the students how to create imagery in their poems. He engaged them the entire 45 minute period. Even the science teacher wrote a poem! During his show he had the students pick an image and then list nouns, verbs, and adjectives that would go with the image. He modeled every step that he did. After they compiled their lists, he had them create music with their words. He taught them about alliteration, metaphors, and similies. Yes, I teach these at my school, but it was good for my students to hear it from someone who writes their own poetry. Below is my list and poem.
Watermelon
fun lime green red green stripped juicy black seeds picnic slices chunks summer messy munching devour child running soft basket adults children humongus ripe fruit plump crisp quench bite flesh rind ants dribble eat large rotund table spit hard mounds water melon abundant pile
Watermelon
Mounds of messy melons
Stacked on the picnic table
Ripe juicy fruit
Dribbles down my cheek
Children devour
Chunks of plump red flesh
Seed spit in the air
This is more fun than the fair!
Every month I have the opportunity to socialize with my teacher friends. This event is sacred. I can always tell when I am in need of a bunko fix. My mind and soul twitches with the urge to be with people – to get away from the hustle and bustle of school and family life. Tonight I got my bunko fix. I laughed so hard my side hurt. If felt good to smile and not worry about anything. The crazy thing is that this is the first time we have played since probably last September. Lately we’ve just gotten together, which is even better than playing. Tonight was a rare occasion. All eight players rolled a big bunko tonight. A big bunko is when a player rolls three sixes at one time. Never in the history of my bunko playing have I had this happen. It felt exhilarating to scream “BIG BUNKO!” at the top of my lungs like I accomplished something so hard to comprehend yet so easy to do. The other crazy thing that happened tonight was that another player and I had simultaneous big bunkos. Crazy! I can’t wait until our next social gathering.
This poem is dedicated to my daughter, EB. She was born February 8, 2009.
by Andi N.
Today you turn two
Good for you
Sad for me
Oh, how I love you EB
Time ticks away
I wish you could stay
This way
Giggles and smiles
Frustrations and trials
The adventure starts
Where we both do our parts
Of living, loving, and learning
Today you turn two
Good For you
Sad for me
Oh, how I love you EB
During Catholic Schools Week, our school has a special day just for students. Yesterday was Student Appreciation Day. The day began with the Math-a-thon for Saint Jude. Each lower grade is paired with an upper grade. My sixth graders were paired with second graders. This way the 6th graders could help the 2nd graders with their math problems. At each half hour a bonus question was asked and the kids had to try to work out the problem for a prize. It was fun seeing the students work together! After the math-a-thon, we went back to regular schedule. In English class we played part of speech bingo. I had books for prizes, which the kids loved!
At the end of the day I got to be a kid again. We have an annual 8th grade against the teachers volleyball game. The whole school comes to cheer everyone on! I played on the teachers’ team. It felt good to play again. It brought me back to when I was in junior high. My PE teacher taught us volleyball and I loved it. I even think I was pretty good at it. The 8th graders said that I was good at volleyball. That made me feel good. I only wish I could play all of the time. I may not be as good as I was when I was 13, but I still enjoyed myself.
It’s amazing how you never forget your elementary teachers. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to see my 5th grade teacher. My school was having an open house for the beginning of Catholic Schools Week and she was there with her granddaughter. I thought I recognized her. She looked almost the same – same haircut, same voice. She remembered me! She even introduced me to her granddaughter who might attend our school next year. I appreciate my teachers and I hope my students feel the same about me.
At Christmas time, one of my former students bumped into me at Target. He was excited to see me. It was great seeing him grown up and not as a sixth grader. I bet that’s how my 5th grade teacher felt. It’s hard to believe how fast time flies!
Before Christmas break, I had planned my lessons and prepared my students’ assignments. I put together supplies for my new student that was to be coming in. I also knew I was to be a cooperating teacher for a student teacher. I left school and didn’t look back until this morning at 7:30. All day I felt out of place even though I had planned. I guess that’s what happens when your brain and body go into vacation mode. Below is an etheree of my feelings of today:
Discombobulated an etheree
The
Feeling
Teachers get
After a break
Nothing goes as planned
Children are not concerned
Lots of catching up to do
Smile, might as well be flexible
Once Monday has passed, you won’t feel
Discombobulated for a while
By Andi N.
Ruth on the Two Writing Teachers blog has encouraged me to make intentions instead of resolutions for the year 2011.
Happy 2011!
Out with the old
In with the new
I wish you
Happy times
Blessed memories
All of 2011
Andi N.
www.treelink.org/woodnotes/vol6/no3/content.html (picture came from)
Ode to Fall
Your shades of brown
red, yellow, and orange
dance among the trees.
Your cool crisp air
awakens me
so that I may appreciate
you more.
You remind
me of God’s
precious
gift
that awaits -
Heaven
Andi N.
