Here's a glimpse of what we've been up to for the past couple of weeks at Alcott:


Last week, the 8th graders read Pat Mora's "Mango Juice," and used this poem and a discussion of food and memories to inspire their own poems. Here are two selections for you to enjoy:


Eating watermelon
on a picnic bench
is having fun with
a sense of security
as each one of your
cousins are 10 times
bigger than you and
ready to spit seeds at anyone
who screws up this day.

- Alex B.


Biting a Peach

When you take your first
bite of the peach you
feel the warm fuzzy
hairs on your chin
and the orange color of juice swimming
down your mouth.
Taking you back to the
old summer days, when
the air smelled warm
and the sky had all
its stars placed in
shiny white dots.
Where you would run down to the creek and
splash in the cool summer
water.

- Amber


6th and 8th graders have also been discussing different emotions, and writing poems inspired by Denise Levertov's "Talking to Grief." Here are a few selections:


Death,
it runs after you with its night stick and cuffs and beamers, runnin' after you, 100 of the same won't stop won't be denied, you can run, you can cry, you can be brave, but it has no sympathy, ultimately you'll have to face it.

- Elijah (8th)


envy is the cat that sturts
past my house every day.
with your tail up high and
straight and glowing fur.
as you sing to the moon
with your oh-so wonderful
voice. Every bobcat follows
you just to see your graceful presence.

- Dominique (8th)


Love is like a blue rose whose petals are live and happy. A valley of green unseen by blades and afraid.

- Amante (6th)


Last week, the third graders created some amazing concrete poems. Look for images of those in my next post! Until then, read some selections of the wonderful haiku they wrote the previous week...


A blue sky
playig ball with the sun
winning by 5 points.

- Sammy


Fall leaves fall,
crunch, crackle
pop under feet.

- Natalia


the skis spraying snow at the trees
the snow bounces while the
skiers go by

- Cameron


Wind, wind,
blowing through the air.
The loudest hush everywhere.

- Sabrina

Enjoy this collection of poems from last week at Alcott:

6th grade Odes
In the 6th grade, we read Pablo Neruda's "Ode to My Socks," and discussed the ode form and all the outrageously great metaphor and simile in that particular poem. Then students wrote their own odes!


Ode to Butterflies

The beautiful
butterflies flying
in the sky as if they
are having peaceful thoughts
They soar through
the wind as if
they are cooling off
from the hot sun.
flying as fast
as a cheetah running
for his first
meal in two days
as beautiful as a
report card with
straight A's.

- Stephanie T.


Corn, corn, corn
I love to eat you corn with the butter and with the cheese hot as a sun um it good. And with some hot sauce on it corn it hot as the sidewalk. All neat on my hands.

- Rene R.

Ode to figure skating

Ode to figure skating
like a cup of Ice
shiny white boots
dripping into a locker room
leap after leap
like a frog jumping for freedom
sharp blades at the end
as a knife cutting meat
practicing all day without any
sleep

skating on the ice rink
with the sound of your
blade going swish, swish, swish.

Winning a trophy like
you've won a bet.

- Brittany


8th grade
The 8th graders read a selection of classic and contemporary haiku, and wrote their own haiku. I love these.


He takes his first breath
His first breath everlasting
Many more to come

- Sophia C.


The fish is swimming
round and round
The same thing happens

- Rabees R.


The snow falls
Harder and harder
The old man shovels
With no one to help.

- Qonain B.


A beautiful Day
everyone having fun
a breeze blowing

Time pass
the hour and minute hand go
fast and slow

On the desk
the girl write
day and night

- Cherrell B.


3rd grade
In 3rd grade, students took poems they had already written and reconstructed them, exploring the different ways they can be by breaking their lines up in different ways.


The ghost who gave up

Once there was a
ghost
alone
in New York.
It was
alone
with
people.
He scared a person but the person didn't
cry,
scream and laugh. He went back to
heaven
and he never
returned
again.

- Damian

Never!
Stop?
ever
it
will
FAST!
FAST!
FAST!
growing
are
trees

- Claire

No one's out the wind gently
blows outside
all the shops are
closed. Even the barn
no animals are outdoor.
Everyone
is indoor. Later on
one little girl came
outside she felt rainbow.
She went
to
the park to
play she
was a happy happy
girl!

- Haylie

At Long Last: sounds of Alcott students' poetry!

Okay, before the break I promised to post recordings we'd made of poems written in Alcott's 3rd grade and 8th grade classrooms. Well, after some technical difficulties I am finally proud to present these poems for your listening enjoyment. They are well worth the wait!

Most of the poems recorded in our 8th grade class were inspired by a reading and listening of Todd Alcott's "Television," with the exception of Julia's poem - she recorded a beautiful poem that she had written during one of our first poetry classes.

The 3rd graders were inspired by a reading of Emily Dickinson's "Bee! I'm Expecting You!"

To listen: click on a link and you'll be sent to a new page where you'll click the "download" button. I think you'll need some sort of media player to listen, such as Real Player. Let me know if any of you have trouble!

8th grade:

Janisa's "Clock"

Daniel's "Brussel Sprouts"

Chanel's "Pop"

Julia's "My Eyes"

3rd grade:

Claire's "Paper"

Mohammed's Spring to Winter poem

Ben's Milky Way poem

Zoe's "Gone Through the Ocean"

Haylie's "Dear Sun"

Our Pictures

8th graders read an excerpt from Li-Young Lee's "A Table in the Wilderness" yesterday, and then wrote their own pictures...

have and gone

There I witnessed a heart
it became two figures
man and woman dance
to their own beat
with the only one melody
their hearts will beat to that is my image of
friends
when the man spun
the woman, he became a tree
she that is spinning became a tornado
the tornado came destroying the ground
destroyed the tree roots
the tree was gone for good
she was a heart breaker that is my image of
a friend saying goodbye

- Jasmine T.


I Draw

I draw a clear sunny day
and a tree with seeds
This is my picture of family

Changing the clear sky to black rolling clouds
flashing lightnings, booms of thunder, cold hard rain
This is my picture of problems

Switching the tree into black sweet earth
leaving one seed
This is my picture of independence

I draw the seed growing into a girl
into a woman
This is my picture of me
This is my picture of life

- Tylisha S.


Life

The young caterpillar hatches from its egg, as we humans are born from the womb. It's first movements are exciting but extremely cautious. This young caterpillar grows contained in a protective cocoon, putting him separate from the world. as the cocoon is broken the so called caterpillar has grown to a beautiful butterfly. Our lives are like this young caterpillar. We would soon be successful in life.

- Ezekiel O.


the flowers are in color,
that represents peace because the sun is shining.
the flowers wither and the color is drained,
death is what has happened.
the flowers will grow again
therefore, the cycle will start
and grab you with hard vines and
intertwine your birth.

- Julia K.


sadness. kicking the snow with your head held down.

- Alexis

Shhhhh....

3rd graders at Alcott this week read D.H. Lawrence's "The White Horse." We talked about silence, and wrote our own poems to make you feel quiet.

Antarctica

a cold blanket of white.
everlasting wind.
my hair moving to the right.
footprints heading east.

-Avery

The Silent Night

The boy tried to sleep but with the house so loud he could not dream then at 9:30 p.m. the whole house was silent his parents came in kissed him goodnight turned out the light and all to be heard was the sound of the old owl sitting on his tree! And
Soon...
the...
boy...
was...
in...
a...
deep...
slumber...

-Delaney


The green grass swaying in the Wind. Getting bent by the people who don't care. getting old getting drenched by the rain and life. we should give thanks to it.

-Nicolaus

The Snow Day

crash goes
the feet
in the Snow!
Wait! quietness!
For all the snow
to fall all
different colors
making no
Noise! For
Everything
to Crash again
and again!
For the
Snow day
to last and last!
For me again!

- Adia