Ellie's poem about Tori

Here is a poem that Ellie wrote about her little sister:

"Using Your Senses" Poetry

Today we used Giant Write Every Day: Daily Writing Prompts by Evan Moore for our journal writing (pg. 94). I couldn't get the girls to quit writing!! I expected them to each write a poem, but they just couldn't help themselves. Kate wrote 5 and Ellie wrote 9 poems using the model from the book.

Here was the model:

Choose an emotion/feeling etc. and describe it with:
Color
Taste
Smell
Feel
Sound
Sight

Here are some of the examples of their work:

Anger is black
Dark, bitter chocolate
A dragon's breath
As sharp as a dark knight's sword
The yelling of a lady's voice
Anger is a dark cloud. (Kate)

Beauty is red
The taste of a marischino cherry
The smell of lavender
As soft as a cute kitten
The singing of a girl
Beauty is love and kindness. (Kate)

Boredom is white
Rice, Cleaning Fluid, Empty Brain, Mute
Boredom is a blank page. (Ellie)

Jealousy is a bright green
A green sour lime
Lemon juice
A slap to the head
Teeth grinding
Jealousy is a frog in the throat (Ellie)

Hope is a light pink
Honey
A pine tree
A held breath
A slow mountain breeze
Hope is a great laurel. (Ellie)

Dreamy is a light purple
Vanilla ice cream
Lavender
Eternal Sleep
Lullaby
Dreamy is a soft pillow (Ellie)

Poem Memorization: Results or Roses

Wow, are we behind where I wanted to be in poem memorization.
Here are the kids reciting the poem "Results or Roses", by Edgar Guest.
Better late than never!

Colors Poetry

Red is festive,
Orange is unexpected,
Hot yellow is soft,
Green is springy,
Blue is light and flowing,
Purple is deep and dark.
- by Ellie

Purple, deep dark flowing,
Pink, very bright,
Green grassy,
Blue, I have the color,
Red, very deep,
Orange, very pretty,
Yellow, brightest one I've ever seen,
Colors are so pretty.
- by Kate

Onomatopoeia Poetry

Onomatopoeia. Wow, does that belong in a spelling bee. That is quite hard to type. :)

My kids just love this word. They think it sounds ridiculous. That, paired with the fact that we were studying constellations and learned about Cassiopeia, made them super silly this week. They have been singing: "Onomatopoeia, Cassiopeia" over and over....

They thought it was even funnier when they actually found out what an Onomatopoeia was. We decided to do some Onomatopoeia poetry for fun. Here is what Ellie came up with:

And I now hope that I never have to type "onomatopoeia" ever again!!!

Thanksgiving Poems

The girls worked on Thanksgiving poems yesterday.

I didn't do a very good job of making sure they spelled correctly or wrote neatly, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Shape Poems

Today, the girls wrote Shape Poetry.

Ellie chose fairly easy subjects - a cookie and home.

Kate on the other hand decided to be complicated and chose an astronaut. The words were supposed to go along the entire shape, but that would have been too many words for her to write :)

Writing Couplets

Today we practiced writing couplets. Short and sweet. We were pressed for time. :)

Ellie's:

Handstands
First you put your hands on the ground
Then you kick up and are upside down.

Kate's Eyes
Blue eyes, blue sea
I look at you, you look at me

Chapstick
Cherry berry chapstick
That I love to lick

Kate's:

Dad
I really miss you dad
You are in Iraq and I am sad.

Doesn't that just break your heart??
Kate is having a rough time today. While I was typing this, she got out of bed and came downstairs crying, asking my why we got rid of Buster (our dog). We found him a new home many months ago (6-8?). She hasn't mentioned it for ages. I am not sure why this is coming up now. I guess she's just feeling lonely :(

Bio Poetry

The girls wrote poems about themselves today. Poetry Patterns & Themes had worksheets with a specific format, which made it much easier :)

Ellie
Athletic, happy, intelligent
Wishes to be a famous dancer and singer,
Dreams of her own shaggy black dog named Sirius,
Wants to wear 36 socks on crazy sock night
Who wonders what it's like in space,
Who fears spiders,
Who likes dogs, ice cream, music, and Harry Potter books,
Who believes in God,
Who loves her family,
Who plans to get an ipod,
Who wishes to be an archaeologist.

Kate
Loveable, joyful, helpful,
Wishes to have her dream come true,
Dreams of she and her sisters running through sparkling flowers,
Wants to go to the mom shop (will explain later...)
Who wonders if Dad is going to come back,
Who fears bears,
Who likes Christmas,
Who belives in God,
Who loves her family,
Who plans not to have a shop anymore,
Who loves the world. The End.

Lexie
Joyful, loving, thoughtful,
Wishes to have her own Build-a-Bear,
Wishes to be in tumbling class,
Dreams of having lots of pets,
Wants to become a veterinarian,
Who wonders when Dad will come back,
Who fears wolves and spiders,
Who lives cats and dogs, butterflies, caterpillars, ladybugs, and everything living,
Who lives to eat sausage and pancakes,
Who likes to drink milk,
Who believes in God,
Who loves her family,
Who plans to be a mom someday
Who plans to have a sparkly pink car when she grows up :)

Limericks

Limerick
Today we continued our poetry study by writing our own limericks. These were fun!
I used the book Writing Poetry With Children, which has some worksheets to help in the writing process.

After working through the worksheet with Kate, I read the following in the book:
"The limerick form is too difficult for most primary students. It can be successful with more able third-graders, providing they have much guidance." She did need a lot of guidance, but she got good practice in looking for rhyming words and in choosing a subject:)

Here are the poems we wrote today:

There was a rainbow fish named Rainy
He loved books and was kind of brainy
He sat by the shore
with ideas and dreams galore
Oh how I love that fish Rainy.
by Ellie

There once was a boy named Nick
Who always liked to kick
His sisters would run
When he wanted fun
That naughty little boy Nick
by Kate

There once was a man named Andy
Who didn't like to eat any candy
Nothing sugary or sweet,
He only wanted meat
That silly carnivore, Andy
by Me :)

Here are some links to information on limericks:
DLTK's Educational Activities
Poetry Online
How to Write a Limerick

Poetry Memorization: Results and Roses

Rosen in Silberner Schale
The first poem we are going to memorize this year is:

Results and Roses
by Edgar Guest

The man who wants a garden fair,
Or small or very big,
With flowers growing here and there,
Must bend his back and dig.

The things are mighty few on earth,
That wishes can attain.
Whate'er we want of any worth
We've got to work to gain.

It matters not what goal you seek
Its secret here reposes:
You've got to dig from week to week
To get results or roses.

I thought that this would be a good way to start out, reminding them that they need to work hard to get results in their schoolwork :)

Poetry Memorization

Mrs. Browning's Poems

I have decided to add poetry memorization to the kids' studies. I have fond memories of some of the poems that I memorized in school. The ones you really put to memory stay with you throughout your life.

Here is some information on poetry memorization:

Poetry Memorization: Methods and Resources

In Defense of Memorization

Developing Linguistic Patterns Through Poetry Memorization Book and CD's

Memorize a Poem

How To Memorize a poem

And I will leave you with two poems that I can still recite from my school years.

The first is one that I learned in high shool German class and even though my German STINKS now, I can still recite this poem:

Die Lorelei, by Heinrich Heine

Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten,
Daß ich so traurig bin;
Ein Märchen aus alten Zeiten,
Das kommt mir nicht aus dem Sinn.

Die Luft ist kühl, und es dunkelt,
Un ruhig fließt der Rhein;
Der Gipfel des Berges funkelt
In Abendsonnenschein.

Die schönste Jungfrau sitzet
Dort oben wunderbar,
Ihr goldenes Geschmeide blitzet,
Sie kämmt ihr goldenes Haar.

Sie kämmt es mit goldenem Kamme
Und singt ein Leid dabei;
Das hat eine wundersame,
Gewaltige Melodei.

Den Schiffer im kleinen Schiffe
Ergreift es mit wildem Weh;
Er schaut nicht die Felsenriffe,
Er schaut nur hinauf in die Höh'.

Ich glaube, die Wellen verschlingen
Am Ende Schiffer uns Kahn;
Und das hat mit ihrem Singen
Die Lorelei getan.

Here is another that I memorized in elementary school. It still brings a smile to my face :)

Bear In There by Shel Silverstein

There's a Polar Bear
In our Frigidaire--
He likes it 'cause it's cold in there.
With his seat in the meat
And his face in the fish
And his big hairy paws
In the buttery dish,
He's nibbling the noodles,
He's munching the rice,
He's slurping the soda,
He's licking the ice.
And he lets out a roar
If you open the door.
And it gives me a scare
To know he's in there--
That Polary Bear
In our Fridgitydaire.

Acrostic Poems

I decided to start out the year with a poetry unit before we dive in to other forms of writing.

Today the kids wrote acrostic poems. Ellie had a lot of fun, but Kate didn't seem to enjoy it much. She had a hard time thinking of words to use and ended up getting frustrated.

Here is Kate's poem:

Ants
Nibbled a banana
Theresa
Smooshed them.

And here are Ellie's:

Candy Galore
Apple Jolly Ranchers
Nutty Chocolate Bar
Doughnuts
Yippee! Candy Galore!

Extraordinary
Loving
Intelligent
Zucchini-loving (OK, z was hard and she didn't want to be zany!!)
Awesome
Befriending
Embroidering
Terrific
Happy

Dancer

Wonderful
Outstanding
Outside lover
Diva
Singer