Inspiring Poetry

Today the students shared some of the riddle poems they wrote yesterday so that their classmates might guess the answers.

There were some easy ones,

I look like a lion.
I speak like a human.
You can find me in Egypt.
Speaking in riddles
To those who wish to pass me by.
What am I?

(xnihpS)

some very clever ones,

First think of the sound from an animal with a lot of wool,
That would make a basket very full.
Then think of something you say that scares,
And when you hear it you always glare.
Last think of the start of never,
The middle of Denver,
And is nowhere in lover.

Then string them together and wonder this,
What mammal would you never miss

(noobaB)

some lovely ones,

You can never touch me,
but you can see me.
I am in every classroom.
I am at the head of an arrow.
I am in the crust of pizza.
You could say very little without me.
I come in the afternoon of every day,
in the center of every place.
I am the beginning of all things.
I am on every planet.
I am in space.
What am I?

('A' rettel ehT)

and some confusing ones, too.

I wear glasses
I sound very sweet,
but I think of myself as evil, I dont know why.
You'll find me in one of your classes.
I have short hair,
I am very sweet,
i feel as human skin.

Who am i?

That last one had us stumped, and when we asked the poet for the answer, she gave me an exasperated look.

"It's you!"

What Can I Help You With?

We did riddle poems today in English. To start out with, I have a list of 13 classics that the students work together to solve. One of them is from The Hobbit.

Voiceless it cries,
wingless flutters,
toothless bites,
mouthless mutters.

"Ooh! Ooh! I know what it is!" one student whispered with confident excitement. "It's Siri!"

Chosen Few

In Tolerance Club today we had the students take the literacy test that the state of Louisiana administered to people who could not offer proof of a fifth grade education when they tried to register to vote as late as 1964. It consists of 30 questions and had to be completed in ten minutes with 100% accuracy in order to qualify.

When we were finished, we watched this video of Harvard students who also took the test. Their reactions were pretty close to our own.

Not a single one of us made the cut. Although I was pretty confident of my performance, it turned out that I misread the directions for number 12, and without time to go back and check my work my error stood. Oh well. Who needs democracy, anyway?

Letter of the Law

Today's poetry challenge is to write a Cinquain about an animal. Pronounced sin-cane it is a small formal poem written to the following prescription:

The first line has two syllables.
The second line has four syllables.
The third line has six syllables.
The fourth line has eight syllables.
The last line has two syllables.

Though they are just five lines long, the best cinquains tell a small story. Instead of just having descriptive words, they also have something happening, a reaction, and a conclusion or ending. There were a lot of good ones, but one of the kids wrote

Bacon
Crunchy, Chewy
Eating, Munching Crunching
The very best food in the world
Tasty

To which one of his classmates helpfully commented

She asked for an animal...

And the author replied

Bacon was an animal once!

I Believe in Persistence

We have a word study quiz every Monday in my English class. Students have the week before to make sure they have the words from our word wall to study. They know it's their responsibility, but I usually post a picture of the board on Friday afternoon on our online course. Unfortunately, yesterday was pretty hectic, and I left school not only without posting, but also without even taking a photo of the words.

One inventive student who forgot to get the words herself has used the weekend poetry challenge to problem-solve. Along with her poem yesterday she posted the following message:

MS. S! or other fellow classmates. once again i am lost [when i say lost i mean it since i don't have my ipad] i don't have the word study from the board. i only need that. the rest i have. if any of you have them, may you please reply with the word study from the board. if you do i would like that very much. :)

I immediately responded with my apologies and the promise that I would post it if someone had a picture. As of today there were still no takers when I logged in to look at the credo poems the students composed. Meant to be an expression of deeply-held beliefs, hers was a single line:

I believe that if i don't get the word study from the white board i'm going to fail this quiz!

Unambiguous

At the end of a week spent grappling with some big questions, I came home this evening to relax and enjoy this beautiful spring weather by cooking out for dinner. At 6 PM, a brief downpour drenched Heidi and Isabel who were out for a walk, but in the kitchen I was undeterred as I prepared asparagus, onion, cauliflower, and chicken for the grill: I knew it would pass, and so it did.

A barbecue snob, I had a fresh bag of lump charcoal waiting for me when it was time to start the fire, but here's where things took a momentary turn. I never know which way to pull the strings on those sewn bags.

There are times when I get it just right– a single, gentle tug will unravel the entire closure. Other times I pull and prod, unknot and turn the bag this way and that, looking for the magic thread that will allow me to access the precious fuel within. Fetching scissors seems like an unnecessary detour, especially when I know that a single pull can do the trick.

At last, tonight, after a few minutes of frustration, I came in to get the scissors and then decided to take a modern approach. I googled it. And now I know. There are two sides to the bag, flat and knotted. Yank from the left side of the knots and you will be rewarded. No question about it.

Q and A

As a follow up to yesterday's activity, today we took the raw material of those questions and answers and shaped it into more composed drafts of call and response poems. Students had seven minutes to write 14 lines, and they came up with some pretty cool stuff.

Here's mine, crafted from a few of the many questions and answers I heard:

Why does fire burn, Granny?

Because the stars are bright, Child.

Why are fish so slippery?
Because the world is round.

Why do rabbits run, then?
Because the owl hoots, Child.

Why is the earth so strong, Granny?
Because children can't fly.

Why is the ocean salty, Granny?
Because we all cry, Child.

Why does the sky change colors?
Because hearts break, Child.

Why are days so long?

They aren't, Child.

Like I told my students... it's not bad for seven minutes of writing!