Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Hear Me...

Throughout our poetry unit, the students created numerous examples of their own poetry. The wrote such wonderful works as I Am poem, Kitchen Utensil poem using personification, Imagery poems looking at pictures they found, a group ballad about school, and so on. Once they put together their creative works/ words, I asked them to go and record just one of their poems for us to hear. It is always so much more meaningful to me to actually hear the kids read their own work rather than me doing the reading for them. Enjoy and be sure to comment on their work.

2-4-6-8 Who do we appreciate: Our Teachers!

Today you are going to get into groups of 3-4 and write a ballad about school. Remember a ballad is a poem that tells a story. Make sure you are creative and as always school appropriate. Have fun with this! Don't forget to post your group's poem as well as comment on others.

Personification of a kitchen utensil

Today we are going to make your kitchen utensils come alive! Add human characteristics to your kitchen utensil and have them go on an adventure of sorts. Be creative and please make sure to post your poem and comment on others.

Imagery poem

Looking at your image, write five descriptive phrases of that image. After you have completed your phrases, change seats with another individual and write a poem using their five phrases. Remember that those five phrases are the beginnings of your poem. You build off what they wrote. Good luck and use that creativity! Post your poems when you are done, highlighting the five phrases with which you started. Also, make sure to check back at the blog to comment on other's poems.

I am poem

Students were asked to compose poems following the "I am" poem format revealing in one line who they truly are. This line is then repeated throughout the poem as they speak of their wishes, dreams, hopes and fears. They were also to create a visual collage illustrating what makes up who they are as background for their poem.

This I Believe

Last year a colleague had me listen to a segment on National Public Radio called "This I Believe". After hearing and reading some of the submissions as well as researching the history behind the segment, I was intrigued. I wanted to challenge my students to submit their own essays to NPR spending time writing rough drafts, editing, peer editing, parent editing, and then finally submitting their polished draft to the station. I thought, how powerful for one of them to have their work published nationally. How powerful for all of them to know that their voices matter.

I told the class my goals for the assignment and had them listen and read a few examples. After the class listened to some, THEY decided they would like to podcast their own essays so they could be heard on the web just like those on NPR. What an amazing idea! These kids wanted to not just complete an assignment, but to share the things they believed in with the world. They wanted to be in-charge of letting others hear what is important to them, what mattered to them.

Over the next week, students will be recording their "This I Believe" essays and we’ll add them to this post. At first there might be only a couple, but I encourage you to check back and listen to what matters to them...what is it they believe in? Feel free to leave constructive feedback for them, but please keep in mind that this is their first try as well as their teacher's.

Note: Click and drag on the scroll bar in the player below to see all the podcasts. It only displays eight at a time, but there are more if you scroll. You can't click above or below the scroll bar to move it up or down, you must click and drag on the scroll bar itself.





Update: Apparently the flash player from Odeo only displays the most recent 20 audio files in a podcast. We have 21, so Zoey's (which was the first one uploaded) was no longer showing. So we'll just add Zoey's down here by itself as a workaround for now (and to honor her for being the first one to get hers turned in!)


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To cell phone or not to cell phone

Recently we were sent an email with an attachment. The attachment read: Please turn off and put away all cell phones, iPods, and other electronic devices It is slightly ironc that we received this email because at a conference I attended this summer, Will Richardson commented to us that instead of telling kids to put away the technology they have, why aren't we embracing it. Have them turn on their phone to search the web, use their iPod as a flashdrive or even have them download podcasts of your lectures. So today I tried something new...I had the kids turn on their cell phones and ring in their answers. You know what? It was cool! It took some time to set up clear expectations as well as determine a few consequences for inappropriate use. But, it wasn't taking away from their education. Instead it was embracing the tools they have and using them for a creative purpose. Kids, tell them what you thought...