5 Ways Poems!

I based today's lesson on the "13 ways to look at a Black Bird" poem; but instead, I chose to focus on 5 ways to see, or do something. This is the fourth week of class so I felt like it might have been a great poem to use but not with all grades. Today's lesson was more receptive to the 8th graders and the 2nd graders. The 4th graders did not respond to the lesson as I thought, however they did write. Not all lessons are created equal. But at least I have a few poems to share that are of value.

5 Ways to Play Basketball
Latisha B. - Collins-Jones, 8th Grader

I
The sounds of people
screaming my name
when I hit the buzzer shot

II
Popping 3 pointer and lay-ups
every game

III
The sound when you shot from a
far distance and
the net goes
"swoosh"

IV
The bones that crack when you
break someone's ankle

V
The crowd cheers
at the end of the game
for my good skills


5 Ways
Quenturha E. - Forsell, 4th Grader

I
An ocean waves going up and down

II
See them

III
Love them

IV
They go high. They go low.
They are good.

V
They are in Canada

3 Ways
Chrishon B. - Forsell, 4th Grader

I
The sun rise from the east
and shows off the mountain.

II
The snow covered mountain
is the beautiful mountain.

III
It gives the mountain its shape.

Stars
ImaniNia, Sims - 2nd Grade

1
I like to watch the stars at night
in my bedroom.

2
When I need to go to sleep
I look at the stars.

Watch the Sunset
Ryan S. - Sims - 2nd Grade

I drink kool laid
the sky is yellow and orange

Next week: American Poems

Thanks for reading!
Pam Osbey
Artist-in-Resident

Ology and Spooky Poems

I used my own work and the work of a Saint Louis Native to generate this week's work. Students in Collins-Jones class and I discussed "Pen-ology" written by Floyd Boykins, Jr. Within this poem, themes of using the 'pen' in two different ways are discussed. The poem is a look at the study of the physical pen (writing tool) and the pen (jail) -- students really loved the poem and instantly connected to the assignment, which was to create an "ology". With the lower grades I used Halloween Haiku's to inspire the work in Sims and in Forsell's classes. I know I create a lot more work for myself as an artist, but sometimes, using the same poem for all classes does not work. Plus I need to be excited as well. Anyway, read the poems below and enjoy the artistry of these young writers.


Valencia worked real hard on this one:

Halloween is Fun
It is scary and do not
forget your costume
-- Valencia B, 2nd Grade (Sims)

Mummies are fun too according to Ariel:

Mummies are coming
Mummies are dancing with me
The witches made soup
-- Ariel T, 2nd Grade (Sims)


With the direction of the Ology poems, I told the students to write two different "ology" definition at the end of their poem as well as try to paint the picture like Boykins did in his sample poem.

Me-Ology
Terri H. - Collins-Jones (8th grade)

This is the study of me.
My feelings and my dreams.
I am Terri D. Hall
I am powerful
I have emotion
I am self confident
I am beauty and destiny
I have story that should be told
A part of me that no one knows..
Dark secrets, dark secrets
darker than black
They shall not be revealed
I am not perfect but I strive to be
I am spirit
I am life
I am the child of Angel
Faith, Star, Love, Spirit, Strong
Glamorous, Winner and Believer
describes me
Me-ology - Study of Dominant self
Me-ology - the study within
Me-ology - the study of Terri D. Hall

Food-Ology
Karla B. - Collins-Jones (8th grade)

Taco's with extra tomatoes
Chicken with garlic potatoes
on the side
Dreaming of dancing cupcakes in your head
Cheesecake with strawberries overflowing on top
Ribs with tender and flavorful meat
Oh how much I love Gyro's with extra sauce and met
Oh how much I love Food-ology
Food-ology - the Study of Food
Food-ology - the study of new food creations

Forsell's class has some previous writers from the HOS program -- so I get them two years in a row. This young lady (below) is a roll over from Ms. Louis's 3rd grade class. She loves words as you can see here:

Haikus
Loretta H. - 4th grader

Spiders are the worst.
Spiders crawl everywhere.
Spiders are really gross.

Costumes are very sweet.
Costumes are really fashion.
Costumes are greatful.

Another Veteran here as well:

Haiku
Chrishon B. - 4th grader

This is Halloween
Haunted houses is scary.
With cemetary.

Denea is a budding literary star. She wrote four haikus. Here is one delightful one.

Haiku
Denea B. - 4th Grader

Vampires eat me.
This day is very scary.
Witches ride the brooms.

If you want to write haiku's, try this. Find a subject you like and write down the numbers 1, 2 and 3 on a blank sheet of paper. Now, count out each syllabic count for each line. Your first line of the Haiku should be 5 syllables, the 2nd line should be 7 syllables and the last line should be 5 syllables. Not sure how to count the words? See below:

Word Count
The one syllable
Lovely two syllables
happiness three syllables

You get it right?

Now go ahead and do a Haiku.

Leave comments about any work in the comment section!

Thanks,
Pam Osbey