Dream narratives

This week, Belding students read Tom Pickard's poem Valentine, and discussed its dream-like sequence of events and quick-cutting shifts in image and viewpoint. Students were then given three words apiece, and asked to write a poem that somehow connected them into a single work. The students found some wonderfully inventive ways of connecting seemingly disparate objects into a single and unified whole. A few student works are posted below.

From Mr. Merrill’s class:

By Arnel

A blue shell wrapped

in an orange quilt it

fell from a tree the

forest had clean grass

and had less trees and

light came through.

***

The Nice Snack

By Sadie C.

I am drinking tea and eating a fruit salad. Writing

a letter and listening to the radio. The pen sprayed

ink on me. Now I have to take a shower. I feel fresh and I

am going back to writing my letter. I found out why the

pen sprayed me. It was an old pen. I bought a new pen

and went back to writing

to my friend Lily and drinking

my green tea. The radio

was now playing jazz.

***

Dreams About a Forest

By Michael D.

I made a joke

about a mirror

inside a forest.

The forest has a mirror

in it because someone

put it in there.

The joke is about a forest

mirror. There

are also two

spiral trees.

***

from Mr. Aivazian’s class

Valentine

By Chris W.

When I go to the library, I feel a

violin and I touch it. When it was

Valentine’s Day, the cupid shoots

the arrow for the people

who love it.

***

My Family

By Daniela

I eat melon with my family and melon is

green and orange and so sweet and delicious.

One day my mom and dad gave

so many jokes and next we play always with

my dad.

***

By Zachary

I saw a pool it

was green and I saw

a crown in my house

that is inside the

pool.

***

from Ms. Navrocki’s class

Spark Ocean

By Ahlam

The ocean is like spark more than

curtains. The curtains fly above the

spark ocean. The ocean is deep and

you go down you can see flying sparks.

I am in the ocean it flies me back

out spark curtains now flying. The

curtains tie me like a rope. I try

to run but then I don’t escape. Scrap scrap scrap

the ocean sings with terrible joy.

***

by Shanon

Once about a car

there was a rock star

and it was a button

with glasses and ears.

He fell down from the tree

and busted his head, he

cried until

his rock star

mom sent him

to bed. She wore

bifocal glasses

and a bee in a belt pocket.

***

Bell ringing, spiral, and napkin

One day I heard a bell ringing. I went

to see. It was a spiral. When I opened

the spiral, I saw a colorful napkin on it.

I saw words. The napkin said “sleep sleep sleep

with me.” I heard something ring. Not a phone a

bell. I went upstairs to my sister’s room. My sister

had a bell. She gave me a spiral. Then she

told me to open it. I saw the words napkin,

bell, and spiral. My sister asked if it was her napkin and

spiral. I laugh.

Inside Narratives

This week at Belding, students read Charles Simic's Stone, and used it as a starting point for their own poems exploring an imaginary narrative--a narrative of a space they'd never before encountered. The students were prompted to write a poem that, as with Stone, takes place inside a common object, and posits what a human experience might be inside the object. Some wonderful examples are below:

from Mr. Merrill's class:

***

The Dollar Bill

by Grace K.

Go inside a dollar bill.
It is a war in here.
Guns firing left and right.
People fighting for their
lives. At the end one
President stands. That
President is on the front
of the dollar bill.
Go inside a dollar bill.

***

Sea Shell

by Jordan B.

Go into a sea shell.
That would be my way.
Let somebody else become a robin
or a pool of water.
I'm glad to be a seashell
lying on the sand in the windy beach.
From the outside, the shell is a mystery.
You could hear the ocean blowing.
When you go inside a shell, it gets smaller and smaller.
It is a very smooth room that curves when you step back.
Kids putting the shell near their ear,
children collecting pink, orange and white seashells
fishers pick up fish with me beside them as the shell.
Being inside a shell is so wow.

***

Into Me

by Caleb S.

When I go in my body I see blood, organs and
veins. Miles and miles of blood cells. The blood
cells are bouncy, gooey, and slushy. And
I see my brain. So weird just so disgusting.

***

from Mr. Aivaizan's class

***

by Warren B.

I was in a tree. The squirrels live
there. They eat nuts. I went in there so they can
share them with me. But all the nuts were gone, so
we went outside to get some more. The nuts were so
high up on the nut tree. So we jumped to pick them.
Then we bring the nuts back inside and eat all
night.

***

by Daniela

I was little, everything was big. For example,
the notebooks are so big. If I put my jacket on, I
can enter into the jacket it is so big. I can
not enter my house because I am so little so
I am not tall to enter and cannot go anywhere
for example to my bed and see the tv show
to sleeping.

***

Going Inside a Ball

by Jocelyn R.

Inside a ball
is green and yellow
I see black
I am alone
I hear a bird
My mom is there too.

from Ms. Navrocki's class:

***

In a Balloon

by Jose M.

In a balloon, if you were in a balloon
someone could let you go and you
could land on Texas, New York, Los Angeles,
Canada, or my country, Mexico.

***

Inside a Clock

by Rianne P.

I go inside a clock
that's what I say
as I go to sleep
the clock will
wake me up with
its ticking. As the
dark, scary clock
hands move, I'll
hide in a number.
The number one will
be the first, because
it is the best.
As the people
move the clock
they give my
house an earth
quake. When they
shake me, my
numbers will move.
When a baby
will drool on
me it's like
a very rainy day.

As people look at
my clock, they see
me moving the hands.
When people change
my clock batteries
the clock will give
me time to sleep.
When the clock
is on they will
crush my time to sleep. When
I go to my
vacation clock
it's even better.
Just because
it is gold, warm
and even cozier.
It's hard to get
to an alarm
clock, because
of the time.

***

The Fruits

by Gloria V.

An apple:
I got in an
apple and I have
no idea how
and when but
I really want
to see what
that noise it.

A grape:
Wow! That is
so cool I
see seeds
dancing with
their partners.

An orange:
Now I am
in a different
room and I
see an engine
with all the
fruits going
in the back.

A peach:
Now I am
in a completely
different room
with pink
things with
eyes, feet,
mouths, noses,
fingers, and
all the other stuff.

A strawberry:
I am in a
strawberry now
because a strawberry
is my favorite
fruit but now
I am with
my friends and
family
and I love
all fruit on
my paper.

Students at Belding spent last week's class selecting their favorite lines from their Chicago poems and re-writing them on paper destined for a bulletin board. The bulletin board is now up on the second floor--complete with student works from Mr. Merrill's room, Ms. Navrocki's room, and Mr. Aivazian's room, and with some lines from well-known Chicago poets as well. Stop by to see this ode to our city for yourself!

Chicago

This week marked the beginning of a two-week project at Belding Elementary. Students read Carl Sandburg's Chicago, noting the parts of the city that have remained the same, the parts that feel different, and how Sandburg's own Chicago narrative gives an idea of the places he knew, the places that compelled him to write. Students discussed the tone of the poem, agreeing that it was a powerful poem, reflecting a city of hard work and industry, inhabitants who had difficult lives, but lives that were not without hope. Students then wrote their own Chicago poems, with an eye to personal experiences, and with the understanding that these poems should focus on authenticity. These were to be poems that portrayed good or bad things about Chicago, taking a cue from Sandburg and using strong, accurate, and descriptive language.

Next week, the students will be putting together a bulletin board with lines selected from their Chicago poems. All are encouraged to stop by and see these words in a new context!

A small sampling of this week's work is below:

***

from Mr. Merrill's class
***

Chicago's parts of Mexico

by Jesus

Good food great color roses for the grave
Happiness sadness everywhere scariness everywhere
Clothes. Lots of Spanish everywhere
When you speak Spanish, it's cool. Mexico in Chicago
is the best.

***

Chicago Color

by Michael

The Colors of
Chicago are cool.

People wear colorful
clothes

There are also different
kinds of colorful foods.

***

Chicago

by Caleb S.

Chicago, Chicago, Chicago. Motors running. People
walking. Corn, cucumber, watermelon, mango and ice cream
stands. Chicago, Chicago, Chicago. Delicious pizza.
Chicago style hot dogs. Great restaurants. Chicago,
Chicago, Chicago. Lots of museums. Train stations,
bike trails and lots more. Chicago, Chicago, Chicago.

***

from Mr. Aivazian's class

***

Chicago

by Daniela

Chicago is my friends, teacher, family, music air. I
walk around the museum and I see the people and
I go to Navy Pier to see the clowns when it is
Halloween. Chicago is wonderful and one thing I
don't like is winter and snow but I like
summer and spring. Fall, I go to Chinese.

***

Chicago

by Christopher

Chicago is a place for people who want to
walk around in theatres and smell
in the air, because the sun is
shining in the air. Then also they
have shopping, dining, movie theatres.
I love Chicago, Illinois.
One day we saw cars, buses, trains,
planes.

***

Chicago People

by Jocelyn

I smell oranges
and air.
The dentist cleans my teeth
with water.
My house is nice.
When I am there,
I feel happy.
When I am there
my Mom and I
watch T.V.

***

from Ms. Navrocki's class

***

Chicago

by Lareyn

What's great about Chicago is clean places, snow
is coming and nice people unlike the Philippines. When
I first come here I'm very cold cause in the Philippines
it's hot, but sometimes I didn't like here because
there is a T.V. show and I see bad things. I really
like the malls. I've never been in such malls
like here, and also I like here 'cause I can snowboard.

***

The Way I See Chicago

by Amaris

Chicago in the summer
Your summer breeze and the sound
of Lake Michigan and it is a sweet day.

Chicago in the Spring
Your beautiful-looking flowers and your joyful
rainy days where I can play.

Chicago in the Winter
Your cold snow we play in and Chicago's
ice skating rinks and Grandma's reason
to make hot chocolate.

You have bullies. Doesn't matter and
your nature of people doesn't matter.

Chicago
Your buildings and lakes your fish
and your people make us a nation.
You have a big heart
always. Chicago you're the greatest.

***

by Zak

The land hard as
a truck of steel
the land of free government
service
the lands where
buildings stand high
the land of taxes
and big bills
the land of the
free and citizens.
P.S. Don't forget the people
that border this state from Canada.

This is Just to Say

This week, students at Belding read William Carlos Williams' poem, This is Just to Say, and discussed the poem as both narrative and conversation. We talked about the tone of the poem, deciding that it might be apologetic, humorous, talkative, matter-of-fact. Students gave their opinions as to whom the poem might be written for, and where this poem might have been left to be discovered. After discussing, the class began a writing assignment based on the day's reading: create a poem that opens a conversation of apology, be it sad, humorous, or otherwise. Some examples are below.

from Mr. Merrill's class

***

A Letter to Mom

by Christon

I am sorry

I had ruined your career

This is a big problem

I will try to give you a present

The best present you ever had

I’ll give you a necklace.

I’ll try to raise money

So you’ll be happy.

If you buy me a present, it'll be a puppy.

***

Sorry

by Jordan

I ate your

Oreo cake I

Bet you were

Going to eat

It for dessert

I’m sorry but

It was delicious

It was so chocolaty

And it melted in my

Mouth

Forgive me. I

Took the last of

The milk and

Enjoyed the

Cake and

Milk.

I’m sorry!

***


Dear Mr. Merrill

by Devanta

You are the best teacher ever

Funny sometimes, happy too

I love to see your

Happiness

And

Marley

Too.

Here

Are

Years

Of

The

Class

Room

Love.

***

From Mr. Aivaizan's class:

***

By Charmaine

I'm sorry

For eating

Your chips.

I’m sorry

For cutting

Your shirt.

I’m sorry

For writing in

Your books.

***

By Chris

Dear grandma,

I’m sorry for

Breaking your thing.

Please forgive

Me. I can buy

A new one

And I will place

It for you.

I’m sorry.

***

Dear Mom

by Jocelyn

Dear Mom

I’m happy

I’m mad and I’m angry

Because you washed my clothes.

***

From Ms. Navrocki's class:

***

Sorry for the Cookies

by Jose M.

Sorry for eating the

Cookies that were so yummy

Delicious and it tasted yummier

With the decorations. Please forgive

Me. I will make more this Christmas.

***


by Shanon

I have a

Friend she

Is a big person she

Walks around

Not making

A sound but

In my heart

She feels like

She is

What she is to be.

That’s why

No one can step

Over her.

***

by Ahlam S.

I’m sorry for

All the fights

We had they

Weren’t so

Important to

Be said. I

Always think

One of the days

We play. I

Wish I can

Go to the

Past and

Play that

Game.

Ode to the Unlikely

This week at Belding, we read Pablo Neruda's Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market, discussing the history of the ode, and the kinds of subjects an ode might typically be addressed to. The students were then asked to write odes to an animal of their choice. But there was a catch: no cute, cuddly, majestic, powerful, or graceful animals here! I asked the students to choose an animal they thought was completely unlikely, maybe even disgusting--an animal they thought no one would want to write an ode to, and see if they could change our minds by extolling its virtues. Some surprising responses are below.

From Mr. Merrill's Class:

***

A Worm

by Jesus

A worm is slimy and gooey but they pop out of
nowhere. They dig good and wiggle
and they eat dirt to help your
plants and make holes so your plants
make roots.

***

Ode to a Squid

by Cesar

No one likes a squid
because they squirt ink
to protect them selves from
people who can hurt them.
They're also nice as a hamster.
Because if you do not
do anything they will not
do anything to you, they
swim like a ship being
relaxed. They are also real
nice if you see one you will be amazed.

***

Ant

by Fardosa M.

An ant with 3 body parts
I think I wouldn't eat it
but I know who will
a spider because spiders
have those sticky things
on their web.
Ants have no backbone but they
sure do have an exoskeleton.
That's why I like them.

***

A Monkey

by David

A monkey is playful. They swing
all day and never stop.
Monkeys are curious
like a little child and act
like one too. Monkeys are
funny too. Some live in zoos too
or in jungle. Monkeys are
good animals in the
world. They are like people.

***

From Mr. Aivazian's class:

***

Centipedes

by Daniela

Centipedes I do not like because he's scary and has
100 feet. Yesterday I saw the centipede and my cousin
said "is it a rat or a centipede", and my
uncle killed him and the centipede is dead.

***

Ode

by Charmaine

I am scared of spiders and the spiders
are scared of us too. All animals
are scared of us.

A spider is black sometimes
a spider is red and black sometimes.
A spider's eyes are silver when you
shine a light in their face.

***

by Warren B.

If I were a spider, I will crawl up the web.
A spider has eight legs. They use their webs to
catch flies, just like red-eyed tree frogs use
their tongues to catch them. Spiders are great insects.

***

from Ms. Navrocki's class

***

Secrets of the Under-Water Octopus

by Rhita K.

Looks like a UFO when it twirls with arms up
With rock-killing black oxygen
And the tentacles sing with the poison:
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
It has a big head because they are smart when they camouflage
You are swimming and you get caught
They choke your head off with their 8 legs
And the poison of the tentacles get in you as they:
la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
They go up and down
Eating fish and crab meat
And leaving the leftover shells and scales
For their husbands or wives.
They are THE OCTOPUS!
***

A Cute Ode

by Sade

This animal
is cool in
many ways
this animal
is a turtle
they are cool
because of
their shell
it's their protection
and their home
and also
because
they are
green like
the grass and
because
it is green
which is my
5th favorite
color. This ode
is cool!

***

Ode

by Cameron

This is nice
of the pink

It runs through
the mud

It likes to
eat meat

And this animal
has a good sense of smell.

It is a pig.

***

Black March

This week at Belding, students learned about the difference between simile and metaphor. We talked about the reasons someone might want to make a comparison, and noticed the way we use comparisons every day:
hungry as a bear
light as a feather
happy as a clam

We read from Stevie Smith's poem Black March and talked about the comparisons in this poem--Smith compares a friend's name to a breath of fresh air, with eyes like March raindrops on black twigs. Students then wrote their own poems, using similes or metaphors to describe a friend or a relative--someone they might want to be with at the end of the world.

Some of the responses are below.

from Mr. Merrill's class:

***

by Grace K.

His hair is brown as the wet dirt
His name has a soft sound
He is a tiger ready to strike prey
His coat is leather. It shines like sunlight on water
It blows in the wind
His smile is a half moon
His eyes are like a black lake in winter
His voice is like a strong tiger
When he walks his coat flows like water
He runs like a cheetah

***

My special friends Abby, Michael, Karim, Marta, Anthony, and Grace

by Jalil A.

Abby is beautiful as daisies.
Michael is wild as a monkey.
Karim is as fast as a cheetah.
Caleb is as nice as a cat.
Marta is as cute as roses.
Anthony is cool like chicken little.
Grace is as smart as anansi.

***

The special pet

by Marta M.

He is puffy as a big marshmallow.
He is brown as the cover of a coconut.
He is cute as a flower.
He is as cuddly as a bear.

He is a cheetah when he runs in his wheel.

***

From Mr. Aivazian's class:

by Jocelyn R.

I love my mom. She is pretty like her hair,
pretty like the moon.
I like orange. It is bright as green.
Flowers smell like water.
I like to watch TV actors. They play games.

***

by Warren B.

My best friend is Helen.
She is beautiful as a flower.
She wears glasses.
Her long hair is yellow.

***

by Christopher

My favorite person is Grandma.
My grandma is nice as the rose and
she is mean as the witch. And I like
my Grandma so much that I will help
her out.

***

from Mrs. Navrocki's class:

by Zack C.

1860 first jet was as
slow as a snail. The
first automobile was as
fast as a new-born horse.
The first bike was as
stale as an old building
and slow as a turtle.
A new-born turtle.

***

by Amine

He is friendly as a giraffe
He is a human
He is as fast as a ball that got kicked
He never forgets, just like an elephant.
He is my cousin.

***

My cat forever!

by Michelle

My cat
is little as
a squirrel
she is cute
as a hamster
she looks
like a chinese
cat she is
black as the
night.