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.