Odes & Special Projects

In the two weeks leading up to the winter break, we had a blast at Rosario Castellanos, writing poems and making gifts. In our fourth session together, the students learned about odes and we read Ode to a cluster of violets, by Pablo Neruda.

Because many of my students have Spanish as their first language and English as their second, a poet like Neruda is invaluable. I found a copy of the poem where the original Spanish version was side by side with an English version. We read the poem first in Spanish and then in English. Students who had previously struggled really shined this week in our discussion.

Next, the students wrote an ode to a family member, or their family as a whole. For the special project portion of lesson, I typed up each of their poems, and brought them back the following week with construction paper and supplies. Students framed their work on the construction paper and decorated. Many students took a cue from Neruda and translated their own poems into Spanish!

The students left for the holidays with a beautiful and personal handmade gift for a family member.


Some of the many great examples:

Ms. Gonzalez’s Class:

Ode to My Family

My family is fun, because they do things with me.
My family is smart, because they help me with my homework.
They are cheerful because they cheer me on.
They are beautiful, because I get all my looks from them.

Things I like about my family
Are that they play with me,
They are also very careful with me,
And they take care of me.

By Maria A.

Ode to My Family

My family is beautiful, kind, thoughtful, helpful, and generous.
My family is beautiful because they always dress nice and smell good.
My family is kind because they buy things that we really need.
My family is thoughtful because they always think of others.
My family is helpful because they always do things to help others.
My family is generous because they give things to those in need.

I like my family because they are good people.
I like my family because they dress like they are at a party.
I like my family because they have taught me to respect others.
I like my family because they are generous.
I like my family because they want me to get a good education.

by Sammy C.

Ode to My Mom

My mom is sweet like sugar.
She is kind like people who are kind to me.
She is helpful like a good friend.
She is understanding, like understanding life.
She is funny, like watching funny movies.

She is kind by helping me with my problems.
She is fun when she plays games with me.
She can help me understand why life is so hard.
She buys me things when I’m nice to her.
Sometimes my mom makes me laugh with her funny jokes.

by Ruben P.

Ms. Formisano’s Class:

Ode to My Family

My family is fun like when we
Go outside to play soccer.
They’re very dependable
When I get hurt or need help.
They care when I’m sick,
They care when I’m sad,
The make me happy,
Even when I’m mad.
When I need help
They’re the ones I turn to.
Even if it takes all of them,
They’re here to help me.
I love it when they act kind
Like when they clean up after me.

They’re always there for me,
When I fall down they’re
All there to help me back up.
They take care of me,
They’ll go out of their way
To get me feeling better.
They’re very kind,
Like when I busted open my nose.
No one pointed,
Instead they tried to be kind.
When I busted open my nose,
They all tried to help.
The thing I love most about them
Is that we’re always together.

By Kevin L.



Ode to My Sister

My sister is pretty,
with long hair,
with dark brown eyes.
Very smart, very kind,
always helping me climb.
She is playful, she is tall.

But most of all she likes
To go to the mall.

She and I are always together,
Trusting each other,
Like a baby and its mother.

We are sisters, we are friends,
In fact...
We are best friends ‘til the end.

By Sandra R.



Ode to a Father

Who is helpful and loyal
to his family. He’s giving
to charities so he can
make a difference.
He’s a spender
to give.
I like my dad
because we try to
play Beethoven
but there’s always
one note.
We cook pastries
for other relatives
we travel far but
not too far from home.
We see Andy Warhol’s
art because it speaks for
itself.
Ode to my father.


By Denise B.

Autobiography: Self-Expression and Getting to Know Each Other

In classes sessions 2 and 3 the students and I focused on getting to know each other and learning how fun and easy it is to write a poem. I wanted my students to start thinking about how they can (and already do!) express themselves through language. To begin, we read Theme For English B, by Langston Hughes. This is a long one, which was a bit overwhelming for the students at first. Thus, we went through piece by piece; the students were very excited to see that something that seemed so daunting could be tackled with a little time and patience.

For the writing part of our lesson I asked the kids to write their own autobiographical “Theme for Poetry Class.” We started ours just like Hughes, but this time it was “Ms. Sampson asked me to sit here and write a poem today.”

Because the dissection of the poem and thinking about the project took a great deal of time, we spent two classes on this project. We started our next session by re-reading Theme for English B and re-writing the main biographic points covered by Hughes on the board, and got back to writing for the bulk of the class.

This turned about to be great fun for the students, and a great way to get to know each other!
.

THEME FOR ENGLISH B
By Langston Hughes

The instructor said,

Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you---
Then, it will be true.

I wonder if it's that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here
to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class.
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem
through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:

It's not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I'm what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me---we two---you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York too.) Me---who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records---Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn't make me NOT like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white---
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That's American.
Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that's true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me---
although you're older---and white---
and somewhat more free.

This is my page for English B.

Introductions & Exquisite Corpses

First Visit, November 12, 2007

We’ve certainly gotten off to a great start at Castellanos. The seventh graders in particular were extremely enthusiastic about the day’s project. After a brief introduction we read I, Too, by Langston Hughes and used it to discuss some poetic basics: What is a poem? What are stanzas? Line breaks? Then we talked briefly about the poem itself, what it means and how powerful its message is.

The bulk of the lesson was spent writing and reading our own exquisite corpse poems. Each class was already grouped into little tables, so that part was easy. Each table got a piece of paper on which I had written the first line of the poem. The first line everyone received was “The first thing you should know about this place is…”

Watching each poem evolve was great. It was amazing to see all the wildly different directions each group took the line in. During writing time, problem solving was a lot of fun, too. If someone couldn’t think of a place to start the poem, I would sit with them and we’d come up with lists of cool or scary places, real or imaginary. If a writer was stuck in the middle of the poem I played a word association game with them to give the idea a fresh start. The students really responded to the word association games, and were quite excited with their results.

By the end the kids didn’t want to stop writing. I had one student exclaim, “Wow, now I can write a poem!” Quite a few of them seemed very excited to teach the process to friends and family and keep writing collaborative poems outside of school.

Here are some fabulous examples:

From Ms. Gonzalez’s Class:

Exquisite Corpse

The thing I love about this place is that
it is a magical place of different colors
and a kid likes a magical place.
You can go to different parts of the world just
by turning the corner
and the ocean is the only thing far away
full of millions of magical fishes
and the fishes dance all the time.

by Sara B., Karla F., Veronica G., Christinea L.

From Ms. Formisano’s Class:

Exquisite Corpse

The first thing you should know about this place is...

That the clouds are crying for
suffering too much in this world.

The people who live here, suffer
of gunshots and pain.

My family is going through a rough time gunshots
rough stuff suffering tears and pain.

Hoping tomorrow the difference shows.
A whole new day a whole new world.

by Maria B, Anna M, Sandra R

From Mr. Lukas’s Class:

Exquisite Corpse #1

The first thing you should know about this place is…
that it’s beautiful and a nice place to be on
a place to sing along
somewhere where its peaceful
a park
a place that you can be by yourself and relax
a place you can be with one another and chat.
Somewhere you could meet new people
someone special
someone that cares about you
someone that loves you!

by Heriberto P, Angelica J, Dulce C, Esteban G