First Digital Poem

Here is my student, Anastasia's, digital poem - the first finished.

Publishing Poems as Movies with Windows Movie Maker

For the last unit of the year, my students will be creating movies from their poems and publishing them on YouTube. Here is the initial planning guide I created for them to get started.



Publish Your Poem as a Movie
I'll be creating my own movie this week to show as a model for my students.

Book Reports and Review

Here is another blog by one of my students: Book Reports and Review. This new use of technology in my classroom is growing completely organically, and I couldn't be more excited about it. It's also giving me good ideas for next year's plans.

Get The Pencil

Get The Pencil is my student Dale's blog about writing. I am so proud of him! He started it all on his own after he saw my blog. This really speaks to the power of digital media to inspire student writing.

Final Student Poetry Post

And here are the last of the poems I will share for this year. The reason why I wanted to share so many is one, because I'm incredibly proud of them, and two, I wanted to show the diverse breadth of their writing. In allowing choice, and letting my students write for various audiences, purposes, and about various topics, at their own pace, I have gotten real variety in their writing. I think this variety is a testament to the diversity in my classroom and the authenticity of their work.

Enjoy!

Unseen Wonder

The ocean

waves that

Make me sleep.

They hit the beach

With a fierce slam.

The wind that makes

The bright green and

Brown palm trees sway.

My thoughts drift like

Clouds in the sky.

As I lay on my Scooby-

Doo beach towel

I am acutely aware

Of the earths unseen

Wonders.

Pink sand lilies and

Green and brown palm

Trees. Silently making

Life-giving oxygen.

Insects engaged in a

Pollination dance.

Creatures unseen beneath

The wavy blue waters.

Stirring colorful corals

Dancing on soft currents.

A world hidden in plain

Sight.

-Christina

I'll Be There

I'll be there

When you wake up

And you need someone to feed you.

I'll be there

When you have a problem

And you need some one to talk to.

I'll be there

To pick you up

When you fall on that red carpet,

With your favorite Sponge Bob on it.

I'll be there

On your first birthday

When you put your face in your Sponge Bob cake

I'll be there

On that white, snowy Christmas

When you wake up and go down stairs

And ask, "Can I open it now?"

I'll be there

When you try to say your first words

Like, "Mommy, Daddy."

I'll be there

Even though my dad wasn't there for me.

I'll Be There.

-Deandre

The Beauty Pageant

My beautiful turquoise and lime green dress

That looks like the ocean and

barely touches the cold tile.

Scattered girls and reassuring mothers

Telling their little girls "You are the most beautiful girl in the room."

I'm thinking to myself, That's a lot of most beautiful girls.

As I slip on my sparkling diamond heels,

I listen to the loud hisses of hairspray going haywire

And the whimpers and groans of the younger girls

getting their hair extensions.

I examine the dressing room and look at my competition

and inhale the combined sweet smells of hairspray

and heavy perfume,

the strong smells choking me as I inhale and exhale too quickly.

High pitched giggles of my friends

and their mothers shushing them.

I observe every girl's hair color,

Honey blondes and scarlet red heads

Brunettes with very unnatural-looking blonde highlights

and jet-black hair.

Nothing the same about us

Except we all want to win.

My heart was pounding like thunder.

My stomach felt like the ocean's waves

As I stepped on the large, empty stage

Solo

Staring at the judges

I turn around gracefully

And as I step off the stage,

I trip

But I give the judges a cute wink anyway

I walk out, satisfied with my performance

This is your last beauty pageant for a while,

My nana's words echo in my mind

Giving me a harsh headache

Thinking about my favorite part of life

Being ripped away from me

If I don't win

That's it, I can't start over.

This better be good...

-Michahalia

More Interesting Poems

Brotherhood

Pitch black night green

Glows flashing through the air.

Ping, ping the sound of bb's hitting

the side of the house and pool.

Lorin calling out Medic! As Thomas crawls to her.

All the screaming all the crying it sounds like

D-Day all over again.

Hiss the sound of co2 draining.

Bang, ouch, screaming out in agony.

Josh hit another one. 7 more remain.

I feel like he has a heart beat sensor,

because he just keeps hitting them.

Shot after shot.

Cry after cry.

Person after person.

A maching gun sawing into people.

Down goes another one. Josh screamed "cover me!"

But I was too late Josh was hit.

Last man standing, only two en left.

I move to the corner and go prone.

Ping, miss Desmond gave away his position.

Bang, bang, bang, 1 man left as he crept

around the pool only to get shot.

Bang!

It all got quiet.

That night a brotherhood was born.

Finally my brother and me worked together.

This time we won.

-Jacob

Chicago...

A bright light from the sun

hitting you in summertime.

The hot sand on the beach

burns your feet.

Smack

the sound of bat hitting ball

to left field.

People cheering as loud as they can.

Chicago

is a big bowl of chocolate.

Boom

the sound of the moving truck.

My mom would say,

"Don't cry; it will be ok."

I slept on a wet pillow.

"We are moving to Louisville, Kentucky."

My mom would say.

My face was green with sickness.

As we moved away from my home.

-Jasmine

Pain

A woman crying in the dark

In the bedroom next to mine,

He told her that he hated her,

When all she needs is time;

It always seemed that everyday,

In the dark gray hall,

She is always plastering over,

The hole he punched in the wall.

When she was always working,

The rips that's in her shirt,

I cannot even tell you,

Just how much she hurt,

That's when I really lost it,

The blade placed to my wrist,

I think I took it to far,

Beyond the bloody mist.

The scars that still remind us,

That our past is real,

And there is no reason

To provoke the pain we feel.

-Stephanie

Off the Shelf

Knowledge flowing from the pages,

Images flooding my mind,

As if a play is being staged.

The rough hardback and smooth paperback

The crinkle of the pages.

The musty smell of a new book,

Pleading to be read.

So many to choose from.

Novels, biographies, large and small.

Mystery, fiction, and horror: I like them all.

Finally a book to escpae into.

Feeling the cold air as if I'm really there.

Feeling pain, sorrow, joy and anger,

As if I'm the main character.

Asking the same question over and over,

What will happen next?

Reading more and more, day by day.

Turning pages 'til I'm done.

Finishing one, starting another.

The intriguing pull to keep reading.

So much to remember,

My mind is about to burst.

-Lauren

NCLB Overhall

Controversial changes proposed for a controversial law. See this article in today's paper. Personally, I love the idea of analyzing school achievement based on individual student development throughout the year - makes good sense to me. And the grant-writing competition for Title I money sounds interesting: it would give a whole new meaning to my blog title.