In Residence: Opposite Poems

Happy Poetry Friday!

Who's hosting this week's
Poetry Friday party?
It's one of our sound poets!
Margaret Simon
of Reflections on the Teche.

I have a lot to celebrate this week.

Tomorrow, our son will graduate from high school. I'm so excited about sharing Robbie's milestone with family and friends. Of course, there will be cake.

On Monday, I fly to Salerno, Italy for the 100 Thousand Poets for Change international conference. Poets from more than 30 countries will be in attendance. I promise to bring back lots of great information for a future Poetry Friday.

Before that, let's check in with the Northfield third grade poets. They were working on their opposite poems. You'll find links to the opposite poem lesson at yesterday's post.

Taking the blog stage are poets Andrew V., Matthew L., Nathan W., Aly A., and Joanna B.

Andrew V.

Delicious and Disgusting

Delicious food is great: the smell

of milk chocolate is tempting me to eat

faster, the candy tastes so good in my mouth,

the ice cream is so cold on a hot summer

day, the ham is so warm, and the sandwich tastes so good

on the inside with the bread outside.

Disgusting food is horrible: sweet

potatoes aren’t supposed to be sweet so I hate

them, carrots are too hard or too soft, tomatoes are

way too soft, spinach is not filling, and kale

doesn’t have good texture.

Kale Apple Cake, anyone?
From Veggie Desserts

Matthew L.

Baseball

I like being safe:

You could get hit by a pitch

or 4 balls, a walk,

or line drive to third that

brings you to first, or a

pop fly to the out field for

a double … or triple,

a slow HOME RUN, or four

run GRAND

SLAM as you slide into

home.

I hate being out:

Like three strikes, strike out!

Or the ball beats you to first …

or second … or third,

or you got tagged out from

the opposer’s glove

OR IT’S CAUGHT IN THE

AIR or a 2-out

DOUBLE PLAY

as I say darn

in this great

baseball game.

Matthew *really* wanted to write about baseball. I was impressed that he found a way to write an opposite poem about his favorite sport. Didn't you get caught up in the action with this poem?

Nathan W.

Teachers and Kids

Oh, man. Teachers

are so strict. They yell at so much.

They are so boring.

They make us sit in a chair all day.

They’re bossy and mean, but they can

also be nice and fun if you are good,

and they even sometimes let you have

extra recess.

Kids! Kids are awesome

and nice. They let you borrow stuff.

They are very funny. But they can be

annoying and loud and they

sometimes tease you and call you

names sometimes.

It often happens... student poets set out to write a teacher vs. student opposite poem. Along the way, they realize they have empathy for their teachers, and that kids are pretty complicated people.

Aly A.

The Wonderful Things about Day and Night

Day is wonderful.

I see things alive and clear.

I feel happy and free.

I play and explore and find

things I never saw before.

But when day ends…

Night is wonderful.

I feel like the world is asleep.

It is peaceful and quiet.

I hear the sounds of the night

like the owl hooting

and lightning bugs buzzing

and then I fall asleep.

Aly's poem reminds me of "Let Evening Come," a poem we often talk about during this lesson. There are lines from our model poem "Swift Things Are Beautiful" that read:

And slow things are beautiful.

The closing of day.

If you like this image, I recommend reading Jane Kenyon's "Let Evening Come."

Joanna B.

School Supplies

Messy is bad.

If you are messy, you can’t find things.

You might have bent folders, notebooks all over,

broken pencils, and binders shoved in your desk.

All of that is bad.

If you are neat, you might have an organized

school box, larger things on the bottom and smaller

things on top, and your ruler not bent or broken.

You’ll be able to find your things. That’s what

I like and that’s the way I am.

There's a cake for that too, Joanna!
DIY project from What's Scrapping

Thank you to the Northfield ES community for hosting this annual residency. I appreciate having permission to share the third graders' poems. Readers, the students love hearing feedback from you. Please leave a comment about our opposite poems.

When I get back from Italy, I'll share our final poetry workshop from Northfield: writing odes to our shoes.

In Residence is an ongoing series this month. If you missed previous posts:

Planning the List Poem Lesson at Today's Little Ditty

First Student Responses: "Words in My Pet Goldfish," "Words in My Bed," "Words in My Life"

In Residence: Poetry Friday Words: Poems by Laura S., Jason Y., Jeffrey G., and Isa L.

In Residence: The Simile Zoo: Poems by Sabine S., Asher, Cecelia D., and Evelyn D.

In Residence: Day 2 in the Simile Zoo: Poems by Allie L., Makaela M., Parker P., Matthew L., Vincent T., Lila R., Naomi C., and Julia J.

In Residence: Due Stanze: Poems by Avery,  Setutsi, Jen, Anlan, Arushi, and Johanna.