Walter Dean Myers Poems |
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This year's fourth graders began composing poems inspired by Walter Dean Myers' poem entitled Summer. They crafted these on October 10, 2006. Myers' poem appears below:
Summer I like hot days, hot days Sweat is what you got days Bugs buzzin from cousin to cousin Juices dripping Running and ripping Catch the one you love days
Birds peeping Old men sleeping Lazy days, daisies lay Beaming and dreaming Of hot days, hot days, Sweat is what you got days. - Walter Dean Myers From Brown Angels: An Album of Pictures and Verse
Here are some of our fourth graders pieces!
BALLET DANCING 10-10-06 Putting on the costume is what you got. Dancing days, Dancing from morning to night, Night to morning. Dancing on toes and feet, Feet and toes. Jumping, twirling, sitting, smiling, Having fun. Turning on music, Music turning on, Listing to the beat, Get ready for the show, Putting on make-up. My teacher makes up dances. From morning to night, Going to classes.
A template that was used to help model how to construct the poem appears below:
Pick a season, time of day, sport, activity, place, person (like mom!), vacation, time period and brainstorm first! Come up with adjectives (describing words like colors and senses) , nouns that go with it, verbs that go with it, onomatopoeia, feelings, and more. Morning – sunrise, snoring, alarm clocks whining, breakfast (at Nifty Fiftys), birds, soozing, groggy, excited, eager, dreams, waking, pillow, tired For example: Winter: cold, snowy, holidays, lonely, warmth inside, expectation, white, cloudy, whoosh, happy, football, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, sledding, building snow forts. Then build a poem like Walter Dean Myers’ poem called Summer. I ___________ ____________________, _________________ ___________________ is what you got ___________________. ___________________________________________________ __________________ _____________________ __________________ and _______________________. _______________________________ days. ________________________ _______________________ ________________________ __________________________ __________________________, ________________________ ____________________ and _________________________. Of, or to, with _________________, ______________________ ____________________________________________________. Let your students know that certain lines should have adjectives or present tense verbs. Have them use the poem Summer to help guide them through composing their own. But give them lots of latitude to experiment and choose the way they want to compose and craft. Look at our fourth graders' different slants on how to craft. Pretty cool stuff!
Soccer By Eric Cruz 10-10-06 I love soccer, love soccer Soccer is what you do all day. Shots from goal to goal Sweat dripping Running and slide tackling Score at the end of the match People screaming Goalies saving shots Passing shooting, shooting passing Losing and winning I love soccer, love soccer Soccer is what I do all day
SUN by Alex Stolz 10/10/06 I like the sun, the shiny bright thing in the sky The sunshine is what you got each and everyday Shining from the dark alleys to where you stand on that very spot Keeping hydrated from the sun’s rays even when it’s hiding through the wet puffy clouds The sun - a wonderful thing Running and jumping outside, it’s a drag to be held to be inside So far away it looks like a little multi-colored ball So bright, too bright Shining and glaring At the big beautiful sun Sunshine each and every day |
