McCullers' Weblog

Poetry

We recently studied poetry. Included in our study were three different types of poems that follow specific patterns: cinquain, limerick, and haiku.  Below you will find examples of the three types that were written by my students. 

The five lines of a cinquain consist of a one-word title, two describing words, three action words, four feeling words, and a one-word synonym for the title.

Swimming

fun, fast

enjoyable, cool, jumpy

the fresh cold water

pool 

By Lillian

A limerick is five lines.  Lines one, two, and five rhyme.  Lines three and four rhyme.  Limericks are silly.

I am a bee

yes me

I am flying

I am sighing

Can you "bee"lieve that I am a bee?

By Abby

A haiku is a Japanese poem that is three lines long.  The first and third lines have five syllables.  The second line has seven syllables.  The subject of a haiku poem is usually something found in nature.

A busy squirrel lands

on a beautiful tree now

to eat a fresh nut.

By Ricardo

Do you know of any other types of poems? If you can think of a poem to share with us, please do! 

A Final Goodbye

Our class participated in a memorial service on Friday, November 12, 2004.  Here is a memo we received from Ms. Barajas informing us of the recent loss:

Due to the constant and relentless usage by authors all over our school, the following words finally reached the point of exhaustion this weekend.  As a result of incessant overexertion, they all suffered a collapse and, unfortunately, were not able to be revived, despite all efforts.  Each of these words will be deeply missed and although we will no longer be able to utilize them, their memories will linger forever in our minds.

The words that will no longer be used in our writing are: go, went, say, said, like, liked, is, was, stuff, some, eat, ate, thing, big, bad, tall, nice, a lot, happy, fat, pretty, very, good, and sad. 

If you went to the memorial service, tell us what it was like?  Why is it important that we try not to use these words in our writing?

Exercising Our Right

On Monday, November 1, 2004, the third, fourth, and fifth grade students at J.H. House, were able to exercise their right to vote. The students participated in Kids Vote 2004 and were able to choose the presidential candidate of their choice. The JHH Poll was set up very similar to a real poll. Students had to have their registration cards and their photo I.D.s to be able to vote. The students voted on a computer, very similar to Georgia's new touch-screen computer . It was a great experience for all involved. The students realized that every vote counts!