Student Writing: Voices of Real Fifth-Graders

I have the good fortune of experiencing youthful writing on a daily basis.  The following are actual excerpts from fifth-graders in my classroom.  These pieces were written as a part of our poetry unit.  Only spelling has been edited by me. Content remains untouched.  You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be inspired.

Going Inside Poems:

Going inside poems imagination and imagery to describe the supposed insides of something we can't experience firsthand.

Brandon:  "Going Inside a Watermelon"

"I have always been eaten with my red, juicy river and the black whales bathing in the river watching while other whales are rocketed to the ground."

Did You Ever Notice Poems:

These poems are witty observations in a style similar to comedic punchlines.  They can be serious or humorous.

Tami:  "Did you ever notice your parents taught you to walk and talk, but now they are telling you to sit down and be quiet?"

Ethan:  "Did you ever notice the lunch ladies always pack their own lunch?"

Erik:  "Did you ever notice that when someone blows their nose, they look at what comes out?"

Used To, But Not Now Poems:

Serious or humorous comparisons of before and after.

Ryan:  "I used to be afraid of monsters, then my sister moved out."

Nicole:  "I used to love Social Studies, but that's history."

"I used to be a banana, but it wasn't that appealing."

Ali:  "I used to be afraid of monsters under my bed, bugs, and fireworks.  Now I'm afraid of my brother's underwear, creepy old people, and boys."

Acrostic Phrase Poems:

Similar to acrostic poems, each word of a common phrase is used as the beginning of each stanza.

Brynn: (her phrase was "I Don't Want To Grow Up")

"I will never give up my childish ways,

Don't need to stop eating ice cream or other treats

Want to run through the sprinklers in my neighbor's front yard,

To be a kid is just too much fun

Growing up into an adult is a huge step in your life's stairs,

Up higher than a ten-year-old could ever imagine."

My Soul Is Poems:

Using a metaphor to describe the inner workings of the soul.

Ryan:  "Mr. Heydt's soul is a pencil sharpener, always inspiring little dull pencils to do their best."

Tommy:  "My soul is a rubber duck.  I have many faces.  If you squeeze me, you'll get a surprise."

Nicole:  "My soul is a cocoon.  When young, trapped, but when older, free to fly away."

Metaphor Poems:

We played a fun game of jabbing at boys and girls here :)

Ryan:  "Boys are butts.  They are always making funny noises."

Juliana:  "Boys are red ants.  They look fine at first, but then they creep up inside you and eat your insides so you're dead for all eternity."

Sarah:  "A bad book is a hot potato.  Easy to put down."

Ethan:  "Girls are like when your first pet dies.  Just plain sad."

"Integrity is a shining mirror.  That only thing that matters is what you see."

What Is And What Should Never Be Poems:

This type of poetry uses a particular formula of intangible idea, color, and vivid imagery.

Brynn:  "Frustration is a rosy-cheeked toddler trying to smash the plastic circle into the square compartment."

Meredith:  "A dream is a silver piece of paper that's empty and alone.  Until you find a pencil..."

List Poems:

A la Dr. Seuss' "The Foot Book."

Lauren:

"Boogers and footballs and lots of prank calls,

Grass stains and mud pies and open pants' flies,

Big Macs and Cokes and dumb, rude jokes,

That's what boys are made of."

Odes:

Elevating an everyday object to a higher level.

Nic:  "Ode to Ford Mustangs"

"Oh your chrome covered rims sparkle as they spin,

Oh your red shining skin,

Your bovine hide seats warm my bottom while I sit in you,

I hear you howling when you are sprinting down the road,

Your tires grip the ground like hooks in a fish,

Your lights let me see past dusk,

Your shape is like a young woman's body,

Ford Mustang, you're like my running horse."

Meredith:  "Ode to a Daisy"

"Ode to the gorgeous, 

Snow flake white petaled,

Sunshine-centered daisy.

Your delicate stem, 

Brings a smile to thou's face,

Green as ever, 

The dew of a recent rainfall,

Clinging to the paper thin, lime-colored leaf,

Veins surging throughout,

Like that of humans.

Oh but I ask,

How did your perpetual beauty come to be?

I wonder, I wonder, I wonder."

~Scott Heydt

"Live, Learn, Teach"

www.scotthbooks.com

http://scotthbooks.blogspot.com