Want to see what we're up to in our after-school class at El Carmelo? Here are some excerpts from Lia, Chris, Allen and Clara!
Lia
(exaggeration poem)
Harry the horse was so fast
that he went around the world in one day.
He galloped, whinnied, and jumped over a fence
so fast he had no time for hay.
When he passed by he was only a blur,
and his mane flew behind him like a flag.
People loved to watch him run,
and his owner did nothing but brag
Chris & Allen
(collaborative exaggeration poem)
I planted a redwood
and it started to grow.
It was extremely tall
so that people in planes
could see it trunk and all.
I tried to stop it growing,
but it was really, really sharp
and cut my hand off whole.
Only then did it finally start to slow.
Clara
(Walking through a Forest exercise)
I was walking through a dark, murky forest. There were green slugs, and the trees were covered with brown, rotting leaves. The air felt damp and hot, and I could hear my heart beating. Suddenly, the path I was following split. I stopped dead. One path was labeled "flower" and was covered in flowers. The other path was labeled "skull" and looked old. I chose the flower path. But I didn't know it was the bad one.
I kept walking and noticed a key floating above my feet. I picked it up and felt a tingling feeling through my arm. As it spread throughout my body, I noticed everything around me was spinning. I kept walking and soon found a plain, silver cup. This time I didn't dare pick it up – I still felt dizzy from the spinning.
As I continued walking, I found a patch of quicksand blocking my way. I tried to go around, but there wasn't any ending on either side. So I jumped, hoping I could swim through it. But it kept pulling me down, the sand getting thinner and thinner until I was going down in water. Then, suddenly, I was back up again. I was shivering all over. And I was in a whole different forest, with birds fluttering all around. A happy feeling washed over me, and I decided to take a nap.
I woke up and continued walking, then fell into a ditch. When I recovered, I noticed that a clear roof had covered the ditch. There was a small hole that turned into a big hole, then into a tunnel. I decided to follow it since there was no other way out.
There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and I started running towards it. Outside, I saw a small, blue fence and a cute doll gate. I went through and stood in a field covered with all colors of poppies.