Today we had a lot of fun creating Found Poetry. Found Poems take existing words and phrases and refashion them, reorder them, and present them as poems. Found Poetry is like making a collage with words...
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Summer Camps
Today we started off with signing up the kids for Postcrossing (www.postcrossing.com).
Each of them received a brief bio and an address for another Postcrosser and then designed and wrote their first postcrossing postcard.
We are going to be mailing handmade postcards to Finland, Belarus, China, Iowa and Taiwan. Now that they've each written a postcard, the kids have initiated the process for receiving postcards themselves.
Here are some excerpts from some of the cards.
After learning that Minna from Finland loves animals, Hannah wrote:
"My name is Hannah. I am 9 years old. I love animals too! I went to a zoo once and held a lion cub and I have 2 cats and a dog."
Hannah's handmade postcard
After learning that Abby, a substitute teacher in Iowa, wanted to hear a headline from the local newspaper, Sophie wrote:
"...the weather here is foggy, but it's supposed to be sunny this afternoon. One of the headlines in the San Francisco Chronicle today is: BAR protest causes major delays in service."
Tess' handmade postcard
We also embarked on original stories based on the title: Licking Envelopes: A Cautionary Tale.
The task? To write a tragic, funny, magical or mysterious story about what happens to a character of their own creation when he or she licks that fateful envelope.
Here are some excerpts:
Tess
" 'Ewwwww! I do not want to lick all of these envelopes!' I cried out as my parents revealed the consequences of climbing a tree to access the roof..."
Ella
"Once there was a girl named Olivia. She was as a beautiful girl. She lived with her parents and loved her life. Except for one thing. Olivia hated licking envelopes, especially the weird tasting ones. She longed to lick an envelope with no taste, but of course no matter how hard she looked he couldn't find one."
Tyra
"Brothers Tommy and Timmy stayed up late watching TV when an interesting commercial came on.
'When's the last time you had a vacation?', a man with an all-white suit said. Tommy and Timmy looked at each other. The last vacation they went on was three years ago during winter break.
'Tired of doing the same boring things everyday? Need to get away?', the man when on to say.
'Hey man - this looks pretty cool,' Tommy said.
'All you have to do is find a silver ticket and listen to this special TV offer. At Mike's Hardware store every time you spend five dollars you receive a special envelope that's unopened. All you have to do is lick the most envelopes and bring them in."
'Tommy, we've got to do this!'
'Sounds easy enough!', Timmy said. ( to be continued)
And...Look what we did with the white board!
In the afternoon, we used envelope templates to create envelopes from colored papers and magazine pages and added rubber stamps and collage to make stationary and cards that fit - WOW! We made tiny envelopes as well that fit into graduating sizes and some of smallest envelopes in the world! The students now have cards and envelopes ready to send.Check out the photos!
Today in "Word Party" we talked about where writers get their ideas.
First activity: Using images to spark story ideas.
We used various images from postcards and notecards -- some whimsical, some nature photos, some reproductions of paintings, etc. I asked the kids to write a story based on the image, explaining what was happening, what just happened, and what was about to happen. Here's an excerpt from Gina's piece (her image showed an elephant floating in the sky):
" . . .The elephant wanted to get a closer look so he galloped quickly to the strange grass, and touched it ever so slightly with his front-right paw--then suddenly he went shooting up like a rocket, faster, faster and FASTER!"
Second activity: Personification.
I put random objects on a table and asked each student to choose one and write "A Day in the Life" of that object, giving it human qualities. Here's part of Alex's piece called "A Day in the Life of a Fork":
"Oh gosh, here comes the family getting ready for breakfast. OK, Jackson is picking up a spoon for his cereal and a fork -- oh gosh, he picked me! Here I go -- getting scrunched into these eggs..."
Third activity: Perspectives.
We talked about the idea of perspective, and how different people have different perspectives based on a lot of different things --- height, family background, and even age. Then we did a fun activity called "Walking in Someone Else's Shoes", where I put out four different pair of shoes (a child's pair of boots, men's loafers, women's black heels, and some crazy red sparkly 5-inch platforms). Each student chose a pair of shoes and then wrote a story about who would wear these shoes, and what that person was like.
I also gave the kids a free write prompt asking them to write from the perspective of a stack of paper sitting next to a shredder. Here's an excerpt from what Jordhi wrote:
" Ah! A shredder! Please don't put me in it! I'm too important! I mean, you can draw and write on me, and even make me into paper airplanes and fly me around the house!"
Jordhi
Yesterday we wrote "I Am From" poems, where students list the memories, smells, tastes, traditions, hobbies, etc. that make them who they uniquely are. Here's an excerpt from Kaitlin's poem:
"I am from apple pies and lemon cheesecakes . . . from Glee on Tuesdays and American Idol on Wednesdays . . . from asthma attacks and inhalers . . . I am from my family."
Kaitlin
Aden
Annaliese
Jonah
Nicole
We welcome your daughters Kyra, Ella, Hannah, Tess and Sophie to "Stamps and Letters". Each day this week we'll be updating you about their camp escapades in a blog post, complete with photos.
In the writing portion of the week we'll be becoming reacquainted, or newly acquainted with the hand written letter.
We started off the day by asking the girls about the last letter they wrote, or received. Most admitted that their most recent correspondence was thank you notes. (However, Ella participated in keeping letter writing alive by writing home from sleep away camp!)
So, we expressed our love of the implements of the craft by personifying either the pen, the paper, the envelope, the stamp or the letter itself. Here are some excerpts:
Dear Pen,
Thank you for helping me in English class. Though I get frustrated because you don't have an eraser, you still satisfy my needs. Your rubber grip and sharp point are what make you who you are. I appreciate you and hope you never run out of ink.
Love, Kyra
------------
Dear Pen,
Your're the best pen ever George! You're so nice. You help me write anything (especially letters). You're the best lil' George ever! I hope to write with you again.
Love, Hannah
_________
Dear postage stamp,
I love the different pictures on your shirts you get from different countries. Is it fun traveling with letters to all different places? Are the mailmen nice to you? I hope you have fun traveling even though you're not traveling much these days cause people are using e-mail, but please visit.
Your friend, Sophie
(Ella's excerpt coming tomorrow!)
_______
Dear Paris,
Did I tell you how much I love your name? Because you are a stamp with the Eiffel Tower on you, and the Eiffel Tower is in Paris you named yourself Paris. How clever.
Anyway, I really appreciate the job you do transporting letters because of your worth...
Yours truly, Tess
Later, our students started the afternoon experimenting with watercolor and tempura paint to create covers for their sketchbooks and background papers for rubber stamping. A large array of "vintage" rubber stamps have been loaned to us so we explored the variety of images stamping them in many configurations and coloring with colored pastels and pencils. Each student made a small book of their stampings with very poetic and interesting results! Tomorrow we'll learn how to make our own envelopes in various sizes and papers. A fun first day for all!
Today was devoted to selecting, editing and polishing the writing the kids wanted to read aloud to you. They were an incredibly focused and diligent bunch for 3 hours! Much thought and care went into completing pieces and preparing for the reading.
We were sad that Alistair had to leave early today and miss the reading. However, he shared his selected pieces with us before he left.
With markers we "posterized" our photo portraits into pop art. "Everyone is famous for 15 minutes", a quote from Andy Warhol. Everyone helped hang art on the wall and we prepared for the afternoon reading and exhibit. The kids were excited and I know all the attending parents and family were very impressed by their children's art and reading of their writing for the week- us too! What a fun week!
It was a thrill to be in the presence of this group of young writers. They have talent beyond their years!
Thank you Izzy, Claire, Madelena, Sushma, Ross, Alistair and Sydney!
Self-portraits:
Masks:
Here are some pictures from the reading at our last day of camp at Lafayette!
We had a wonderful two weeks with you!
Andy
Genie (and sis!)
Group story Ruby, Suah, Genie
Ruby
SJ
Suah