Ideogram Poems

I brought in an excerpted portion of May Swenson's "Cardinal Ideograms" - it turned out to be a great introduction to concrete poetry (treating language as material - one of my favorite exercises). I had my classes use the letters of their first name as their "ideograms" and encouraged them to look at the letters differently, as Swenson had done with cardinal numbers. The results were really fantastic!

Mr. K, Rm. 205
3rd Grade

Adrian

A A mountain. An upside down mountain
D A half-bubble. A full bubble.
R A waterslide. A waterslide upside down.
I Jail bars. A scratching post.
A Two people. Two people in love.
N A bouncing ball. Three pretzels together.

Monica C.

M looks like people holding hands with each other.
O looks like a blue bubble.
N looks like a bouncing ball.
I looks like a white window.
C looks like a horse shoe.
A looks like a slice of pizza.

Miguel

M like a mountain
i like a pencil
g like a six
u like a swing
e like a nine
l a person is standing straight

Marco T.

M Two big mountains with a lot of snow.
A A little little mountain.
R Mad Mick diving into the water.
C A big hole under the ground.
O It looks like the whole world.

Reymundo A.

r looks like a boat backwards
e looks like a bird's head
y looks like an ice cream cone
m looks like a cat's mouth
u looks like a person smiling
n looks like a person frowning
d looks like a golf club
o looks like an eye

Michael D.

M Two mountains together. Two pine trees.
I Metal bars. Jail.
C Tail moving side to side. Half bubble. Half a moon. Half circle.
H Tic-tac-toe. Door in half.
A Mountain cut off top.
E A book. W. Three people fishing.
L Like a fishing rod in water.

Ms. Sandoval-Johnson, Rm. 001
3rd Grade

Jonathan V.

J looks like a pirate plank
o looks like a face
n looks like a cave
a looks like an upside down b
t looks like a hotel
h looks like a house
a looks like a 4
n looks like mountains

Lisette

L=flying bird
I=needle of a lie detector
S=spaghetti
E=book
T=badge
T=umbrella
E=ball

Esmeralda

E like a cliff
S like a slithery snake
M two people holding hands
E a comb to brush your hair
R a walking person
A like a house
L someone sitting down
D a big belly
A a street and a line where people walk

Luis

L A half house. A right angle.
U A head
I A trampoline
S A slide with two ways to go. A rain drop with a sad face.

Oscar

O A man with joy
S A cobra snake is so slippery
C Car wheels moving
A The Paris tower
R A robot attacking the city

Alejandra

A A little tent. A house.
l A stick. And a vine.
e A baby inside a stroller. Or a helmet.
j A fisherman's hook. A person on a swing.
a A cup upside down. A person with their hair down.
n A slide. A cup.
d A hat sideways. Somebody kicking a ball.
r A bed on top. A bird singing.
a It's a rooftop A. It's a jet.


Ms. Marfise, Rm. 002
3rd Grade

Myriam

M Mountains
Y A bell
R A rocket ship
I A pool
A A mountain going around
M A beak

Shalynn

S A rattle snake
h An old boot
a A girl with long hair that's happy
L One big building. One small building.
y A tire swing on a branch
N A racing track
n A stool

David

D A real slippy slide that kids always like.
A A zig zag ladder with a line in the middle.
V A greater or less than sign upside down.
I A big tower with lines on top and bottom.
D A broken piece of glass with a big crack.

Ms. McCormick, Rm. 214
3rd Grade

Nelly

N A roller coaster and a person frightened
E An E is a pair of pants
L An open book
L A tree with flowers
Y A rein that you hold to control like Santa

Marco

M A big snowy mountain.
a Looks like a lollypop.
R A person coming out of a door.
C Looks like Pac-Man
O Looks like a spoon.

Laura

L A fluffy chair and a diving board
A A blue hut house and a volcano
U A yellow slide with a child
R A duck with one leg
a An alien with one eye

Alexis

A A yelling kid that is coming off the slide
L A kid that is shooting the basketball in the basket
E This is a kid that got a book from the bookshelf
X A pirate that found the x spot and digs it up
I This is a kid that is swinging in the swing
S This is a snake that is moving his tongue

Isabel C.

I A woman carrying a stick and jumping down and up.
S A seahorse waiting for her baby to come out.
A A mountain waiting for somebody to climb him or her.
B Two big eggs on a carton.
E A ladder that is waiting for a man to climb on her or him.
L A table that is waiting for food.

Mrs. Rodriguez, Rm. 401
5th Grade

Ryan

R A no neck person with no arms
Y A half a stickman, a fancy champagne glass
A Candy corn
N The extreme slide

Ismael

I Pencils stacked on each other
S A slithering cobra
M Two mountains filled with ice
A Pac-Man with a stick in the middle
E A broken comb
L A store wall meeting the sidewalk

Jeremy

J President Lincoln with his hat
e An eye of a silly dog
r A candy cane
e A nest with eggs
m Bunny ears
y My conductor conducting me

Maria

M Two mountains dancing in the middle of nowhere
A Two people hugging because they just met their true love
R A big slide and stairs beside it. Kids going to slide but be careful not to fall
I A street where cars stop nearby and say hello while they kiss their brides
A A big lady walking down the street knowing she forgot to put on shoes

Samuel

S A snake sticking out its tongue and making the noise s-e-e-e...
A A person's face with a mustache and with his mouth open
M The mountains all snowy and cold with the sunrise up every day
U A horse shoe
E The cities that are always busy and have lights on all the time
L A crocodile's mouth with its sharp pointy teeth

Ms. Breen, Rm. 201
3rd Grade

Luz

L A comfy chair
U A face smiling
Z A sand timer

Jesica

J A big noodle like a J.
E A door that has a little window.
S An eight like a squirrelly snake.
I Like a circle table.
C Like a gooey worm.
A Two people hugging each other.

Elizabeth

E A ping-pong ball trying to find the finish line.
L A foot going inside a shoe.
i A pink lollipop
z An accordion being squished up.
a A girl with a ponytail
b A baby with a birthday hat.
e An umbrella
t A cross
h A chair

Diego

D A loaf of bread
i The Sears Tower about to be destroyed
e A miner under the earth
g A girl in bed
o I'm playing with a soccer ball