Collaborative Poetry

For the past two sessions, we've been experimenting with collaboration - two or more poets working to write a single poem. I brought in examples from Joshua Beckman and Matthew Rohrer's Nice hat. Thanks., which consists almost entirely of very short poems (some as short as two lines) and reads very much like two friends passing a notebook back and forth. The students took well to the light, casual tone, humor, and especially the non-sequitir bits. The undoubted winner from the examples I shared was:

I knew Spanish
before it was cool.

Often it's a challenge to know where to begin with such poems, so I brought a stack of around 60 index cards, each with a word written on it (like "tiger" or "sad" or "flying") as a topical jumping-off point - to help keep the students from waffling about what to write. "The more you think, the harder it will be!" I told them. An invitation not to think? Nope! An invitation to associate freely, which, I assured them, all poets should do often and with abandon!

They flew! The poems were wonderful and they had the most fun I've seen yet this year.

Mr. K., Rm. 205
3rd Grade

I lost my things
Edgar C. and Marco T.

I lost my PSP
I lost Bryan's big head
I lost Bryan Cruz, games
I lost my 50 dollar bill
I lost my grandma
I lost my dad's wheel

SECRET
Adrian M. and Michael G.

I have a secret Michael
That I am cool

My secret is that you are my best friend
but I am still, that I am cool

My other secret, I feel like flying
but I think we are still flying

Damien M. and Anthony P.

Everybody has two hands. We have two hands.
Hands are for writing. Hands are cool.
Goodbye hands. Hi hands. Goodbye hands.
Hands are not for slapping.

Elizabeth C. and Rocio R.

I have no one
I have the song
It is scary
It is boring
It is not fun

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

Daniel and Cesar

I have an orange
and I ate it.
Your shirt is orange
my pants are blue.
The world is orange and people are too
dogs are purple
Hearts are destroyed
My friend is orange
and my parents are orange.
Tables are things to be on.
An orange is on a table and I ate it.
People are made of oranges.
How do tables and oranges dance?
They dance by couples, a table and an
orange get together to dance.
Why are oranges so good
to some people? They are good and
juicy. Why do bananas and oranges and apples fight?

Rosi P. and Roayma M.

I did a mistake
because you did not tell me.

I made a mistake
because I read your secret.

My mistake is
I eat ice cream in the
morning.

My mistake is
because I was late
for school.

My mistake is
I ride a bicycle.

My mistake is
because I didn't
know how to ride
a bicycle.

Have you made a
mistake in a
bicycle?

Yes, I have
had a mistake
because I rode
a bicycle when
I didn't know
how to ride it.

Ruben E. and Raymond C.

I saw a mouse in the house
and the mouse chased me
it ran so fast that it caught up to me
my friends came over to play with
me and the mouse chased them
because they were scared then they caught
the mouse by the mouse trap
it landed and it got caught.

Lisette and Jasmine S.

I have a dog
I love my dog

My dog loves to play
My dog loves to flip

I play with my dog
I like to play with my dog
hide seek

I take my dog out for a walk
on a cold day

My dog is very cold
because I found it in the street

My dog is cold
because it took a shower

My dog is stinky
because he doesn't take a shower

My dog is soft as
a pillow

Ms. Marfise, Rm. 002
3rd Grade

David F. and Ginel G.

Trick
Magic show
Cool tricks
Women cut in half
How do you know?
Because I've been to one to see it up front
You've convinced me alright

Veronica G. and Isaac H.

The news said it was going to
rain today
For real!
Yes, didn't you hear?
No, you're the one who could hear
news.
Were you brushing your news?
What do you mean?
I mean that you were brushing your
TV so you did not hear.
You are weird, bye.
Bye, see you later.
..

Want to dance in the rain?
Ok, let's go!

Want to dance in the rain?
How do you dance in the rain?
Drink the drops and run around
like crazy.

Hands
Ciro, Jeffrey, and Ricardo

My hands I use to cook.
My hands I use to swim.
I use my hands to turn on the TV.
I use my hands to open the water.
I use my hands to open the door.
I use my hand to say goodbye.

Isabel and Karen

An old man is lonely
I was lonely in the house
My own dad is lonely and scared

My dad is lonely
An umbrella is lonely in the basement
I'm lonely in Mexico
A donkey is lonely in the zoo
Lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely, I got nobody on
my own I'm Mr. Lonely.
I have the song of Mr. Lonely.

Ms. McCormick, Rm. 214
3rd Grade

Nelly Q. and Denise N.

A person crying is
very sad
sad and mad
as bad
the bear is sad
because he got sick
I was sad
because I'm mean
the bear so sad - why?
because...
he got shocked
he was scared
he is so brown
and he is so
fearless and
hungry every time
he goes to sleep.

Money
Isabel C. and Crystal A.

Money is
rich stuff
that I
like
to have
or not.

I love
money
because I
like to
buy my
stuff so
I can
go to
a party
and get
all fancy
and rich.

Me and
my best
friend go
to the
bank to
go get
my money
so I
can get
rich and
fancy clean.

Me and
my friend
are thinking
of building
money at
the bank
so we
can go
to a
rich store.

Wild
Gabriel S. and Alexis R.

Wild animal wants to wait
for the waves that
he just ate, he hates the
water he needs faith.

Nicolas V. and Ms. McCormick

I walk in the sidewalk with my dad.
Having a great day laughing and joking
and hungry
Yum! hot dogs with ketchup
and mustard
while we watch the Sox game.

Mrs. Rodriguez, Rm. 401
5th Grade

Andrea T. and Maria M.

Wild dog chasing a soft ant.
Little soft ant is very scared.
Wild dog running towards the bank.
The dog goes back home to rest.
The creep dog staring really sad.
But he finds hope with a new owner.
Then I see he found his owner.
And he will stick with his owner
for as long as he lives.
He will live with his rich owner.
And will never need anything
in his life.

Cynthia G. and Suranny D.

A lonely bird in a tree
is singing in a lonely tree
no one to see her
she is lonely and sad.

.

A girl is lonely in the park
she is playing in a lonely park
Why is she lonely?
Because her parents are not there.
She had no friends
to be able to play with.

.

Mrs. Rodriguez said goodbye
as she leaves lonely
Mrs. Rodriguez said goodbye
and she leaves in her lonely car.

.

I said goodbye now I'm lonely
I am lonely because she said goodbye
now what do we do
we should say goodbye.

Jesus and Jose

A working man is singing
in the heights, then what
happens to the working
man? He falls and breaks his
head. He comes back up
and falls again and breaks
his arm. He comes back
and the working man
lost his job and he goes
home angry.

The teacher works
the teacher works
oh why does the
teacher work? To teach,
teach the students that need
help.

Selena and Jacqueline

The planets all spin without
anger
The planets are spinning next to the
sun
The dog chasing its tail
and it fell on its bottom
The baby is spinning to get the
feet
All these things are so
bizarre, and it tells me
who you are.
All the cups are spinning outside just
to get a dog to fly to the planets.

Ms. Breen, Rm. 201
3rd Grade

Oscar and Alejandro

I have shoes. When I think
of shoes I think of black shoes.
I tie my shoe.
One black and one white.
I lost my shoe.
I lost my shoelace.
I found the shoe.
I found my shoelace.
I will wear my gym shoe.
I will wear my black shoes.

Joshua M. and Jocelyn M.

The wind blows the waves,
it blows me and you.
The waves blow us through
the town. In every town the wind
blows the waves then blows us,
the waves are nice to see.

Poem
Eric V. and Juan

We made a mistake
We fix our mistake
We think about our mistake
We think we're a
bad class
We tell the teacher we're sorry
We aren't a good class

Do you fix your mistake?

Andrew and Erik G.

I have a blue chair.
I have a blue crayon.
I have a blue nametag.
I have a blue car.
I blew my nose.
I played in the hose
blue blue blue what are we
going to do.
The Earth is blue.
I play in the ocean.
The pencil is red.
It's time for bed.

Josselin G. and Veronica A.

Red is like a heart
Red is your life
Red is like blood
Our teacher's shirt is red
Red is a color
Your lips are red
An eraser is red
Red is for Valentine's Day
Red is for love
Books are red
My friend's shirt is red
A balloon is red
Red is for the US flag
That's what is red

...

In the second week, I returned with the index cards and a new challenge, which was definitely a challenge: exquisite corpse, or as I introduced, "half-blind" poems. Poet A writes two lines, folds over the paper to conceal the first; Poet B writes two lines to follow Poet A's second line, then folds over paper to conceal all but the last line, and so on and so forth. Difficult to explain to adults, let alone third graders! BUT, once we did a few examples and I demonstrated how to fold the paper, I wound up with stacks of accordioned notebook paper filled with admirable work!

Mr. K., Rm. 205
3rd Grade

[...poems to come!]


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

Steve B., Oscar O., Raymond C.

It was sunny then it got rainy.
It is cold and hot.
It is summer and winter.
It is winter.
It is cold.
It got warm. Then it got hot as a
pepper.
It is fall. And it is March.
April.
It is morning.
It is night.

Yadira A. and Alejandra I.

It was cold.
There was a loud tornado
Then the tornado destroyed the houses.
The tornado ran over a car.
It was very dangerous
I ran inside the house
And then the girl ran for mommy because
of the tornado
Then the tornado went away.
Another little girl said waaa all the
way home.
The tornado was spinning very fast.
Then a girl was giving hugs
when the tornado was on.
A tornado was on when a girl fell off
the roof.

Alex N., Cesar N., Jonathan V.

He had the coolest shirt in the whole wide
world that no one could resist it.
That morning as birds singing
as dogs and cats yelling
leprechauns running
a lucky charm in the air
trying to go to the sky all over the place
that hit some one's head yesterday
the park had an earth covered
as grass
has grass on it
nasty freckle juice
that smelled the worst as
a very wet dog
as a cat wet
as a car wash

Ms. Marfise, Rm. 002
3rd Grade

Veronica G. and Karen S.

I lost my teddy cat
it was pink with yellow in the ears with a green bow
One day I got lost in the forest it was scary
then I got out of the forest
I think you saw
a wolf, bear, and a coyote
One day I saw a dog lost
then I took it to his owner
I know I saw it.

Mireya A. and Amores M.

I love flying
in an airplane
In the clouds
and in the sky
did you say you like
flying in the sky
really high
pretty nice
I know it is pretty
nice in the sky
in the clouds
with the birds
I know it is nice
with the birds and the clouds
with the sun
really hot

Omar R. and David F.

I knew my teacher
before she knew me
she said "Hello, who are you?"
And then, I said my name.
Then I sat in my desk
and did my work
while she talked
and I ignored it.
I work
and then I talk.

Shalynn S. and Alina C.

I had hands
before your mama
the old days before
your grandma.
I was hot
before your mom
when I was your
birthday
your mama was born on
a leap year
before the year you
were born
you're very old like
dirt.

Jose, Xavier and Raymond

My little cousin is a pest
and he tied me on a rope
so I could swing
into the water.
I fell
belly up
and he started to whack me
he hit me with a stick
because he was trying
to steal from me
my game boy
my dad worked
hard to get it.

Ms. McCormick, Rm. 214
3rd Grade

Kiara M., Casandra S., Alicia D.

Around and round it goes
I see a top colorful
It looks like the colors are twirling
Colors mixing together
It is a rainbow
You could see it in your house
The colors are so pretty
Children love to play with them
Children love to get wet with them too
People put swimming clothes on to get wet with them
A toy that floats
When you're swimming.

Nelly Q., Denise N., Alejandra R.

I saw something in the forest
it was a
bird that flew away
then it went to
the tree
and then it flew back
it was a wild tiger
it was about to eat me
it was a big giant animal
it had black and orange
feathers
and his feet were black
then his face was more wild
when the wild tiger saw it was
a big bird flying
it was so scared that...

Crystal, Isabel, Nancy

There was a house
with clouds painted
with colors of every color
just like a picture painted
summer is fun
cold is done
spring is on
summer is coming up
so it might be fun
let's go swimming
swimming is fun

Mrs. Rodriguez, Rm. 401
5th Grade

Cynthia G. and Beverly A.

Hands do a lot of things
they are so cool
that they hang out with everyone
in the whole school
They have a reflection between their
open minds like a comet going to
space
People really like
dressing up for a party
Toys are so playful
There are different toys around the world
The most popular things I know are
computers, cars and flat screen TVs
The smartest class I know is
401 is very noticeable
like one whole brain.

Andrea T. and Maria M.

It is very dangerous. That big tiger it is.
He lives in the forest with pointy teeth.
Wish wish wish upon a star
that I would find a very good
friend.
He's really bad for you he could eat
in a bite.
Run little creature, run
and then we would play all day.
How could you play knowing a monster
is chasing after you?
Run little creature, run
without any worry and always have
so much fun.
But there's a big creature loving
to eat.
But run little creature, run.
At night me and my friend
would sit under the stars knowing
the monster is gone.

Ismael H. and Emmanuel M.

I looked at the sea
It was blue and deep
like the ocean
next to land
it was with people
it was filled
like a new bottle of water
from the store
we found it in books
it was as blue as the
sky
like when it is high
and saying bye.

Ms. Breen, Rm. 201
3rd Grade

Oscar and Erick G.

I saw a big, large orange
I throw a big orange
and it lands in the grass
I broke in half the orange
the big orange
in the sky.

Cynthia M. and Bianca V.

A tiger is a big cat.
It has a bunch of stripes
like a zebra
or a worm
it has a long tail
it has scary teeth
like a monster
or a shark
it goes wild
but sometimes it's calm
like a bird
or a hamster
it is not small
it is huge
is it a bear
or a whale?

Julie G. and Diana A.

I wear glasses.
Do you wear
for a huge party
for dancing
in parties?
I love to dance
to music.
I love parties.
So do I.
My big party is on
the street
of Julie's house.
Who is Julie?
Do you like Julie?
Yes I do.
Do you?
Can you party?
Because I do.
Because I love to.
I love to dance and party.

Demetric and Erick R.

The sky is blue
and folders are blue
I am a blue flower
I am a blue girl and boy
I am a blue elephant
and a lovely girl with
a blue skirt