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BENJAMIN
RUSH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
5th and 6th Grade Creative Writing Lessons, 2009
View
the full Lesson Plan here
Six
local Pennsylvania poets participated in this creative writing
project with 5th and 6th grades at Benjamin Rush Elementary
School in Bensalem, PA in February/March 2009: Joanne Leva,
Camille Norvaisas, Elizabeth Rivers, David Simpson, Wendy
Steginsky and Bill Wunder.
Guide:
Rose, Where Did you Get that Red? by Kenneth Koch
Using Koch's innovative ideas, this lesson plan is based
on reading good poetry to children and suggesting an assignment
based on those poems.
We agreed that we did not want the children's work to be
constrained by rhyme so we chose unrhymed poetry as our
starting point. David Simpson, Montgomery County Poet Laureate
for 2007, suggested the main poem, "The Meadow Mouse",
by Theodore Roethke. This poem was chosen with an eye to
what the children have been studying since it fortunately
refers to both an owl (previous 6th grade projects) and
a wild baby (previous 5th grade projects). We hoped thier
background information might help them write in interesting
ways. But you'll notice the assignment is quite broad and
the children could choose other things to focus on if they
wish. In fact, the majority of children did not write either
about owls or wild babies.
Here's the ASSIGNMENT: Write a poem that asks an animal
or other interesting object of your choice a question.
You can have the animal answer the question or not as
you wish. Come up with interesting, even crazy questions
and answers. You may want to use some of the real facts
you know. You may want to tell a story. You may want to
invent a fantasy.
5th
Grade Poems (Teacher - Mrs Lisa Coyle):
Baby
dog messing up the house
by Bobby Treible
Oh,
rocket, why did you eat my homework?
I was hungry?
Why do you get so muddy?
So I can make a mess?
Why do you not sleep with me?
Because I want my privacy?
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The
Python
by Shubham Patnaik
In
an old tree in the jungle
lives a python who is vicious and ready to
attack any prey who are roaming free
It sees a mouse who is crawling on a rail
so the python slithers onto the rail past
a snail. When it gets to the mouse, the python
squeezes it and gobbles it up. The python
goes back to its tree and watches attentively
for more prey roaming free.
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The
Baby Penguin
by Patrick Gallagher
Baby
penguin tobogganing down the
hill traveling at the speed of light.
A scientist spotted the speedy penguin and
gave him a delicious fish. The penguin swallowed
it
down and followed him. The scientist threw a
bigger fish not that far away. Then, the
baby penguin waddled to the fish. The penguin
gulped it down and came back. This time
the scientist threw an even bigger
fish red like fire even farther away.
The penguin waddled over to the
fish and devoured it . Again, the penguin came back.
The scientist
threw a fish the size of a whale
a mile away. Then, the penguin said,
"Stop throwing the fish over there...
I'm right here!"
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Diminutive
Bird
by Danielle Ford
I
rescued a baby bird yesterday from the hawk that
was about to devour him. I'm protecting him, but
I had to remove him from his habitat. He is a very
miniature bird, more minuscule then I have ever
seen. His feathers as blue as the ocean. With a
squeak as soft as a whisper. Today he is already
trusting me. I will let him go back to his environment
tomorrow, but today I am giving him shelter.
I
will let the baby bird go today, I will miss him,
but he can't live in a cage forever. I wonder where
he will go? There he goes! Bye, bye, bird!
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Baby
Puppy
by Mariano Flores
In
this house where I moved to, I found a puppy,
The puppy keeps on sleeping,
Its tail starts to move,
He wakes up,
Starts to tremble.
Then
he eats dog food and drinks his water,
He starts to trust me,
Then he goes to sleep.
But
this morning I wake up,
He is gone,
Where could he have gone to?
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The
Baby Koala
by Jaydeann Blanco
A
baby koala is as tiny as your pinky
The way a baby acts is they see and eat
They bug you
The way the mother feeds the baby is she gives them
milk.
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