All posts in Leslie Reese

Last Day of Poetry Blues

Last week Shoesmith 4th graders reviewed our blues exploration from the previous week. Students brainstormed a ton of rhymes before closing-out our residency by rhyming and repeating and moaning and singing their blues poems. […]

5th Grade Group Poems

Twain 5th graders ended the residency reviewing the poems they have written, re-watching Joaquin Zihuatanejo’s performance of “Abuelo’s Garden,” reading poems aloud in English and Spanish from Cool Salsa, and pitching-in to write group […]

More poems inspired by “We Real Cool”

So many students wrote poems inspired by the classic Gwendolyn Brooks poem, “We Real Cool” that I had to publish some more. Read the first group, here. Enjoy! Ms. Bell5th Grade We real fun…by […]

Haiku in the countdown toward the last day of school!

It’s hard out here in these poetry streets trying to get students to write poems as they count down the days ’til the end of the school year! STILL Swift 2nd and 3rd graders […]

How Many Kinds of Blues?

Today Shoesmith 4th graders got bluesy. When I talked about the origins of blues music, some students remembered learning about it during a Black History Month program that explored the evolution of music created […]

Some Aren’t So Shy

I got to meet with Twain 5th graders twice this week! On Monday, we worked on poems inspired by “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks. I started losing my voice Monday evening, and had […]

I love the energy!

I love the energy that Shoesmith 4th graders bring to our poetry workshops each week! They always seem open to new ideas, ready to think, and eager to tap into their creativity. If we […]

You Can Express Your Feelings

In addition to reading aloud from poetry books and watching the “We Real Cool” video produced by the Poetry Foundation, Dubois students discussed things they like and dislike about writing. Students reflected on things […]

Mixed Bag

Poems from our 16th sessions reflect a mixed bag: while 2nd graders continued to write identity poems, 3rd graders played with ideas that reflected on their trip to the zoo. Ms. Reed’s class still […]

Cool Dreaming

Last week I got to meet with Twain 5th graders for our 4th and 5th sessions. Students spent more time working on their dream poems, some of which you can read, below. Before getting […]

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I’M FROM THE CITY LIGHTS / STREAMING OUT IN THE NIGHT / AND HUGE SKYSCRAPERS / TOWERING OVER THE LAKE – MELISSA E., 7TH GRADE POET