All posts in Leslie Reese

If They Were in Charge of the World

When I first created the “My World” poetry lesson, I used Gwendolyn Brooks’s “A Little Girl’s Poem,” – which I really love. This year I decided to use a different example poem. So, during […]

Cinquain!

I had planned a lesson on 2 kinds* of the five-line poetry form known as cinquain for my 9th sessions with Swift 2nd graders. Since they have been learning about poetry with their classroom […]

Odes from the Heart

For our 8th sessions, 4th and 5th grade students at Kozminski discussed the difference between biography and autobiography; and learned about odes, a poetry form that celebrates and shows respect for the worth of […]

Personifying the Blues

For our sixth and seventh sessions Kozminski 4th graders read Francisco X. Alarcón’s “Ode to My Shoes” and discussed personification. They brainstormed objects and non-human things doing human activities before writing their own poems. […]

Inside, Under, and All Around

For our 8th sessions, Swift 2nd graders read the tiny poem “What’s Under the Sky” by Kathi Mitchell and “Inside My Shoe” written by yours truly. We talked about the things that are inside, […]

Weird Things

For our 5th sessions, Shoesmith 4th graders talked about out-of-the-box thinking, invention, and imagination. We moved into our “Swan of Bees” poetry lesson, which asks students to make a mash-up of outlandish ideas, such […]

Dream Big

Last week at Shoesmith, several students were dressed-up to present at the school’s Black Activist Wax Museum! I was super excited to meet Black Activists from the present and the past. Frederick Douglass, Nikki […]

Creative Ways of Seeing

For our 5th sessions at Kozminski, students talked about their visit to the Shedd Aquarium the previous week. They were excited about getting the chance to see and learn about aquatic life outside of […]

Be Creative!

For my 7th visit with Swift 2nd graders, we read and discussed the poems, “Finding a Poem” by Karla Kuskin, and “Word Builder” by Ann Whitford Paul. We also looked at Katey Howes’ book, […]

“Trees Are Like Old Grandparents”

When I arrived to work with Shoesmith 4th graders, they were enjoying having a Q & A (Question & Answer) period with donors who had brought them a gift of books!! We talked about […]

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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