All posts in Leslie Reese

Some Dreams Are Scary!

The day of our 4th session was picture-taking day at Swift! Students in Ms. Arena’s class—formerly Ms. Popovic’s (you are missed, Ms. Popovic!)—were just about to get down to the business of writing dream […]

“We Would Like to See”

For our 5th session together, I challenged Bret Harte 2nd graders to enjoy some out-of-the-box thinking, by joining unlikely things together. These are called “Swan of Bees” poems. Read on to find what fun […]

Bret Harte 2nd Grade Dreams….

For our 4th session Bret Harte 2nd graders talked about happy daydreams, and nightmares, and sleeping dreams in which weird things happen. We even wondered if animals have dreams? Enjoy this sample of dream […]

Different, Yet, Alike!

Every year I ask myself how should I introduce comparisons? – a lesson in which we look at ways to find what two different things have in common. Sometimes things like color, action, or […]

A Heart is Like a Beating Drum!

After writing poems about wishes and sounds, we turned to something more challenging for our 3rd lesson: comparisons. As poets live in the world, and observe what goes on – both inside of themselves […]

What do you hear?

What sounds do you hear at home, outdoors, at school, or at work? Are the sounds happy? Exciting? Surprising, or Sad? This is what Swift 2nd graders were exploring the last time we got […]

Listening to the World: Sound Poems

My ears were filled with sound when I visited Bret Harte 2nd graders for our second session. The classroom was alive with sounds of chairs scraping the floor, and pencils rolling and falling from […]

Bret Harte 2nd Grade Wish Lists

On Tuesday, November 2, 2021, I met with 2nd graders at Bret Harte Elementary for the first time. They were so energetic and ready to share their creative brain power with me! We talked […]

Wishing, Again!

This is the 3rd year that a new group of 2nd graders at Swift opened up our poetry time together by sharing their ideas about poetry, learning about LINE, and their writing their own […]

4th Graders Write About Identity

In my 19th session with Shoesmith 4th graders we continued with hybrid learning, and I shared the poem “Orchard of We” by Mahogany L. Browne. Students noticed that the poet likened the many kinds […]

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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