All posts in Leslie Reese

A Hat Made of Lemons!

2nd Graders at Swift Elementary had a fun time using their imaginative powers to join things together in inventive ways. These poems are called “Swan of Bees” poems, and they allow us to see […]

“You Can Dream:” Just Ask Shoesmith 4th Graders!

During our 4th session together, 4th graders at Shoesmith Elementary poured their hearts and minds into expressing their fantastic daydreams, their fearsome nightmares, and their dreams for themselves and our future. The title of […]

Brainstorming Comparisons: 4th Graders Get Busy!

4th graders at Shoesmith sharpened their observation skills and donned their thinking caps to make creative comparisons between things in our world. During the brainstorm part of our lesson, Keira said the “the sky […]

I dream and dream and dream….

2nd graders at Swift are so imaginative and dreamy and kind! Students are bringing so much excitement to writing their own poems, that it is difficult to select only three or four poems to […]

Fantasies, Nightmares, and 5th Grade Dreaming

OMINOUS – meaning gloomy, or menacing – was a word that came up for Avondale-Logandale 5th graders, as we discussed the quality of dreams during our fourth remote poetry class. Even though there are […]

What Makes You Unique? 5th Grade Autobiographical Poems

For my second time meeting remotely with 5th graders at Avondale-Logandale school, we talked about biography and autobiography, and “singing a song of oneself.” We learned that an ode shows respect for, or celebrates […]

How is a smile like a cherry soda pop?

For our third remote learning poetry lesson of the 2020-21 school year, 2nd grade students at Swift explored ways of comparing similarities between things that seem to have nothing in common. For example: what […]

4th Graders Gather Sound!

Have you ever stopped to notice how much sound is going on in the world, all at once? 4th Graders at Shoesmith contemplated thoughtfully the sounds of our world. We talked about favorite sounds […]

Sounds Abound!

For their second lesson, 2nd graders at Swift closed their eyes to listen and remember the different sounds of home; outdoor sounds, and sounds of other places. They had to go into their memory […]

4th Grade Wish Poems!

4th Graders at Shoesmith were energized and ready to get down to poetry when I joined them in Ms. Lehner’s remote-learning classroom. They told me that poetry was about rhyme and feelings, free verse, […]

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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