All posts in Swift

Poetry as Play

Today in Ms. Reed’s 3rd grade, we talked about play and surprise. We talked about how poetry can give us tools to express some of our deepest emotions and thoughts, while also giving us […]

Daydreaming…

My fourth session with Swift 3rd graders was dreamy. We talked about many kinds of dreams and nightmares. Then we read the poem “D is for Daydreaming,” which ends with the following stanza:“Try to […]

“big kids sound like brown bears roaring”

For our 3rd sessions Swift 2nd graders talked about comparisons. We tried to look at pairs of very different things to find similarities in color, texture, shape, size, and feeling. After examining similes written […]

“crackly” and “crunchy”

For my second meeting with Swift 2nd graders, we discussed things we experience using our sense(s) of sight, taste, smell, sound, and touch. We also talked about the seasons, and some of the changes […]

First Poem

Happy New Year Greetings!Being invited to return to Swift for my 6th year brings me feelings of joy and humility. This year I have the pleasure of joining Ms. Pendola’s and Ms. Brist’s 2nd […]

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 […]

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 […]

Diversity in Identity

For our 15th sessions, Swift 2nd graders reviewed what they remembered from last week when we watched a video of Janet S. Wong who talked about the value of handmade, handwritten, and well-thought-out gifts […]

“A poem, folded small”

Last week at Swift, we talked about gifts. Students discussed gifts they have received, such as video games, baby dolls, pets, family, and being in the world. And then talked about gifts they would […]

Rainbows and Crayons, Part Two

I was so inspired by Swift students who put so much effort into using their senses to write and re-write their color poems this week! Bravo! Ms. Urquiza2nd Grade Yellow Isby Ethan R. Yellow […]

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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