My People, My People

Last week, Grissom’s middle schoolers got to show love to the people most important to them. We began our time together with a brief lesson on the Harlem Renaissance before reading Langston Hughes’ poem “My People.” Students observed the wide range of descriptive words Hughes used to write about the people around him. After chatting about the poem, students spent some time brainstorming then jumped into their own list poems about the people most important to them. Check out some of them below:

6th Grade

My People Jayden E.

My people drive
My people are good at eating
My people are kind,
My people are teachers.
My people are police officers.
My people are firefighters
My people do bikeriding
My people sing
My people talk
My people play loud music
My people scream
My people screech
I love my people

My People Are Family Landon M.

My people are
police officers
Active Navy veterans
Nurses
and all of them
like to drive cars
loud cars
to fight for our country
to work for 20 years straight serving
for our country as a cop
They like to play football and
like to be family.

Untitled Valeria C.

My family or neighbors
dance and sing and
they go outside to
play volleyball. My neighbor
is a substitute teacher and
teaches everyone something new.
My mom puts on eyelashes and earns
lots of money. My neighbors take care
of older or younger kids. My people
listen to music for fun, go outside, and
play volleyball. Music, loud, and yelling
reminds me of them.

Untitled Estrella F.

My people tell stories
My people laugh
My people cheer
My people are teachers
My people are firefighters
My people write
My people are positive
My people are helpful
My people are kind
My people help my neighborhood
to be better

7th Grade

My People Poem Evelyn S.

Farmers,
Cooks,
Dancers and actors,
soccer players.
The sound of Spanish music
and guitars being played
trumpets being blown.
Lawns being moved.
My people, hard workers and achievers.
My people.

My People Luscipher

My people can speak Spanish
My people can cook
My people can play sports
My people can do construction
My people are students
My people go outside
My people love to laugh
My people love to listen to music
These are my people

My People Leah S.

1st Base
2nd Base
3rd,
the laughter
and joy you get on
the field alone,
being able to play with my people
Outfield
Infield
Running with the wind
Fast as lightning
Quick as a cheetah
Enjoying each other’s company

My Home Jaslyn L.

My people,
Athletics,
loud,
Funny, Ha-Ha-Ha,
goes to friends houses.
My people
Can make good food, go for walks,
Teacher,
Therapist,
Entrepreneur,
Hangs out with family.
My people
Go to the beach,
don’t judge,
can make you laugh,
Business workers,
Real estate agents,
Makeup artists.
My people,
My mom, dad, and step-parents,
grandma, grandpa, aunts,
uncles, my family.

My Kind Fransisco M.

My kind
are soccer
players. My
kind are
builders. My
kind cooks
very good food.
My kind
have different
jobs. They
cut grass
They fix
semi-trucks.
They cut
hair. my kind
like to play
soccer, they
dance and sing
with their nice
volume. Sounds
are bzzzzzzz of
a hair trimmer. Yelling,
mmmmm of a lawnmower.
They are my kind
of people.

8th Grade

Team of Heroes Zachariah B.

Me, and all about it
Telekinesis, cuz I’m smart
Invisibility, cuz I’m shy
Superspeed, cuz I’m energetic
Now for Malachi, and all about him
Super-strength, cuz he be mad
Ice powers, cuz he is mean,
Shapeshift, cuz he likes to scare people
Last but not least, my friend
Time travel, cuz why not???
Mirage, again, cuz why not???
Lightning powers, cuz they can’t be stopped
and why not???

My People Melanie S.

My people are
funny
and will make you laugh until you feel like you have abs.
They’re outgoing,
One’s a cheerleader,
One’s an owner of an auto repair shop,
and one’s a social worker,
We hang out,
play Roblox,
we facetime,
and they play football in their free time.
The sound of hammers and drills
or their contagious laughter
all remind me of my people.

La People Dylan S.

My people are athletic,
sometimes annoying
and strong and hard working
They are very smart students
He works for a company
One takes care of his mom.
We play basketball and
some, we have cookouts
and we all walk around
We laugh
We whistle
We sing
But that’s my people.

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