"My skin is caramel..." - The Chicago Poetry Center

“My skin is caramel…”

Last week, for our fourth sessions, Brennemann 2nd graders tried to imagine worlds in which only one color was present, like a world in which everything is red, or gray. We tried to pair colors with emotions, shapes, and the five senses: seeing, hearing , tasting, smelling, and touching. We read Shel Silverstein’s poem, “Colors,” and talked about why the poet used words such as brownish, yellowish, grayish, blondish, blueish, and reddish. As always, students generated ideas (brainstorming), and then wrote their own color poems; many made sure to introduce comparisons, which we worked on the prior week. I love the way students responded in their work when I reminded them to be sure to color their poems with their own “magic!”

Ms. Okones 2nd Grade

Ava

My skin is caramel
like dancing cookies. Purple
like grapes singing. Black
like chocolate chips, sleeping.
Pink like hearts that are smiling.
Orange like cookies, White
like clouds.

Amina

Blue is the color of the sky
sometimes the skin is dark blue
like my poetry folder.
Blue is the feeling of
exciting
like when I go to the park
and the store and when I
dance I feel like a star.

Rakeem

Black is the color
of people who take
care of each other.

Ms. Richter 2nd Grade

Vybe

Yellow is happy
it reminds me of fun in the sun
Pink tastes sweet to me. It reminds me
of a strawberry.
Green tastes sour because it
reminds me of a lime.
My hair is black
it reminds me of a cat.

Ashley

Azul es triste
It reminds me of the ocean.
I love the taste of blueberry
Blue is my favorite color.

Deylin

Red reminds me of an apple
I take a big bite
it has a little crunch in it.
Feeling upset, mad, and frustrated
are all
the color red.