Nothing Can Stop Us: Stairs and other Metaphors

School
W.E.B. DuBois Elementary School

Poet in Residence
Chanell Ruth Harris

Date

On Wednesday, November 16, 2016, the DuBois students and I returned to a concept we had touched upon the previous week—vocabulary. It is so important that student writers strive to strengthen their vocabularies, but to also learn to express themselves using their own, coded language in order to bring uniqueness and authenticity to their writing. We discussed the four stages of vocabulary and the practice of moving new words up our ladders of knowledge, meaning that we want to move words that we don’t recognize up to the point that we can comfortably use them when we speak and write. The week before, I had highlighted words in Pablo Neruda’s piece, Poetry, and the 7th and 8th grade students quickly went about the business of annotating the definitions of those words. I am so here for that! On the 16th, we focused on narrative and metaphor, which both play with ideas about language and definition.

The 7th and 8th grade students and I compiled a list of the elements of narrative and ended up with a complete skeleton upon which to frame a narrative work. We briefly discussed dialogue and dialect before we read Langston Hughes’ Mother to Son. My upper classmen had prior knowledge of the work, so we drove through an analysis of the poem and discussed metaphor in detail. We had a fruitful discussion about Hughes’ mother’s comparison of life to a flight of stairs and highlighted many other ways life compares to stairs. I cited two popular songs, All the Way Up by Fat Joe and company, and Started from the Bottom by Drake, which speak of climbing and reaching heights in reference to life and success. They then wrote poems on the theme: A day in the life of a teenager…You can read those and the 6th graders’ poems on the same theme below.

The 6th graders and I did something a little different and engaged in a “Pow-Wow” where we compiled a bank of words that the students felt expressed what being a pre-teen/teen is like. There were words like puberty, maturity, silly, fun, responsibility and chores. The students incorporated some those words and themes into their works, and we will delve more into narrative in the coming weeks.

Overall, it was an exciting day and I was moved and pleased by their words and ideas that I am sharing here. I want to tell them all to hold onto this time for as long as they can, because “adulting”, on the nearest of horizons, sho nuf aint no crystal stair, but based on what I read, I think they already know. And I know that we all need to do more listening, instead.

School
W.E.B. DuBois Elementary School

Poet in Residence
Chanell Ruth Harris

Date

Ms. Dydo 6th Grade

Untitled Destiny W.

A life of a pre-teen is good because
I’m a bigger person
it takes some responsibility in my life
to do the things I’m doing now
I feel free
showing my littler siblings some leadership
so they do it too.
they’re going to have challenges
but they can do it because I did

Untitled Nijayla B.

Being a teenager
is exhausting because
when you’re a teenager
you have to provide
for your family and
also ownership because
you have to always
own up to things
to set an example
for little kids or your
siblings. You also have
to take your education
more seriously also being
a teenager you start getting
angry often.

Untitled Cherif H.

Becoming a
teenager comes
with great responsibilities
you have to make smart decisions.
You might start to get a little
lazier than you were when
you were younger. Your parents
will make you get a job.
You will start to have to buy
your own things. You will need
to stay in school and do
not drop out. You need your
education.

Untitled Sequoya D.

Going through puberty
There’s no feeling
Babysitting is not
so fun but it is for
helping others out.
Responsibility is
crazy feels like it’s
a dream that I can’t
wake up from.
Chores, cooking
kids, money its all
for a reason. It teaches
you to take responsibility
for what you do. Leadership
is what I want,
excellence is my goal
life is a story that’s always going to be told.
education is what I’m going
to have. Don’t let others keep
you from meeting your goal.

Ms. Dydo 7th Grade

A day in the Life of a Teenager Rayonna Moses

A day when I first made
13 years old, that day I
felt special I felt like
I was a leader I felt like
a young adult ready to see
the real world to feel and
smell the glowing flowers
to seek and find what this
thing called life was. But
all I can think of another
Day laying in my bed thinking
about my next Birthday thinking
about what Being a teenager
is all about. I felt like being
a teenager is so much
responsibility and so much pressure
So I got on my knees
and prayed to be 12 again
but I knew that wasn’t going
to help so I just gave
up and thought about life
I thought about what
can it really stand for
but life is really not
a game and being an adult
is too much so I guess
staying a teen is the
best for me.

A day in the Life of a Teenager Briana C.

Teenage life for me has
been bumpy. I mean nobody
told me it would get
this jumpy. There’s always
more bad days than good
ones, but I’ve been told it’ll
get better. I just need to
get it together. I work
hard to make my parents
proud, because my flight of
stairs are golden. I promise
not to let her down, because
I don’t’ want to see her
with a frown. So I’m going
to keep climbing until it gets
better. I know it will, I’ll
let it take time, like my mother
says “The farther the nickel the
better the dime.” Its worth
the wait!

Being Myself Tamara C.

Being me is not so hard.
Being me is like falling stars.
Make a wish it will come true.
See I was born on December
25, 2003, since that day I have
been free. No going around asking
people can they get things for me.
I’m 12 right now. I’m going to be a
teen. A day in the life of a teenager
is alright with me. I want to get a
job, make money and get good grades
in school. I want to have a big celebration
so everyone knows that I have grown old
in my days of a kid. Achieve my goals
and just be me for me.

Life isn't Easy Aaron W.

Life isn’t easy
Losing people
getting pushed around
thrown to the ground
Life isn’t easy
getting talked about
getting into fights
Showing and learning what’s right
Life isn’t easy
Walk up the stairs
Fall to the ground
get up and get pushed back down
Life isn’t easy
Throws curve balls
Sometimes you can’t hit them at all
Just don’t think and stay off the streets
Life isn’t easy
walk up the stairs
don’t give cares
So what if people like to stare
Life isn’t easy
Sincerely,
Aaron

School Mornings Tyrell G.

I.
Wake up tired from a beautiful dream,
in your face and eyes is only the sun’s beam.
duboisstudentsday2

II.
Not even wanting to go to school today,
but mom and dad makes you do it anyway.
Go to the bathroom to brush your teeth
trying to get rid of the plaque and meat.

III.
Get in the shower so mad and mean,
but then come out feeling great and clean.
Put on your clothes ready to go,
say goodbye to mom and dad, and come to
school saying to everyone hello.

Ms. Dydo 8th Grade

Untitled Ashley A.

Being a teenager comes with
Responsibilities, Being a teenager
comes with happy and sad endings,
Making new friends and sometimes
letting them go, Being a teenager sometimes
comes with staying to yourself and
Not worrying about no one else,
Being a teenager comes with
hopes, dreams, and also goals,
Being a teenager is a major
part of your life because when
you get older you will sit back
and think about all that you
went through in life.

Untitled Erial M.

Being a teenager can be like a flower in the
sun. It can be happy when it grows and fall when
it’s not supported. You have to keep watering it
when it grows bigger, never should you not support
it, because then it will fall and won’t get back up.
Grow it, strong and well
Not leave it alone and fail.
Don’t rather have it dead than alive it’s like
Having a child growing to be 5.

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