Words That See, Smell, Taste, Touch, and Hear

For our second workshop, we talked about words, and how learning new words and using our senses can help to make our writing come alive. Using “Collecting Words” by Pat Mora, we got into some interactive word play, and I was impressed when Swift second graders called out BIG words such as ridiculous, community, and preparation. We looked over a page of sensory words and selected favorites such as crisp, oily, refreshing, bubbly, heavenly, minty, smooth, hiss, bang, fuzzy, and shiny. (Students can keep these lists in their poetry folders to use in future creative writing exercises). Finally, groups worked collaboratively to compose poems using sensory words.

Ms. Reed, 3rd Grade

Flower Shop collaboration

In the flowershop of our senses

we see red roses,
lilacs, and green lily pads
their petals are fuzzy,
spiky, and some feel
silky smooth

There is a KATSEYE
playlist
filling up our ears
with girl group music

Mrs. Brist, 2nd Grade

Summer Poem collaboration

summer is fun for going
to the beach and swimming

bubbly sounds
and splashy waves

meeting our friends
at the barbecue

we smell tasty food cooking
sometimes grilling
yellow corn that turns a little black
on the grill

it tastes so good!

Winter Poem collaboration

the touch of cold things

wind
gives me an icy face
and a runny nose

why is winter so cold?
why does hot cocoa taste so good?
why do we like the taste of snow on our tongues?

Ms. Liz, 2nd Grade

Summer days full of sun and
the sound of happy kids
out of school

flowers are nice and pretty
and cool and smell fresh

you can touch the water at the beach
the water is salty

the sun makes the water shiny