Writing Together

After watching the group poems “Cat Poem” by Get Lit LA (Brave New Voices slam team) and “Learning Love” by Chucky Black & Victoria C, the 7th graders of Clinton discussed what is possible when we explore what we have in common and write poems together. After pairing up, students used Venn Diagrams to interview each other and find out what they had in common. Then, they chose a topic and wrote poems that included a mix of individual and shared lines. Students wrote about shared lived experiences, favorite sports, mutual dislikes, and histories of their friendships, using poetry to build bridges between them.

Ms. Logothetis (Morning Class)

We love pink Aisha K. and Heba H.

We love pink
I wear pink twice a week
I own the color pink
We love the pink redbull
When I see pink it reminds me of Barbie
When I see pink I get happy
We love pink drinks from Starbucks

Scary Movie Nayima K. and Janet O.

We both love scary movies
I get hungry
I get bored because it is not scary
We love jump scares because it is fun
I love to be comfortable
I love scary people
We love scary movies

Pizza Muhammad A., Faiz S., and Ibrahim K.

We love pizza!
I love the crust.
I love the soggy pineapples on it.
I love the toppings on it.
We will eat pizza.
I love the cheese pull!
I like the slice of it.
I love the bread.
We love pizza!

Ms. Macmillan

Eid Zahra M. and Syafiqah N.

We both like to eat.
I like to eat chicken biryani.
I like to eat sticky rice with curry.
We both like to go to our family’s houses.
I like to play badminton.
I like to drink tea and talk with my family.
We both like to dress up, get money, and celebrate Eid.

Halloween Brandon M. and Michael G.

We love Halloween
I love the candy from Halloween
I love the decorations on Halloween
We love trick or treating
I love walking around on Halloween
I love being with friends on Halloween
We love scaring people on Halloween

Mexico George V. and AB G.

We are obsessed with tacos de al pastor
I hate onions
I like onions
We are always playing sports
I’m raised in Mexico
I’m raised in the US
The blood that runs in our veins is always going to be Mexican

Ms. Logothetis (Afternoon Class)

Syria Amarah A. and Elaf M.

We love Syria
I like the beach because I like to swim
Syrian food makes me feel better
We like Syrian music because it makes you excited
The Syrian dances make me feel so happy
My family, they have a lot of memories in Syria
We want to go to Syria together

We hate mango juice Estrella G. and Nadia P.

We hate mango juice
Mango juice tastes fake
The pulp is disgusting
It’s always so bitter
I always hate looking at it in stores
The smell is burnt cardboard
We would rather go to space than drink mango juice. Ew

Badminton Anamta K. and Shakila K.

We both love Badminton
Keep the birdie up in the air
It’s the very first sport I played
We improve every time we play
Goes back and forth
Run towards it before it drops
It makes us happy and changes our mood.

Ms. Krasic

Building Blocks Aizere Y. and Ira / Nur H.

Childhood is the most important part of a person’s life, it’s the building blocks of someone.

Childhood is waking up in the morning, praying you have ramen left because you don’t want rice.

Trying to steal the phone at 8 A.M.

Childhood is going to see flashing lights and loud sounds you never wanted to.

Childhood is the first step to life. Childhood is the road trips you hated. Moving from one place to another.

Childhood is holding on to the heater for no reason but to see if you could.

Childhood is bright but mine was heavy with rain like a lullaby.

Childhood is not wanting to eat a bowl just because of a lonely veggie.

Awakened Siamese Krasics Nihal A. and Tiffany N.

wake up
father
ladies and gentle hands
I like to eat apples & bananas
jacket potatoes are cold
while Mrs. Krasic is gold
we can always recognize her
because her voice is bold
millions of papers, they
endlessly fold.
Mrs. Krasic’s intelligence
infects us like mold.
Mrs. Krasic will lashes be our
gold.

Yearners! Azrina A. and Mariam K.

Yearning

The way they look at each other, like
a conversation formed with no words

How the only way to find
peace, was with each other

Lovers? WORSE!
Hands holding like
Puzzle Pieces connecting

The way they understood each
other could never be replaced

Maybe, they were never meant to be
after all