Ode Poems

An ode is simply a lyrical poem, written in regular or irregular verse, that pays tribute to the love you have for one specific person, experience, or object.  In honor of Valentine’s Day, my classes attempted to write an English Romantic Ode. It could be 4-30 lines long, and the topic would be anything they loved, from a favorite pet, to a stuffed animal, to a pencil that brings them luck on your math test.  The only "no no" was it could not be about an electronic item or superficial things they owned or wanted to own.

~Fun Fact: Odes are usually dedicated to monumental heroes or ideas.  Pablo Neruda, however, revolutionized the form of odes to everyday things.

~Another Fun Fact: “Ode” is a Greek word for “sing,” or “chant,” so this poem is meant to be read aloud!

~Yet another Fun Fact: An ode has been called a “Celebration of a Subject!”  So if you ever have an ode written about you, you know you’re pretty amazing!!

It was fun for me to get to know my students even more by reading their poem about something or someone they truly loved.  Enjoy these samples!

My Family, by Kaia (4th grade)

I love this tribute to Kaia's family-- her love shines through!

My sister is very kind!

But she's moody all the time.

She helps me whenever I need it,

Evem when I can't see it.

My mom is smart and very loving.

Inspring and sometimes touching!

She works super hard

And I love her with all my heart!

My dad is calm and fun,

And teaches me a ton!

He is bright and relaxed,

Just like a star!

There's no need for a test,

My family's obvioulsy the best!

My Sister, by Aarushi (4th grade)

I love Aarushi's use of flowery poetic language and style!

Apurva, Apurva, Apurva, my dear sister,

The one that has always been there for me.

Apurva, Apurva, very sweet, yet teasing and rude,

Which matters not,

Hair of brown, eyes of brown

Never would I let you down!

Apurva, Apurva, overprotective and hard-working,

Yet quite clingy, which matters not,

I will love you with every moment I've got.

Apurva, Apurva, gorgeous dark brown hair,

Luscious and gracious

I love you every day!

No matter what anyone would say!

Chocolate, by Ian (4th grade)

Ian, what a great topic for an ode.  I love chocolate, too!!

Chocolate tastes like a crunchy gooey dream

Kit Kat, milk chocolate, chocolate ice cream.

You taste good no matter when or what is going on.

You come in squares, you come in shapes of coins.

No matter what you look like, melted, crushed,

I always feel the delicious love

No matter the moment,

No matter the time,

Your sweet sweet goodness makes me feel fine.

If I'm sad in my room,

All I need is the taste of you.

You are crunchy and so creamy

And you are so dreamy!

Math, by Luke (5th grade)

Sorry, Luke, I can't agree with you on your love for math!  But it's a great, passionate poem!

Math, how mysterious you are, you confuse me.

But you make me happy.

You are complicated

But yet so simple.

You make me think hard

And think simple.

Oh, you shan't be my enemy

But not muy love,

Your variables look impossible

Your integers are boring and effortless,

You shock my body with complication.

You are always there for me

On a piece of paper.

You give answers, but not always,

Your numbers and equations are always there.

Some equations don't look related,

But they're the exact same thing as others.

You are my passion and life,

And tease every brain cell in my brain!

My Bed, by Ben (6th grade)

This descriptive ode made me want to take a nap!  Love the rhyme and rhythm in this poem!

To my soft, soft bed,

I love you so much!

Enlightened by your feel and touch,

You are as white as the snow I sled!

Through day and night,

You linger on my mind,

My pillow and blanket, I am pleased to find.

Sleep in more-- sure I might!

To my soft, soft bed,

I would take you on a walk!

Day after day, we'd talk and talk

"You soothe, calm, and relax me," to my bed, I said.

Love Poems

 For Valentine's Day, my 1st-3rd graders created a beautiful, thoughtful piece on what Love meant when thought of through the 5 senses.  I just love these!

David, 2nd grade

Hana, 1st grade

Iris, 2nd grade

3rd grade sample to come!

Snowman Draw Game!

My returning students were very excited to play this  On Demand Writing Game (think Monster Daw a few months back!) where they get instant feedback on the importance of descriptive language and adjectives!  Here's how you play:

Step #1: Draw a snowman, complete with background and plenty of colors.

Step #2: Describe your snowman and scenery with adjectives that tell size, shape, color, and number.  Make sure your writing can be read!  Don't leave out a single detail, because....

Step #3: Trade papers, and draw your partner's snowman as they try to draw yours!

Winners were voted on by the class.  Enjoy this set of amazing artwork and writing!

Risha's Snowman (3rd grade)

        My snowman is made of two big snowballs.  It has two tiny, black, round eyes.  Its nose is s small orange carrot nose.  It has a big smile with four pieces of black coal for the mouth.  On the top of its head, it has a beanie with a black pom pom.  The top half is red, and the bottom half is green.  My snowman has black stick arms, and they are facing up.  I love its clothing!  Its wearing a scarf with eight red rectangles and seven green rectangles. The background has gray snow at the bottom with snow falling.

Risha wrote so clearly, that her partner Ella (3rd grade) drew this very close match!

William's Snowman (4th grade)

        My snowman is made of two snowballs.  The snowball on the bottom is a teeny bit longer than the top one.  He sits on a snowy hill with some grass.

        My snowman has an aqua blue hat with a black and yellow buckle on it.  His eyes and smile are made out of little pebbles.  His nose and horns are made out of carrots.  He has a yellow and orange scarf.  His arms are made out of sticks, and he has "half snowballs" to show he has muscles.  He has two buttons on his belly.  He also has a yellow and black belt.  He is a blue snowman.

        On top of him, (there is a little space), a little to your right, is a gray crescent moon.  To the right of you, there is a light blue cloud and there are medium sized snowflakes that are blue underneath the cloud.  To the left of you, there is a red house with a brown roof and two yellow windows and doors.

William had never played this game before, and look how accurately he wrote!  He got his partner Chuyu (4th grade) to draw this!

Sara's Snowman (4th grade)

        My perfect snowman is tall and has three round balls that build up, like a typical snowman.  Her bottom ball is larger than the rest, her middle one is medium-sized, and the top one is the smallest.  My snowman amost touches the top of the page.

        She wears a cute turquoise beanie that does not go that high, but the dark purple pom pom that is placed directly on the top gives it an extra length.  The base of the hat is a rounded triangle.  The pom pom also has a red heart in the middle.  Her eyes are the size of the holes on the left side of the paper and have two small cirrcles placed diagnoally across from each other.  The middle of the eye is black.  My snowman of course has a carrot nose.  The nose is an orange gradient starting darkest from my left to the side, and it faces the right side..  The mouth consists of tiny coal circles forming a smile reaching from one side to the other.  My snowman also has pink cheeks.

        The middle of the body is pretty simple.  It has two medium-sized heart shaped buttons with three black dots, one on the bottom and two on the top.  The buttons are placed in the center of the middle of the middle circle, and are in a normal place you would see coal buttons.  The heart shaped buttons are a darker pink color.  Finally, she has two stick arms that have three tiny stick fingers.  They reach to almost the edge of the page and stick out in a straight line.

        The lower ball also has a heart shaped button, and looks exactly the same but is slightly bigger.  The color of my snowman's body is a super light pink.

        My snowman's background is white, but has three dark pink clouds.  One is placed under YOUR right arm and all look like a normal cartoon cloud.  Another is placed a few inches above the same arm, and is the same color.  The last one is directly on the other side and the same color.  There are eight medium snowflakes, and behind the bottom ball are light yellow hills.  They are half circles.

WOW!  Sarah wrote A LOT with great description!  She and her partner almost ran out of time, but Myles (4th grade) read carefully and drew quickly, and got this super match!

Congratulations to our winners!

Superb Sentence Writing

 One of the most important lessons we do for the year is learning how to make boring sentences into exciting ones.  We learn that a sentence needs to have five things to be a grammatically correct sentence:

~ A capital letter at the beginning

~ A mark of punctuation at the end

~ A subject, or noun

~ A predicate, or verb

~ A complete thought

We start off with the grammatically correct, but boring sentence:

The snowflake falls.

Then, we add adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, and dependent clauses to create the perfect picture in our readers' minds of exactly what we want them to see.  Each sentence ends up being as unique as snowflakes themselves!

  We refer to this assignment often, as we try to improve any "boring" sentences that creep into our writing on longer assignments.  With this foundation of grammatical concepts, we are ready to apply all we've learned on future longer pieces!

Enjoy these samples across the grades!

1st grade sample to come

The purple, beautiful, pretty and cute snowflake falls slowly in Lake Tahoe in a soft field at 10:00 at night.

By Emily (2nd grade)

As the sun awakens, an intricate graceful snowflake delicately falls down on a sugary plot of snow.

By Ella, 3rd grade

The spectacular white snowflake falls gracefully at the crack of dawn where two icy rivers meet.

By Adelynn, 4th grade

Happy New Year!

 We started off our Winter-Spring session by reading a New Year's poem and responding with our thoughts on New Year's resolutions.  Enjoy these samples from across the grades!

Happy New Year, by Evie (1st grade)

        I have cool goals for 2024!  I can be more helpful at home by feeding my gecko.  I can be a better friend by giving someone a picture.  At school, I want to get better at learning.  Last of all, I can work hard at swimming and soccer, and learning about the world.  It's going to be a great year!

Happy New Year, by Elle (2nd grade)

        I have great goals for 2024!  I can be more helpful at home by making my bed.  I can be a better friend by giving them a hug when they are upset.  At school, I want to get better at not calling out, and not always getting up to walk to the teacher.  Last of all, I can work hard at dance by practicing my splits.  It's going to be an awesome year!

Amazing Goals for Me, by Joon (3rd grade)

        I have some smart goals for 2024!  I can be more helpful at home by going to sleep early.  I can be a better friend by sharing and being patient.  At school, I want to get better at getting 100% accuracy and also getting better at typing.  Last of all, I can work hard at playing the guitar for the first time.  It's going to be a wonderful year!

My New Year's Resolution, by Leo (4th grade)

        My New Year's Resolution for 2024 is to have a clean room.  It's not that I'm messy.  It's just that my 7 year old sister always, and I mean always, plays in my room and never ever cleans up after herself.

        The reason for this resolution is because when I wake up in the morning, I don't like stepping on some random legos strewn about, because it hurts.  A lot.  Regretfully, I know this from experience.

        The results of this resolution, if I succeed, is that then I can find my favorite books and drawings, unless my sister has "borrowed" them without permission and never gives them back.  I MIGHT be able to succeed in this New Year's resolution!

Why New Year's Resolutions are Dumb, by Lydia (5th grade)

        Imagine you wake up th day before the new year with a big smile on your face.  You get dressed up and think to yourself, "Oh, what an amazing day.  Let e start my new year's resolutions and make big changes!"  Except crumple that idea up and throw it in the trash because I think new year's resolutions are dumb!

        The first reason is because I think you can and should set goals any time.  Why does starting a new year mean you should try something new or make resolutions?  

        The second reason is because you should've set a goal earlier in the year right after you learned that you needed to improve.  Why do you save all the big stuff at the end of the year, and only work on small stuff the rest of the year?  I think that if you save all the changes for the new year, there was probably one that you should have done after you learned about the flaw!

        In conclusion, I think that new year's resolutions are dumb, and setting bih goals any time is something that you should add into your life now!