The Poet-tree on Display

This tree has been up in my class since day one, changing with the seasons. First it was green leaves, then orange and yellow leaves. For winter we made raindrops instead of snowflakes (haha) and today we added blossoms. Each new shape is a different type of poetry. Today's blossoms were haikus. The kids did a great job counting their syllables. We talked about how haikus are usually about nature then brainstormed things in nature they could write about. We wrote a whole class haiku about flowers which meant that most of the younger kids chose to do their own haikus about flowers too. haha. Probably every other poem has the word beautiful in it but hey! They're all haikus! Here are some samples:

Listen to the breeze
Swooshing through the autumn trees
Followed by the leaves
-- grade 5 boy

The Morning
Wake up to the birds
See the sunsine in the blue sky
I feel so sleepy
-- another grade 5 boy

The Flower Field
It is beautiful
While the wind breezes it blows
It's like a kingdom
-- grade 3 boy

aren't these great? i love the poet-tree! (and i'd like to add that i made this term up myself so no mean comments about it please. ha)

in other news, i'm still working on report cards today. hopefully i will get them finished. this is what my desk looks like at school. it's a procrastinator's dream -- always something to tidy and organize. haha. look at the stacks of paper on the counter behind my desk even. in this pic you can't even see my filing cabinet which also has a stack of paper and books on it. in my class we have "jobs" and the police officers write tickets to students with messy desks or who are caught "speeding" in the halls. the police officers consistently write me tickets for messy desk. I tell them that i'm above the law. that must be what happened on friday. ha.