Friday, April 16, 2010

Being Here On Earth


Back in January, I spent four days as artist-in-residence at a small, rural elementary school across the river in New Jersey. I met with every class in the school, over two hundred kids, grades K - 6. During our time together we worked on creating a school-wide community poem using the opening line, What matters to me...

Here are some gems from the Frelinghuysen Elementary School Community Poem:

What matters to me...
Fascinating things like family, reptiles and amphibians
My alive and dead chickens ( oh my! )
Flying
My family
No more global warming (1st grader)
My enormously gigantic dog, Tonto
Peace in the world
My horses, and Phil and Eric
Happiness
My favorite animal, a zebra
Writing
Me
Watching my dog lay on top of me
My Dad's wicked car
Chocolate
WII Fit Plus
Books
Eggs
My great teachers and friends
My godfather who lives in Washington, DC.

And this from a sweet 5th grader...

Being here on earth.



2 comments:

  1. "My alive and dead chickens"

    I would seriously watch this child.

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  2. No kiddding, but that's what the kid wrote. This child was straight off the farm and clearly had a thing for "chickens"? Another 3rd grader said, "Moving dog food," as what mattered to them. Who knew?

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