Teller Elementary School: Challenge Project

The Challenge Project is an optional activity for students who want to extend their learning experiences, to work beyond the classroom requirements, and/or to explore alternative topics. Families may need to lend support, encouragement, and assistance at home. The Challenge Projects are organized by Ms. Bass, Teller’s GT Specialist.

1. Write a poem using a simile. A simile is when you compare two things (and use “as,” “like,” or “than”) to compare them. Here is an example:

Mice are like the nightPlaying hide and go seekIn the shadows

2. Now write a poem using a simile, but name one of the things being compared in the title ONLY or don’t name it at all! See if people can tell what your poem is about. Here is an example:

Round as a turtle shell,Hard and protected.Curved as a snakeSlithering through the desert.

3. Now try using a metaphor. See your teacher, Ms. Bass, or your parent to learn more about metaphors.

4. Use your senses! Pick an interesting object that can be described using your senses. Write a poem that compares that object to other objects WHILE using your senses. Here is an example:

Leaves smell like maple syrup on my pancakes on a cold winter Saturday.Leaves sound like a fox running fast in the grass on a breezy summer day.Leaves look like shells when they are broken and laying on the beach after a wind storm.

5. Write a poem about an aspect of science that interests you. Spectacular Science: A Book of Poems compiled by Lee Bennett Hopkins might help you with ideas.

6. Pick something in nature and compare it to an animal. Pages 22-25 in Word Weavings: Writing Poetry With Young Children by Shelley Tucker (Ms. Bass has a copy) might help. Ask yourself: Where? When? Why? How are they alike? Doing what?

IDEAS: Objects in a forest, desert, rainforest, tundra, etc. Elements in weather Objects in the sky, ocean, or on the beach Seasons Landforms (like mountains, valleys, etc.)

SAMPLE:Fall is like a snakeShedding its skin

Winter is like a prairie dogScurrying through underground tunnels

Spring is like a foalWobbling on new born legs

Summer is like a lionessBoldly hunting its prey

7. Create a poem describing a mathematical idea. See Marvelous Math: A Book of Poems by Lee Bennett Hopkins.

8. Pick a favorite song and throw away the lyrics. Write new lyrics using the same title.

9. Using the list below, try to put one “of” statement in each line of your poem. Note that the example, though strange, makes sense.

IDEAS: feather of dust portraits of touches

watermelon of pink diamonds glass of clouds chalk of dreams ships of water fossil of God animals of stars river of feathers mind of still air icebergs of fire surface of sunlight caress of hate casserole of insects pearls of ice scream of red lake of light hair of flowers kisses of wordscave of clouds knife of snow screens of people horses of paper avalanche of raindrops paper of airocean of skies scraps of trust pasture of surprises rainbow of laughter rockets of raindrops

10. Write a poem with as many words as possible that begin with the same letter/sound. It needs to make sense!

11. Marilyn Singer has written three books (Mirror, Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse , Follow, Follow, and Echo, Echo). Each book has poems that are read in two ways: up and down. They are reverse images of themselves and work equally well in both directions. Craft a poem that can be read both forward and backward. Note that the meaning will change!

Swan of Bees

I saw a joke of trees and wonderedAt the rocket of raindrops which blended

With musical chords of light dreamsAll of this upon my desk of rainbows

I could feel her hair of flowersAnd I felt her portrait of touches

And thenAs though shocked by a cattle prod

Reality touched meLike a feather of dust.

12. Research poets and pick one that you enjoy. Pick one of his/her poems and use it as a template to write your own poem.

13. Write a poem beginning with something like: If I were the president… If I were a super hero… If I weren’t human… If I could be any age… If I were Saturn… If I could be anything… I wish I were…

14. Write a haiku about nature. Using a piece of white cardstock or construction paper, have your teacher drop a blob of India ink in a corner. Blow the ink, using a straw, to make a pattern. After it dries, run the paper through the printer to print your haiku on the page with your art work. Ms. Bass can help with this and has samples.

15. Pick two unlike objects/beings and put them together as a title. Then try to find ways that they are similar. Try to craft your poem so that the reader is uncertain of which object you are referring to. Check out the example.

Wolf Fire (by Imani W.)

I pass through the golden treesMake all the creatures scurry for safetyI creep through the forest to find food and fuelI make a howling noise to scare all animalsI reign with terror and panicI burn with energy to consume what I need to surviveNo environment can live without meI am the leader of the forest, the top of the food chain.

16. Go to http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/diamante/ to study what diamantes are. Create your own diamante. Try the antonym kind. Then challenge yourself to write a short story (only 4-6 words) in the middle line that tells how you went from the idea in line 1 to the opposite idea in line 7.

JoyGreen, happy

Playing, laughing, enjoyingBeloved pet suffered, diedLonging, hoping, mourning

Blue, lonelyGrief

SkyTall, long

Jumping, falling, shorteningHigh above, parachute lostPassing, dropping, stopping

Short, crash!Ground

17. Pick an object that we typically don’t think of when we think of weaving, sewing, or stitching. See pages 42-45 in Word Weavings: Writing Poetry With Young Children by Shelley Tucker to help you create an image using words and art.

IDEAS: Months Weather Feelings Seasons Nature Water Sky

18. Using Dirty Laundry Pile: Poems in Different Voices by Paul B. Janeczko and Melissa Sweet, write a poem from the perspective of an everyday object. Write how you would feel, think, behave, and act. What would you respond to?

19. Create equations without numbers that express an event or feeling. See if you can combine a handful of them to tell a story. For example: mother – father = sadness

20. Read Hailstone and Halibut Bones by Mary O’Neill. Then pick a color that interests you and write a poem in O’Neill’s style. Make sure that you use both literal language and figurative language to describe the color.

Aqua by Samantha (grade 3)

Aqua is peace in my mind, the saltwater seaSome say it’s the scarf spring wears on her neck

Aqua is the sound of air drifting over waterAqua is a bead, the color of calm

Aqua is the shimmer of a fish scaleAqua is blue’s mother and green’s brother

Aqua is shy, yet boldAqua is a dream

It is also a stream, a mermaid’s tailAqua is discovery, comfort, mysteryAqua is sea’s treasures, a diamond

It feels like a friendIt seems like a timid soul yearning to escape

from a bottled-up shell

Colors of Time

Weave a rainbow with colors of timeSew the trees against the blackening skyStitch a pattern in the green meadowPaint the stars like lemon dropsCut the ocean into waves like sandKnit a flock of birds in soaring wings

21. If you could save only seven words to use forever, what would they be and why? Be thoughtful and purposeful in your choices. Capture your feelings in a poem. Can you write the poem using those seven words only?

22. Use By Myself to describe yourself using figurative language. To start, take a piece of paper and divide it in half. Label one side “literal” and the other side “figurative.” Under the literal title, make a list of 8 - 9 words or phrases that literally describe you (playful, smart, imaginative, and so on). Then, on the right side, create figurative ways to represent or symbolize those literal traits.

Look at the original poem and the student example that follow.

By Myself Eloise Greenfield

When I’m by myselfAnd I close my eyes

I’m a twinI’m a dimple in a chinI’m a room full of toys

I’m a squeaky noiseI’m a gospel song

I’m a gongI’m a leaf turning red

I’m a loaf of brown breadI’m a whatever I want to be

An anything I care to beAnd when I open my eyes

What I care to beIs me.

If you want, create artwork to go with your poem, modeled after the Judy Pedersen’s cover of Songs of Myself: An Anthology of Poems and Art (Ms. Bass has a copy).

Spatter a large piece of black construction paper with white paint (using a toothbrush). Once dry, mount your artwork and poem on the black paper. Ask your teacher to laminate it.

When I am by myselfAnd I close my eyes

I’m a fingerprint on an icy windowI’m a clown squished in a mini car

I’m a light bulb switched onI’m a beaker in a laboratoryI’m a teddy bear on a pillow

I’m a rubber band stretched across your fingersI’m a bull horn in a library

I’m a car racing down the freewayI’m a world map showing you the way

I’m a whatever I want to beAn anything I care to be

And when I open my eyesWhat I care to be is me!

Anusha, grade 3

23. Using descriptive language means to purposefully include strong adverbs and adjectives, sensory language, and similes and metaphors to create images in the reader’s mind. If you have not yet learned to use (and appreciate) a thesaurus, this is the time! Word choice is a purposeful (and important) decision.

Using poetry, such as haiku, diamante, tanka, and cinquain, create a mood and a message. Select each syllable and word with care and purpose. Try not to repeat any word (or forms of the same word). Remember that poetry can break rules; word order can be reversed and sentence structure can be manipulated or ignored altogether.

As the branches blowand while the wind howls

the trees will resist(Zachary K.)

Cherry blossoms percheda branch that is

cut, turning brown(Levi R.)

Gone is fall, winter arrives with hatred

Cracking ice, cold stings(McKenna L.)

When gentleness fallsDesperately through the arid ground

Quenching its scorched thirst(Austin L.)

Circling aboveSavannah’s predatorVulture swoop down

(Alexis A.)

Lonely in the darkSwaying in the cold cruel night

Tree branches waiting(Madelyn G.)

Lonely, it does sitHolding a life deep inside

A branch stirs, waiting(Sage A.)

Burning red throughThe night, a campfire becomes

Dust in the morning’s light(Maddie H.)

24. Write a poem that demonstrates strong feelings without ever stating what that emotion is. Determine if others can infer the emotion you wrote about.

25. Take a poem written by someone else and use the poem’s basic structure to create your own poem. Put your own ideas into it. Find favorites of your own, talk to your teacher, or ask Ms. Bass for strong poems to use as templates.

26. Create a shape poem. There are a few styles, so do a little research first!

27. Work with your teacher or Ms. Bass to enter some of your poetry in the semiannual poetry contest sponsored by Creative Communication. You can find more information at www.poeticpower.com . OR Find other opportunities to publish your work!

28. Some cultures use masks in ceremonies, arts, religious rituals, entertainment, and for many other reasons. Pick a culture (perhaps yours?) that used or uses masks and create a mask (perhaps Ms. Taft or Ms. Bass can help). Then using the poem that follows, write a poem that honors that culture and the role of the mask.

29. Attach a human action or feeling to an inanimate object. This is called personification. Create a poem that uses that technique. See the following example:

The river tiptoes on rocksWhile the moonSings songs for the stars.

30. Want more? See Ms. Bass.

31. Create your own poetry projects.

Prayer to Masks

Black masks, red mask, you black and white masks,Rectangular masks through whom the spirit breathes,I greet you in silence!And you too, lionhearted ancestor.You guard this place that is closed to any feminine laughter, to any mortal smile.You purify the air of eternity, here where I breathe the air of my fathers. Masks of markless faces, free from dimples and wrinkles,You have composed this image, this face that bends over the altar of white paper.In the name of your image, listen to me!Now while the Africa of despotism is dying – it is the agony of a pitiable princessLike that of Europe to whom she is connected through the navel – Now fix your immobile eyes upon your children who have been calledAnd who sacrifice their lives like the poor man his last garmentSo that hereafter we may cry “here” at the rebirth of the world being the leaven that the white flour needs.For who else would teach rhythm to the world that has died of machines and cannons?For who else should ejaculate the cry of joy, that arouses the dead and the wise in a new dawn?Say, who else could return the memory of life to men with a torn hope?They call us cotton heads, and coffee men, and oily men,They call us men of death.But we are the men of the dance whose feet only gain power then they beat the hard soil.

---Leopold Sedar Senghor