The April-May Challenge – some favourite Autumn poems

 

Lots of Autumn poems tumbled into my email box and it felt like it was full of Autumn flavours and colours. I liked the way you tried different things as you wrote. It was hard choosing but here is a selection of poems I enjoyed (and there were so many more!).

There are thoughtful poems and funny poems. Slender poems and fat poems.

I am sending Emily C a copy of The Letterbox Cat as I really liked the way she worked on an Autumn series and tried different things. I have posted just a few she sent me. I am also sending a copy to Matilda at Westmere School as her poem made me smile. I loved the way she explored the word ‘spread.’ That is exactly what poets do!

 

 

Emily C, age 12, Year 8, Selwyn House School, Christchurch

 

 

Fiery, orange
leaves cover
the rich,
grass. A
monarch butterfly
flutters through
the morning air.

Emily C, age: 12, Year: 8, Selwyn House School, Christchurch

 

The cold
morning air
stings my
toes. An
old man
wanders through
the park
covered in
autumn leaves.

Emily C, age: 12, Year: 8, Selwyn House School, Christchurch

 

 

The Autumn Kitten

 

The autumn kitten

Leaves trails of fur,

Orange and red

Through green and brown.

The autumn kitten

Roams free in the world

Here and there, everywhere.

Avoiding all people

Here and there.

Darting through bushes

Pouncing on birds.

 

Teresa aged 8, St Andrews College, Christchurch

 

Luella, age 10 Richmond Road School Samoan Unit

 

Maisy T, age 9, Fendalton School, Christchurch

 

Aaron K age:9  Fendalton Open-air School

 

 

 

 

A bundle of poems from Westmere School:

 

Autumn
Autumn
leaves fall
crunch, crunch, crunch.
Rake up all the leaves.
Cartwheels.
Bikes and shoes
rush through.
Autumn.

Sofia Age 10 LS6

 

Spreading
A tree spreads its branches
An apple spreads its seeds.
A person spreads their apple jam,
What more can you spread?

Matilda Age 9 LS6

 

Eating
I have a pumpkin on my bed.
My sister has carrots on her head.
My mum has feijoas in her bag.
My dad fed an apple to  his stag.
What an Autumn feast it could have been!

Matilda Age 9 LS6

 

Leaves and Trees

Green leaves
Crunchy leaves
Yellow leaves
Round leaves
Square leaves
Oval leaves
Small leaves
Sunset leaves
Big leaves
Giant leaves
Thin leaves
Thick leaves
Bush leaves
Long leaves
Short leaves
Brown trees
Large trees
Huge trees
Teeny tiny trees
Dead trees
Oak trees
Flame trees
Coconut trees
Apple trees
Gum trees
Feijoa trees
Lemon trees
Orange trees
Palm trees
Swamp trees
Grey trees
Leaves and trees!

Jasper Age 10 LS6 and Jamie Age 10 LS6

 

 

Archie Age 10 LS6

 

 

Indigo K and Rita P Both Age 10 LS7

The Gecko Challenge: the poems I picked to get a book thanks to Gecko Press

 

 

 

 

I so loved the last bundle of Gecko books I reviewed on the blog, I gave you two hidden challenges. Gecko Press very kindly sent me books for you! Thank you lovely Gecko Press.

Nobody did the Snake and Lizard one so I will do another for this book in my poetry challenges on June 1st. I ADORE this book so much.

I loved reading the poems that used a chapter title from the fabulous Bruno book. Great job! I am posting the fizzing rhyme poem by Te Piringa to get the book and a Highly Recommended rain poem by Danial because it builds such a sense-catching mood.

I am also sending The Lost Kitten to  Lucy for her poem using that title.  I love the ending Lucy.

 

 

 

A Rainy Day

 

Rain drops

one by one

producing big deep puddles

 

The rain makes

my shoes soggy

when I walk around at school

 

The rain

creates a

calm day.

 

by Danial Ghobrial Age 10 yrs, Year 6, Russley School, Christchurch

 

 

Lucy,  age 9, Fendalton School, Christchurch

 

 

 

Christchurch secondary-school student, E Wen Wong, considers how children’s poetry in New Zealand has changed

Janet Newman reports on Poetry Writing for Children at Palmerston North Library

(This is just lovely! Congratulations to all the young poets who participated – Paula)
Seven children, aged nine and ten, came to Palmerston North library on a weekend in March to read and write poetry. We started by reading poems from The Letterbox Cat and other poems. Scott noticed that Paula had put a space in the word ‘goose-bumps’ in her poem “When I am Cold” and then substituted other animal names for ‘goose.’ Scott liked this technique and used it to write his own poem:

 

When I am Sad

 

When I am sad

I get tear drops.

 

When I am very sad

I get water drops.

 

When I am very very sad

I get rain drops.

 

When I am very very very sad

I get hail drops.

 

When I am very very very very sad

I get ice drops.

 

When I am very very very very very sad

I sit by myself and try to be happy.

 

 

Shani brought a poem she wrote at home and read it to us. We liked the way she turned the mouse simile into metaphors:

 

Rain Poem

 

The rain was like a little

mouse, quiet small and

grey. It pattered all

around the house

and then it went away.

 

It did not come. I

understand it found

an open window and

left tracks across the sill.

 

 

On Sunday, prompts such as ‘a word to describe the sky’ and ‘how you feel when the power goes off’ suggested lots of words and the children wrote them on the wall:

 

 

In the photo, front to back: Madeleine, Scott, Katelyn, Eva, Callie.

 

We had a poetry challenge. It was to pick words from the wall and use them in poems starting with “I see,” “I remember” and “I imagine.” Here is Madeleine’s:

 

I see Golden brown Chips.

The salt on them is sour

like millions of tear drops.

The texture is unique, it’s

soft and luscious like clouds.

I can’t wait to

eat this then

Gulp Slurp

Into my tummy!

 

Here is Eilidh’s:

 

I imagine me and my friend

sitting around the fire, laughing

at old stories. The fire crackled

its smoke billowing into the

night sky.

 

It was getting cold and

dark, the scariest combination.

Something howled in the

distance, and we could

just make out the

silhouette in the light of the moon

of a creature sitting

atop the highest rock

howling into the night.

Spooky.

 

Thanks Callie, Eilidh, Eva, Katelyn, Madeleine, Scott and Shani. We had lots of fun.

Sean and Janet.