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Explosions In The Sky - A 3rd Grade Poetry Project


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Yo. I'm in for one. Too lazy to read the past few pages. Gimme all the deets.

 

Wow I just found this topic. Such amazing work! I'll buy any future stuff for sure. Keep changing lives through writing.

 

Hey Folks! Thanks a lot for the support. I'm not taking donations for books right now. I will start this up again in May. I don't really bump this thread until the end of the school year when we do our classroom celebration. Maybe follow this thread, so you know when I bump it? I'm looking forward to another year and another surprise from the third grade class. Thanks a lot!

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I read through this thread a few nights ago, and just WOW! awesome thing you're doing, and the things the kids write. Jesus that's damn amazing.

I had seen this thread bumped before, but never paid any attention to it. I'll admit I always skipped over it because I do not like Explosions in the Sky and the fact that they were in the title always put me off. But for some reason I decided to finally see what it was about, and was not expecting this AT ALL. Amazing stuff really. It's nice to see tea hers that care that much about the students. And le them exercise their creative side.

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I read through this thread a few nights ago, and just WOW! awesome thing you're doing, and the things the kids write. Jesus that's damn amazing.

I had seen this thread bumped before, but never paid any attention to it. I'll admit I always skipped over it because I do not like Explosions in the Sky and the fact that they were in the title always put me off. But for some reason I decided to finally see what it was about, and was not expecting this AT ALL. Amazing stuff really. It's nice to see tea hers that care that much about the students. And le them exercise their creative side.

 

Thank a lot! Yeah, most of their poems are not written while listening to Explosions. I just thought it might get more people to check out the thread. The band was really stoked when I gave them a collection of poems, so that was fun for me.

 

I'm hoping that by exposing them to writing and different types of music some of the students will find something that drives their life, like it did for me. Yesterday was the first day, so I was playing them a lot of jazz and Hawaiian music. One student said that I play very calm music. I told her to wait until later in the year when I play some Converge. They lose their minds when I play that stuff.

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Here are some poems from this past book:

 

Our Last Days As Children

 

Our last day as children will

come to an end.  In the future we will not

be kids. We will be different and we will

 not play around. All of the kids will stop

it. We will all be different.

You have the right to climb the steep mountains.

You can reach for the stars and laugh with other people.

Everything will change. You will

have different friends and you will have your own

house and you can see plants every

morning and hear their sound and hear

them whisper to you.

 

-  Damien 

 

 

Future goth girl who once drew a picture of a unicorn with a fox impaled on its horn. Haiku.

 

The Dead Guy I Loved

 

He took care of us.

Now he is gone forever.

He is dead tonight.

 

 

-Graciela 

 

 

 

When We Played

 

When we played for the

first time, I thought you

were a good friend. But

now you’re mean and

think you’re better. You

have made me cry a lot.

But today you want to be

friends again. Keep on

dreaming, because I

won’t forgive you.

 

-          Rocio 

 

 

It’s Natural To Be Afraid

 

Walk in the forest all alone.

Get scared. Hide by a bush.

It’s natural to be afraid.

 

Hide in a log,

away from the fog.

It’s natural to be afraid.

 

Left in the house,

go under your covers.

It’s natural to be afraid.

 

If you cry when a

bully comes, it’s natural.

 

If you lost your mom

and you’re scared you’ll lose

your dog and dad, it’s

natural.

 

If bad things happen,

it’s natural.

 

If it happens to everybody

it’s always natural.

 

Are you really afraid?

Sometimes.

 

-TaMani 

 

 

 

This student's aunt got killed by a drunk driver. I remember hearing about it

on the news and never knew there was a connection until I read this poem.

 

Tia Silvia

 

My Tia Silvia just passed

away. I would keep memories

and keep them in my

heart. I would land in

her death. I would keep

everything in my mind.

I would not let them

go anywhere else but

my heart.

 

I stand in her death.

I would let them go until

I’m not in the city.

 

I will never let

go of my Tia Silvia.

I will love her so

much.

 

I would stand in the way

to stop the car crash

that she had with

a man drunk driving

on the highway all

over the news.

 

-  Nayomi 

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My Hands

My hands are

Brown

The palm is white

But don’t call

Me black because my

Skin color is

Brown.

If you call me black I

Will hit you in

your mouth with

My brown right hand.

 

     -Parish

 

That's some Langston Hughes OG shit. Real stuff. Who else whipped out the songs and listened as they read along?

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get explosions to make an exclusive 7" to pair with a nice book of these poems, do a kickstarter, and use the money to buy all the kids savings bonds for college.

 

 

Fantastic poetry project. Even better market. Would flip. The economic payoff would be ten fold. I buy them all, put the little ones through college, and amount a healthy net profit for my generous efforts. Here is a picture taken by my assistant of me just this morning, visualizing the tasty profits. 

Sven-Goran-Eriksson-006.jpg

 

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  • 8 months later...

It's that time of the year when I stress out and hope the kids write some crushing poems. I am once again offering a copy of 2015-2016 school year poetry book for a $10 donation. This money will be used to pay for snacks to feed 4 classrooms during our poetry celebration. Your book will be shipped during the summer. I have up to 10 spots. Please PM me and I will give you my paypal address. Right at this moment, I am playing them "Our Last Days As Children" by EITS. They are hopefully writing some good poems for this year's book.

Thanks for looking!

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We just wrote our poems while listening to "A Song For Our Fathers" by Explosions. This is one of them. I don't know exactly what it means, but I'm liking it and will be thinking about it for a while.

 

A Song For Our Fathers

 

Sadness

will be a day of

windy trees

making

sounds telling

you

what a day

you had in the woods repeating

many

lies of this

day.

Secrets and yelling

scares

lonely walls

fighting

across from each

other

as helicopters

appear to help them

tear

apart in

loneliness homes.

 

- Cassidy

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just read through this entire thread and I am blown away. I really respect teachers like you and I'm certain all these kids appreciate everything you're doing for them. They might not realize it now but they will - I'm sure of it. Plus, Explosions in the Sky are phenomenal and it's always nice to get kids listening to some more "alternative" music once in awhile. 

I remember in high school I had an English teacher who used to encourage us to read books like A Clockwork Orange (even though the school's principal was seriously against it) and watch films like the Seventh Seal and Les 400 Coups. It really helped me start enjoying school, and I was always very excited to write and talk about whatever we were reading/watching that week. Some times she would let us bring in music to play for the class so we could have a discussion about it. No other teachers would allow students to express any sort of creativity or interest in the arts. 

Two years later at graduation, that same teacher handed me the English award and an envelope with a letter. In the letter, she thanked me for "bringing an eclectic taste to the classroom this year" and gave me a gift card to a local book store. I'll never forget it.

Anyway, all that rant to say, thanks for what you do lexicondevil. Also, I'm interested in grabbing a book if you have any left. Would you send one to Canada?
 

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12 hours ago, rabbitvinyl said:

Just read through this entire thread and I am blown away. I really respect teachers like you and I'm certain all these kids appreciate everything you're doing for them. They might not realize it now but they will - I'm sure of it. Plus, Explosions in the Sky are phenomenal and it's always nice to get kids listening to some more "alternative" music once in awhile. 

I remember in high school I had an English teacher who used to encourage us to read books like A Clockwork Orange (even though the school's principal was seriously against it) and watch films like the Seventh Seal and Les 400 Coups. It really helped me start enjoying school, and I was always very excited to write and talk about whatever we were reading/watching that week. Some times she would let us bring in music to play for the class so we could have a discussion about it. No other teachers would allow students to express any sort of creativity or interest in the arts. 

Two years later at graduation, that same teacher handed me the English award and an envelope with a letter. In the letter, she thanked me for "bringing an eclectic taste to the classroom this year" and gave me a gift card to a local book store. I'll never forget it.

Anyway, all that rant to say, thanks for what you do lexicondevil. Also, I'm interested in grabbing a book if you have any left. Would you send one to Canada?
 

 

3 hours ago, abovetheearth said:

i would love to add a vol. 3 to my colleciton.

 

im in.

Thanks to both of you. Will send a pm with info. And we're done for the year. Thanks again to everyone who helped support this project!

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12 hours ago, rabbitvinyl said:

Just read through this entire thread and I am blown away. I really respect teachers like you and I'm certain all these kids appreciate everything you're doing for them. They might not realize it now but they will - I'm sure of it. Plus, Explosions in the Sky are phenomenal and it's always nice to get kids listening to some more "alternative" music once in awhile. 

I remember in high school I had an English teacher who used to encourage us to read books like A Clockwork Orange (even though the school's principal was seriously against it) and watch films like the Seventh Seal and Les 400 Coups. It really helped me start enjoying school, and I was always very excited to write and talk about whatever we were reading/watching that week. Some times she would let us bring in music to play for the class so we could have a discussion about it. No other teachers would allow students to express any sort of creativity or interest in the arts. 

Two years later at graduation, that same teacher handed me the English award and an envelope with a letter. In the letter, she thanked me for "bringing an eclectic taste to the classroom this year" and gave me a gift card to a local book store. I'll never forget it.

Anyway, all that rant to say, thanks for what you do lexicondevil. Also, I'm interested in grabbing a book if you have any left. Would you send one to Canada?
 

 

3 hours ago, abovetheearth said:

i would love to add a vol. 3 to my colleciton.

 

im in.

Thanks to both of you. Will send a pm with info. And we're done for the year. Thanks again to everyone who helped support this project!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Was reading through the 2013-2014 edition and these lines (all separate poems):

 

"My mother is like a house with a ghost in it"

"Tell the giving tree I give up"

"I live in a city where people don't live"

"Once you spend all of the money you will be just like me"

 

Incredible stuff and I cannot wait for the new one to arrive. Keep up the good work, there is some incredible pieces in all of these.

 

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On 6/18/2016 at 10:49 PM, abovetheearth said:

Was reading through the 2013-2014 edition and these lines (all separate poems):

 

"My mother is like a house with a ghost in it"

"Tell the giving tree I give up"

"I live in a city where people don't live"

"Once you spend all of the money you will be just like me"

 

Incredible stuff and I cannot wait for the new one to arrive. Keep up the good work, there is some incredible pieces in all of these.

 

Thank you. All books have been mailed out. Maybe next year I will get around to doing a selected anthology from all of the years.

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  • 11 months later...

Finally at the end of this school year! If anyone is interested in contributing 10 bucks that will go towards snacks for our celebration, you will be mailed a copy of this year's poetry anthology. I'm only opening this up to five spots. I'm buying Little Debbies(blech) and Capri Suns for four classrooms and $50-$60 usually covers it. If interested, just PM me and I will send you my paypal info. Once again, I played "Our Last Days As Children" by Explosions and got some interesting results. Some samples from this year:

Our Last Days As Children

I’m glad the years of being a child are

almost over because when I

was little a lot of bad things

happened to me.

I had a condition with my body and

with my dad.

I had seizures because my blood cells

don’t produce like other people’s do. But

I’m going to have to live with my condition for

the rest of my life. The first time

I had my seizure was when I was 8 months old and

my head felt like a tornado

when an earthquake just hit.

I had stayed in the hospital for 9 months straight.

A whole bunch of doctors were surrounding me.

And the only reason I survived was because

of my doctor. If it wasn’t for him I would

be dead right now.

And

I

hate to

say it,

but out of my whole family my mom was the only

one there for me, besides my brother.

He was the only father figure

I had in my life. When he left and went to

jail, he was still there for me, not my real dad.

I just don’t get how my

biological father wouldn’t come to

the hospital for his own daughter, but

now I bet he regrets everything he’s put me

through these last years.

And I hope when he dies he

remembers the mistakes he made and

I hope it eats him

alive.

 

- L

 

 

I Am Immense

            Love is like a smile

In the air shiny with water

taking night away and

            leaving

              the sun here with me.

 

The seriousness of the ocean

moving like dolphins in the sea

like ice in winter trying to

escape.

 

Your heart will explode like

shiny tears going down like fear

into your heart and then to your

friends.

 

            I will watch my family like birds

in my heart with tears that shines

with fear that they never

 had

         life.

 

-          FD

 

Heaven

I don’t believe in heaven.

I believe god is real, but it’s

like somebody made it up,

trying to be famous.

It’s like somebody

saying, “There are boots that can make

you run fast as The Flash.”

That’s what I think.

 

- J

 

Our Last Days As Children

The day after my uncle’s

birthday was like someone

shooting me until I fell

to the bumpy ground, the tears.

 

The day after my uncle’s

birthday I felt blue because

I had no one to keep me

company when I went to his house.

 

The day I heard the

news I fell to the bumpy

ground and with tears

falling from my blue

face.

 

Every day I woke

up and started to

cry because I wanted

to see him, but my mom told

me, “You have to wait until

you can go to Heaven with the

angels.”

 

Every year my

birthday came, but

every year I did not

see him clapping when

I was brave to stick my

face in the cake.

 

- E

 

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