Creative minds

I had my first day with students last week. I can't believe it has been a year since I have been in the classroom. I love them. They are really smart and really fun and really great. I gave them an assignment before school started which included reading 3 Shel Silverstein poems (my favorite!) and responding to different prompts I gave them. They did such a great job with them that I just had to post some of what they wrote.

For one assignment, they were given the poem Homework Machine and they had to convince the reader whether or not it was a good idea and then come up with an invention that they would make for school.

One girl's invention was this: "There should be a machine which is hidden in your pencil. There could be a satellite in the eraser that connects to a hair clip, whcih you put in your hair. You simply just look all the other questions over, then the satellites will connect. After that, your pencil moves around the paper jotting down answers."

Another student: "The invention I would make to help me in school would be a machine that you could hook up to your mind and by thinking the answer the machine would type it."

The students also had to write their own Whatif poem and this was one of my faves:

"While I was daydreaming one afternoon,
Some whatifs crawled across the room.
They jumped up high into my head,
These are the kinds of things they said:
Whatif I annoy my mother?
Whatif I can't have a brother?
Whatif my piano comes to life?
Whatif my sister causes strife?
Whatif I forget my school books?
Whatif my teacher gives me dirty looks?
Whatif my backpack won't unzip?
Whatif I dislocate my hip?
Whatif my friends make fun of me?
Whatif the lunchroom's full of peas?
Whaif my dog eats my sock?
Whaif my key gets stuck in the lock?
Whatif our computer breaks down?
Whatif I can't think of a noun?
whatif I can't find my dime?
Whatif I become a mime?
The thoughts get cluttered in my brain,
And then I start to dream again."

Aren't they great?!