Highly Commended Poetry

These poems were among the 12 entries selected by Mrs Koster to make up our school entry for the Fourth Fabulous Poetry Competition. Russley School's entry was judged highly commended by the NZ Book Council judge, Catriona Ferguson. Congratulations to all our talented writers!

CHANDELIER SKY

Stars are shiny rings

glowing like a chandelier

White like marshmallows toasting

on the bonfire

They are like golden sand

on the Sunshine Coast

Sparkling pearls in a glimmering

ebony sea

by Olivia C, Year 8

LIVING STAR

Star is a shiny unicorn eye

clear crystal

silver coin

blinking baby

Star falls

like a baby bird

that’s learning

how to fly

- by Hao Yu G. - year 8

LASER STARS

Stars are like white pale faces

reflecting off glass

Stars are like rockets

scraping through the galaxy

Glimmering diamonds gleaming

off the roof like lasers

Worms glowing like

old lightbulbs

Small ants snacking

on the ground

Red devil lights

coming towards me

- by Mitchell F. year 8

The Night Sky

the stars glisten like lake tekapo

with the sun on it

the stars are shiny like black ice

white, like paper from the bible

stars shoot through the sky

like rockets

by Alex C. (year 6)

STARS

Silver sardines swimming

in melted ice

Sparkly dresses

in the disco light

Twinkling rubies

pure as gold

in a dark, dark mine

by Kim S. Year 6

SHIMMERY DOTS

Gold-teeth stars

shimmer like shells

at night they start waving

like hands

when midnight strikes

the stars look like tiny glow worms

Their fading song

flurries through the air

stars spreading like jam

by Maddie H, Year 3

Congratulations also to the following writers from Team Roto:

Josh T,

Josh C,

Sophia T,

Kimberly C,

and Fergus HB.

I can't publish their poems just yet, as they are going to be entered into another competition; our Russley Writers' Walk - as they fit with our theme of FAMILY.

The Iain Sharp Poem

We talked about The Iain Sharp Poem. Iain Sharp is a poet who lives in Auckland and wrote a really cool poem based on himself. He gives a picture of himself through descriptions of things and actions.

We each wrote our own 'Iain Sharp' poem, using our own names and some of his framework. Here's what we came up with. (I have omitted the surnames).

The Gill Poem

I am a package carrying a dog.

I am a red chip that’s about to win Connect Four.

I am a UFO, spooking the minds of humans.

I am a thorn, forcing kids to wear shoes.

I am a sandy desert in Africa.

I am a dinosaur, wrecked by extinction.

I am a bad joke.

I am Gill.

  

The Ava Poem

I am a pass the parcel, waiting to be played.

I am a Barbie, staring at the patterned bed while my owner is playing with her friends.

I am a red Ferrari that has just been bought, all shiny and new.

I am a blossom tree and people are taking selfies with me.

I am a playground, I can see children playing on the monkey-bars.

I am an owl, eating my breakfast at night time.

I am Maria Kochetkova, waiting for my ballet class.

I am Ava.

  

The Mark Poem

I am a postcard with a stamp, making by brother jealous.

I am a trash pack, ready to trash my brother’s trash bin.

I am a Volkswagon, ready to drive to the airport.

I am a cacao tree, standing as straight as a zigzag.

I am a piwakawaka fleeting so high among the trees.

I am a human being, none of these are real.

I am Mark.

 

 

The Gabriella Poem.

I am a box, wrapped in red paper

          with a white bow

          on the way to 52 Different Street.

I am a dictionary waiting for misspelt words.

I am a black jet waiting to race around.

I am a wild flower, sad since I am left alone.

I am the beach; hot sand, cold water.

I am a monkey swinging from trees.

I am a human and that is me.

I am Gabriella.

 

The Mitchell Poem

I am a green postcard from Fiji.

I am a basketball getting dunked.

I am a truck, getting stuck up a hill. I am green.

I am a tree in the corner by Room 18, my leaves are dropping and they are green.

I am a lake in New Zealand, my water is green and slimy.

I am a cow mooing at my owners.

I am a bad cough in someone’s throat, pricking them.

I am Mitchell.

The Haoyu Poem

I am a letter wrapped in unicorn skin.

I am a flying netball.

I am a unicorn F22 shooting down UFOs.

I am a blade of grass in a farm, waiting to be eaten.

I am a volcano bursting with lava.

I am a unicorn.

I am Haoyu.

A Slice of Camp

clinging

it was a place of terror

          hanging ropes

breezy wind

           clipping carabiners

classmates pulling, dragging, struggling

          me hooking my harness 

   looking up ready to climb - clinging tight     

          climbing horseshoes

   wishing for good luck        

          shaking and shivering

  climbing to the top

         stretching my arms out as far as

I could to get the waving rope

stepped on the sliver horseshoe

                   going

                                down

                                             down

                                                         down

I got to the bottom

I conquered

         my fear

                                                                   by Olivia C

Camp

It was a place of pandemonium

struggling class mates

and silver metal

                                R

                                     U

                                        N

                                            G

                                                S

piwakawaka fleeting so high

among all the classmates

 

roaming to put on the rappel device

jumping off the pine tree

at last I have jumped off the pine tree

like a wood pigeon

now I have finished my amazing pilgrimage    

around the encampment

so I have come back to my residence

  by Mark G 

Raft building 

    

The wet raft building

It was a place of making

Pulling sticks

The solid rocks just sitting there

The wood looking at us not talking

The water is screaming          don’t come in

The helmets are going to have fun

The mountains are cold

Like a rain drop sweating down the cliff     

Land falling from the mountains

We tie the ropes and sticks together

slippery and slimy

the rocks are staring at me trying to get me to cut my nose

So we drag it down

STOP.

It’s dragging

Pick it up

We go out and we jump in

Sweating

   Shouting

       Tipping

           Screaming

                 Falling... OUCH!

by Mitchell

darkness

it was a place of darkness

                        flying ropes

and giant spiders

steel carabinas

wind wafting

class-mates encouraging

fantails singing

sun missing

trees fluttering

leaves tumbling

I am a spider abseiling down the tree

the nightmare is over

I get down the tree and I stop shivering

the darkness is over

abseiling

by Haoyu

MY VISION OF CAMP

It was a place of challenges

people shivering

students splashing, racing around me

cold water against my face

The heavy spray jacket pulled me up

paddling at full speed

going under the wharf

                it was cold like the freezer at home

As oars touched the water

a splash on your face

Look up                flying birds            above the boats

looking down thinking   

                                                any fish in the water?

paddling as fast as cars

we finished kayaking

we won the race

by Gabriella

Paula Green loved our camp poems so much, she has posted a few of them on her blog, check it out: Poetry Box - Russley School poems

The Most Fabulous Me

We read My Most Fabulous Book by Leonie Young and used it as inspiration to write our own Fabulous Me stories. Here is a selection of some of our favourite lines from our Russley Writers' Club versions:

The most stars I've ever seen was when I went camping with my Dad and he broke the tent so we had to sleep under the stars. (Gabriella)

The most stars I've ever seen was on the catwalk at the talent show. (Mark)

The most stars I've ever seen was when I banged my head on a pole. (Haoyu)

The most exhausted I've ever been was when my team went swimming every day for two weeks. (Gabriella)

The most people I've ever seen was at the A&P Show. (Mitchell)

The most dishes I've ever seen was  on the side of the road where a homeless person was selling plates. (Mitchell)

The most dishes I've ever seen was at my auntie's wedding at Strawberry Fair. (Ava)

The most daring thing I've ever done was when I went to Auckland for Christmas and my cousin dared me to climb through the window and jump into the pool. (Quinton)

The most birds I've ever seen was at the walking forest in Victoria Park. (Ava)

The most water I've ever seen was when I broke the tap off the kitchen drinking fountain. (Haoyu)

The most trouble I ever got into was when I went to the West Coast with my Nana and she never knew I was there, hiding in the back seat of the car. (Gabriella)

The most trouble I ever got into was when I was hitting my brother in the car and my mum was at The Warehouse and someone complained and they called out the car plate number on the microphone and told my mum off. (Mark)

A Birthday Poem

Oh No!

 

Wishing for a blue i-phone

I ripped the paper

Tugged it open

Oh no!

SOCKS!

 

By Mitchell

Russley Writers featured in Christchurch Mail article

The Christchurch Mail has an article in today's issue featuring our wonderful Russley Writers. The article is about the Russley Writers' recent success in the 3rd Fabulous Poetry Competition. Congratulations to all our prize-winning poets.

Find poems here

Winning Writing from Years 5 to 8

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Russley School entered 'The Third Fabulous Poetry Competition' which was for a school entry of 25 poems. The competition was judged by Poetry Box's Paula Green, and the director of the NZ Book Council, Catriona Ferguson. Russley School was the winner of the South Island division!

As the winning school, we will receive a two day visit from Paula Green, who will run poetry workshops with Russley children in term 3.

Congratulations and huge thanks to all our poets. Scroll down to read some of the winning writing from our talented Russley authors!

Enjoy the poems from our senior students...

Winter has come again - by Ben M, Year 7

dark, murky skies

raining like a waterfall

deep puddles like mirrors

reflecting

soggy trees

crouching over

RAINDROPS - by Olivia C, year 7

splitter splatter

soggy gumboots

jump over cold puddles

I grip my clear umbrella

I hear splitter

                splatter

                    splitter

                       splatter

                           splash! 

Cutting Cold - by Ben T, year 7

The rain pelting down

like a boulder avalanche

people rushing indoors

shivering with cold

ice shards

even rain jackets do nothing

men and women driving

causing traffic jams

and accidents

in the rain

people indoors

covered in blankets

nearby a fire crackles

clothes turn soggy

soon smelly

everyone curled up

with hot chocolates

trying to forget

the freezing winter

SNOWFALL - by Riley H, year 7

My soggy clothes

were making my blanket wet.

I was rushing through the deep snow,

I even tried jumping through.

Everything I had was wet.

I finally got home

sat next to the fire

and had my hot chocolate.

The night frost - by Mitchell F, year 7

chilling cold

rain sounds like bullets

on my roof

drinking my hot chocolate

by the blazing fire

me and my family

snuggled in a blanket

WINTER - by Kaitlin C, year 7

soggy shoes

umbrella dripping

hurrying through

puddles

Splash!

the white sky

goes away

turning grey

JESSICA’S WINTER - by Jessica Y, age 7

soggy socks on the heater

drinking hot chocolate near the fire

snuggling into warm blankets

freezing winter air blows

                                  and blows

I grab my gumboots and jump

into the nearest puddle

                                  Splash!

hoping winter comes back again

The Painting - by Monica, year 7

a blank piece of paper

a polar bear in a snowstorm

a paintbrush paints...

a mountain looms over

the polar bear in a snowstorm

a paintbrush paints...

lush green grass

a mountain looms over

the polar bear in a snowstorm

a paintbrush paints...

a tree in the

lush green grass

a mountain looms over

the polar bear in a snowstorm

a paintbrush paints...

The winning entries from our Year 5 and 6 students:

I AM UNSTOPPABLE - by Quinton O, year 6

I am fantastic

I like cookies and cream milkshakes

I don’t like art

I’m afraid of spiders

I wish I could fly

I dream of going to Candyland

I pretend I’m listening to the teacher

I can eat twenty-one hotdogs at once

I am unstoppable

WET FEET

by Azryn C, year 6

my wet cold feet

flakes fall

as the sun comes up

drips drop down

the ferocious wind

will ease to a breeze

my wet cold feet

Winter Freeze

by Brayden D, year 5

My hands were freezing

like dripping ice.

I got wet and cold

like Jack Frost.

My family were playing

snowball fighting games.

I got Dad...

it hit him in the chest!

Ow!

WINTRY NIGHT - by Holly S, year 6

On a stormy, thundery,

wintry night

water trickles

onto the wet ground

the windy breeze blows

right through me.

Mitchell's survival story

I have five minutes to pack. I can choose only three items to take with me. I know not where I am going, nor what dangers await me. I run to the pile of equipment and grab: rubber band, tent, baked beans and a basketball and hammock.

I am blindfolded during the helicopter journey. I have no idea where I am. I hear…the blades chopping and the pilots talking.

The helicopter hovers a metre or so above ground and I am pushed out of the door. I tumble onto the ground and tear off my blindfold. I see…a forest with lots of monkeys.

I come to a raging river. There is no way around, I must somehow cross the treacherous water. I reach into my pack. I grab my basketball to stretch out and go to the other side. I turn to see a pack of killer sheep advancing towards me. I reach into my pack and grab my hammock and I dig a hole and put the hammock over the hole. The sheep get trapped and I grab the hammock.

The menacing battle cry of a lone warrior pierces the silence. A heavily armoured giant charges out from behind some rocks. He is wearing green pants, pink top and has thick hair. His face is dripping with hunger. I reach into my pack. I grab my tent and I put it up and go in, and click the red button.

I arrive at a vertical cliff. It seems impossible to ascend it. The cliff face is like glass, I cannot see any footholds. There is no way around, I must find a way to climb it. I reach into my pack and grab my rubber band to pin to the top and hook to a tree. I try with a stick, it works. So I try and I make it to the top like a slingshot, but going up.

I am dive-bombed by a thousand giant mosquitoes… some look large enough to pick up a small child. The drone of wings is deafening as the venomous stingers charge towards me. I reach into my pack and grab my rubber band and my baked beans and I look around and I see trees so I run to them. I put the rubber band around the tree and open my baked beans and break them in half and I start firing. I hit them. “Yes!” I say.
Oh no, now they are too close so eat one whole and I fart and they run away.

I come to a swamp and begin to make my way cautiously through it. Suddenly I lose my footing and find myself sinking… and realise I have stepped into QUICKSAND! I reach into my pack and grab…my baked beans. I look around and I see trees blowing and the quicksand squeezing. As I am starving I eat about 10 of my baked beans and I start to fart and like a rocket I get out and make it out alive. “Yes!” I say.