Last year, on the back of a test, I had my seventh graders write down what animal they were most like and why. Some of their answers (below) were rather poetic and inspired the following ode I mostly wrote last year, but just finished now.
Elsie is a quiet dragon
aching to explode.
A poet in the corner
striking fear into her foes.
Ariela is a trusty horse,
a steady, loyal friend.
Lydia- a soaring hawk,
it's shoulder painted red.
Nathan is an eagle,
flying wild with energy.
Sean, a sleepy, sassy sloth
hanging in a crecopia tree.
Sarah is a cashmere lop
with silky, white-blonde hair.
She lives inside a music box
and dances on the air.
Nora is a wild horse,
a beauty running free-
but never straying far from home,
loyal in liberty.
The first Luke's a quick-witted wolf,
creatively leading his pack.
He howls along to a distant song-
ideas echo back.
The second Luke's an eagle-
to spot him in the sky is rare.
Smart and well-protected,
he flies fearless through the air.
Wendy is a koala,
sleeping soundly in a faraway tree.
Lexi- a six-foot teddy bear
stuffed full with personality.
Noah is a tiger,
kind yet tough and down-to-earth.
Mercedes- a sweet baby alicorn,
full of mystery and mischief.
Jackson is a falcon,
with an eye for detail and beauty.
Declan is a monkey,
swinging sincere from tree to tree.
Portia is a monkey too,
but quite a different kind.
Something's hidden, something dark
is tangled in the vines.
I end with another lonely dragon
wandering through the school.
Ariel, red and filled with fire,
deep in her cave of shining jewels.
The original responses
W: I would be a koala, because they get to sleep up to 20 hours a day.
E: I would choose a dragon so my enemies would run away.
L: Wolf/African wild dog, because family and friends are my strengths and weakness, I swim well and like it, I am quick (witted and walking), man’s best friend, and loyal to friends.
N: Animal- tiger. Why- fierce and fab, strong, tough.
A: I would be a horse because I feel I am steady and loyal.
N: I would be a wild horse because they are so free and can run very fast and they are very pretty.
S: A cashmere lop (rabbit) because they are very fast and insanely fluffy.
L: A red-shouldered hawk so I could fly.
M: A baby alicorn because I am often very sleepy, like to play, and I am pretty good at getting in trouble.
L: An eagle. First of all because I could fly (duh) and second of all eagles are a protected species so I wouldn’t have to worry about being hunted.
A: I would either be a dragon or a dog because I am a hoarder of stuff and because I am a follower.
L: A six foot tall stuffed bear.
D: A monkey because I’m funny and sometimes annoying.
P: I would be a monkey because they are crazy and put on masks like me.
J: I would be a peregrine falcon because they are super fast. I would also be a mockingbird so I could mock Sean.
S: I would be a sloth because I would get to live in trees and sleep a lot.
N: I want to be eagle because I really want to fly and eagle has great skills for hunting.
