Poetry 2006 by 6th grade students of Fairfield Middle School

"I write to discover my soul...I read to discover
yours."
The poems you are about to read are written and
selected by sixth graders from the Fairfield Middle
School in Fairfield, Iowa. These students experimented
with many types of poems, including tanka,
cinquain, haiku, acrostic, bio, concrete, diamante,
ocean research, magazine haiku, couplets, title down,
color poems, holiday, and limericks. They did a wonderful
job creating poems that expressed who they
really are, and I'm proud of their willingness to share
this part of themselves with others. I hope you enjoy
reading their work as much as I have. They should be
very proud of their accomplishments. I am also
thrilled for my students to have this opportunity to
share their poetry with the world!
~~~~Ann Gookin,
~~6th Grade Language Arts Teacher
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Communication is vital in today's society. It comes in
many forms these days, from conversing to e-mail.
One form of communication is writing, and one form
of writing is poetry. Poetry doesn't seem to get the
recognition it deserves in this fast-paced world. It is
a form of writing that is personal and demands time
to read it. It needs to be understood or felt by the
reader. It can represent self-exploration for the
author, while it can open feelings in the reader. The
poem becomes the symbol of communication on
many levels to many people. We hope these poems
will communicate to the readers in some meaningful
way, as they are read.
This collection of poetry was created by the 6th grade
students of Fairfield Middle School. It got started
when a fifth grade student brought his poem home to
his mother to read. His poem had been published in
a book like this one. His mother is one of our sixth
grade Language Arts/ Reading teachers. She saw it as
an exciting project for the sixth graders at FMS. The
rest is, as they say... history. This book of poetry communicates to all that take the
time to read it. Those who contributed their work
hope you will let their poems communicate to you.
The collection of poems in this book started by
sharing, and we hope you will share it with others, as
you enjoy it yourself.
~~~~Gary Henry,
~~FMS Principal