Students Give Couplets A Try (And You Should Too!)

Writing a couplet can be tough,
But when you work with friends, it's not so rough.

On Monday, NPR's Morning Edition asked listeners and readers to share poems about the teams in their lives — both on and off the court.

A number of responses came from teachers and their students. Jeffrey Morgan, a sixth-grade teacher at Sinsheimer Elementary School in San Luis Obispo, Calif., had his students submit poems as part of a class assignment. Here's one from his student, Isaiah:

"Working with groups I flutter,
working alone I stutter."

"I thought it would be a great Monday morning warmup to have students try their hand at couplet," Morgan says. The class had already been celebrating National Poetry Month with readings by Shel Silverstein, envisioning how images match with the emotions of a poem and performing poems out loud.

"I have a couple students in my class hoping to be professional writers," he says.
"So, this [callout] got the students really excited."

And it's not just students at Sinshiemer Elementary that were excited about our prompt. NPR received responses from elementary, middle and high schools across the country.

Adrianna Evankovich, a student at General Mclane High School in Edinboro, Pa., wrote about how teams can lift you up:

"Running is all I do, everyday, which makes me sour,
But when I'm with my team it makes me want one more hour."

Jay Maldonado, a student at Shery High School in Torrance, Calif., shared how teamwork can be spontaneous:

"Skinned knees and knee socks, racing against the clock,
A couple friends from the block and hockey pucks."

Seventh-grade students from Saint Andrew Academy in Louisville, Ky., wrote about the link between teamwork and friendship:

"Teamwork is working together,
It's all about being friends forever."
—Kayleigh Herbert and Janaya Jenkins

"I will help you whenever,
because we are a team and we work together."
—Amelia Hagan and Ryleigh Rusher

"Friends that work together,
Stay friends forever."
—Savannah Shawver and Sydney Winn

And then there are those who seem to have submitted poems because a good opportunity presented itself:

"Everything about my team, they've already said it
I am only doing this for a little extra credit."

—anonymous, Thurston Middle School in Westwood, Mass.

Thank you to all the students and teachers who submitted their poems! We would love to see more. If you are a teacher who had your students create poems based on the Morning Edition callout, tell us about it by responding below or here.

Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.