Enjoy the following poems by students in Grade 6.  There are a total of 5 in this post.

I Am From

I am from my bouncy bunny

 I am from the beautiful music of the violin

I am from my disorganized locker

I am from the sweet sounds of the orchestra

I am from the loud club

I am from the crowd roaring at City Field

I am from the spells cast by Harry Potter

I am from the loud barking of dogs

I am from the dark blues and greens in the rainbow

I am from my crazy friends

I am from my wacky worlds on Minecraft

I am from the intense battling of my Pokémon

I am from the chilly weather that winter brings to us

I am from the amazing technologies of Apple

I am from the fox (Long, thin pony.) at my upstate house.

I am from Yoshi, the strange green dinosaur

by Angelina M.

                                                               I am From

I am from a tender, caring ,and loving mother

I am from the chilling screams on All Hallows Eve

I am from jousting knights and the smell of delicious, slow-roasting mutton

I am from a zombie-killing grandmother and her two silly brothers

I am from loving and fighting

I am from the NY Rangers

I am from Voltaire and Marilyn Manson

I am from zombies and werewolves

I am from the sweet sound of music

I am from planet earth

I am from the amazing world of art

I am from assassinating guards and shooting the covenant in video games

I am from all things creepy

I am from the smells of heaping wads of chocolaty goodness

I am from the sounds of loud laughs and arguments

I am from me

By Gabe P.

I am From

I am from the noisy streets of Manhattan

I am from my love for electronics

I am from Sunday Crepes

I am from foam bullets flying near my head

I am from a blocky world in Minecraft

I am from the loud ferry near my house

I am from every arm movement in swimming

I am from the Bulgarian meatball

I am from the hilarious comedies of Seth Macfarlane

I am from the meaty goodness of a Greek gyro

I am from a very long 14 hour road trip

I am from the fresh and fizzy taste of Coca Cola

I am from loud yelling at the dinner table

I am from the laughter and jokes of my friends

By Ivan B.

 I am from the Warriors battling and hunting for survival

I am from Maximum Ride taking me sky high

I am from the gooey stickiness of creamy peanut butter

I am from the enjoyment of battling Pokémon for fun

I am from the excitement of making a basket, SWISH!

I am from the furriness of my black and white cat, Midnight

 I am from the fun of running after a soccer ball

I am from the feeling of nature and my favorite color, Green

I am from the loud fans of the New York Red Bulls

I am from the sound of students from my school, Staten Island Academy

I am from the wetness of swimming in cool pool water

I am from the gods, goddesses, mortals, and mountains of Ancient Greece

I am from the freedom of having lockers

I am from the cheers of the Mets fans

I am from Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks play

I am from the stomping of the Jets supporters

I am from the goodness of chocolate cake

 I am from the beautiful flag of this amazing country United States of America!

By Raeceen D.

I am From

I am from the loud sounds of my cries after my brother gets  done with me.

I am from the sounds of the basketball swooshing, the fans cheering, and the coaches yelling.

I am from Yankee Stadium.

I am from the Iraqi generations and Muslim cultures.

I am from the fictional worlds of Pokemon.

I am from Battlefield 3.

I am from every bullet the Nerf guns throw at me.

I am from generations and generations of doctors.

I am from yelling at the tv about the Mets.

I am from the wizarding world of Harry Potter.

I am from the delicious sights and smells of pizza.

I am from the clear, deep water of the pool.

I am from the soft sound of the grand piano.

I am from a giant beige Mercedes.

I am from sitting in front of the X-Box 360.

I am from the Tigers on the field, jumping and dancing.

I am from the tradition of playing baseball all day long in the summer.

I am from the celebration of getting money on Eid.

I am from playing hide and seek all day long during the summer.

I am from the turbulent adventures of Middle School.

By Yaseen K.

Grade 6 students delve into their latest novel.

What it means to have a Family

Family is a rather complicated word. Family does not just refer to family members, but it can also refer to people with whom you devloped a bond not through blood, but through friendship. Words that come to my mind when I think of family are love, respect, loyalty, trust, and honesty. Family is a group of individuals that you can rely on in good, bad, happy, and sad times.

I play a very important role in my family. My role is a big brother to my sister, Madison. This is important because I have to set a good example for my sister, so she has someone to look up to. I am Keith and Zohara’s son.  My parents play an important role in my life, and I learn a lot from them. They teach me the important life lessons and guide me through hardships. They teach me the importance of laughter, love and motivation.  Lastly, I am a grandchild to my grandparents. They share exciting life stories from their past with me. This allows me to learn about my family’s history. As a family we watch out for each other. We support each other’s actions and ideologies. We accept one another’s opinions, we care for one another, and, most importantly, we will always love each other. My best friends are my family.

In my family we celebrate different holidays from two different cultures. I am lucky to be able to be exposed to so many different traditions. One holiday we celebrate is Christmas, which we celebrate at my aunt’s house. This a time when we have dinner and share laughs and good times. But best of all, we exchange gifts for Christmas. I celebrate Christmas because of my father, who is of the Christian faith. Another holiday my family celebrates is Hanukkah. I celebrate this holiday because of my mom, who is of the Jewish faith. The best part about celebrating these holidays is bringing families together to create memorable moments. The true meaning of family is apparent when everyone gets together for the holidays.

Being part of this family has enabled me to be a fun-loving, motivated eleven year old boy. In my family, a lot of expectations are placed on me. Some are to watch and teach my sister, to do well in school, to respect others, to be responsible for my actions, and to care and love my family. These expectations are a part of being in my family. My family does the best for me; they send me to a great school where I learn a lot and discover my dreams and passions. My parents encourage me to try to discover my dreams and passions. My parents also encourage me to try to discover new skills and interests. I appreciate what they have done for me. They have taught me to love and respect all. With the guidance of my family, I feel that I am able to do all of these things. They have taught me great lessons that will always stay with me.

Alex P.

My definition of family is a group of people who are together as mom, dad, kids, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. In my family, even close friends are relatives, because we all love each other and want to spend as much time together as we can. In my immediate family, I am the second of three kids. My role is to be the encouraging older sister and the annoying little sister at the same time.

My family is unique for many reasons, but most of all because when I was six, we adopted a baby boy who is now my younger brother, Ben. From my point of view, my family is just like any other. We live together, play together, go to school together, love each other, and, of course, fight with each other. My parents expect me to be kind to my siblings, but it is hard to manage this when they are mean to me. I like being the middle child because I have someone to watch over me and also have a younger sibling whom I can boss around.

One of the coolest things about my family is that we share two religious beliefs, because we’re both Jewish and Christian. That means we have lots of traditions. We also made a new tradition by including everyone to combine the holidays. For example, we decorate our Christmas tree with my Israeli savta (grandma), and we eat latkes on Hanukah with my Italian family.  We believe in the whole Bible, not just parts. That makes me feel special and unique. How many kids do you know who celebrate both?

My family makes me who I am today because of the love and care they give me. I also know my parents work really hard so that I can go to S.I.A., and if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have the friends I do today. My parents have inspired me to adopt a child when I am older, but until then, I want to stick with making meals for my family because that is one of my passions.  My favorite dish is baked cinnamon tortilla chips.  I invented the recipe myself.  Everyone enjoys them.  I may own a restaurant someday and be its chef.  I will call it Juju’s Café.

Juliette W. (Grade 6)

FAMILY

As defined in the dictionary, a family is a group of people related to one another.   I believe that family means more than just being related to one other. I define family and what makes a family as brothers, sisters, moms, dads, uncles, aunts, and grandparents loving, helping, and sharing life together.

As the baby of my family, I was always able to get out of doing many chores.  I was always the smallest, least helpful and to my brother and sister the most annoying.  Being the youngest had many advantages.   Now that my brother and sister have gone to college, I am treated very differently.  I have to feed the dog, take out the trash, clean my plate at dinner, and help my dad with work around the house.  All of these things my brother or sister did before they went to school.  I thought I would like being the only child but I’m not so sure now because of all the work.  Along with my chores, I am expected to do well in school, attend mass every Sunday and CCD classes,  polite and well-mannered, and help my mom work the computer.

One really interesting thing about my family that I’ll never forget is the story my great grandpa told me about his trip to America.  He used to live in Italy and one day he hopped on a banana boat that was going to America. For days he was in that boat with nothing to drink or eat. The only food source was the bananas. He also had to hide from the other people on board so he stayed in the same spot for two weeks.  Finally, they reached America, and if it wasn’t for him, I would be living in Italy instead of America.

If it wasn’t for my family, I could be so much different than I am today. Thanks to my mom and dad believing that education is very important and teaching me how to be a good student, I love my school and enjoy doing well.  I have to believe that my brother is the one responsible for the endurance and drive I have as an athlete. No matter how small or young I was, he never went easy on me. At the time, I would get frustrated or angry, but he taught me how to work, never give up, fight back, and keep pushing forward.  He also helped me understand good humor.   My love for animals, and nature definitely came from spending time with my sister.  I would watch her take care of animals and we often would go to the park and hang out by the pond.  My parents are always talking to me about helping others, being kind, thoughtful and always doing the best I could.  All of the members of my family helped make me who I am today.

Nick C.