Poetry is a part of writing and reading that we don't always spend as much time on as we should. Poets are excellent writers who find creative ways to share their feelings and thoughts. Your assignment this week is a fun one. Please read the poem below and share your thoughts about what you think it means. Explain your reasons and discuss what kinds of emotions you think the author was trying to get you to feel when he wrote it. When you have finished writing about what the poem means to you, I want you to pick your favorite verse from the poem and write about why it stood out.
We are going to use this discussion as a way to start reading, reciting, and learning the wonderful skill of poetry.
Progress not perfection,
Mr. D
Where the Sidewalk Ends
from the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (1974) by Shel Silverstein
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
and before the street begins,
and there the grass grows soft and white,
and there the sun burns crimson bright,
and there the moon-bird rests from his flight
to cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
and the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
we shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow
and watch where the chalk-white arrows go
to the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
and we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
for the children, they mark, and the children, they know,
the place where the sidewalk ends.
i like the first part, because i like the detail about the grass growing soft and white. because i like the way that the poet used the word 'white', because i think it means that the grass is growing sofe and clean,or pure.
ReplyDeletemy favorite part was when it said " And there the sun burns crimson bright", because a really like the color Crimson.
ReplyDeleteI think this poem is about this place and kids are walking and these kids wrote this poem. I think the author wanted the poem to be calm and soothing. The verse I choose as my favorite one was "and there the sun burns crimson bright" because the word "crimson" stands out to me.
ReplyDeleteI think it means to bring joy and be sweet. I also think that this poem is fun and Jack Prelutsky got very creative and that this is supposed to be a happy poem
ReplyDeleteThe poem means to me that a person is trying to walk to the place where the sidewalk ends and every thing around him is calm. There are chalk-white arrows telling him were to go. My favorite verse is" and there the grass grows soft and white,"it means to me that the grass is growing at the right rhythm and it is straight up and it has no dead grass in the patch.
ReplyDeleteThis poem is about a sidewalk that ends, and no offense but there was some stuff that did not ryme, but it was still good. This poem has lots of words that we don't highly recomend use alot in sentences.
ReplyDeleteI think that the author was trying to make you feel peaceful.There the grass grows soft and white.It stood out to me because the grass is green and soft.
ReplyDeletethe sintince that stands out to me is bird rests from his flight.It stands out beacuase it reminds of the hawk at school resting in its nest or siting in the breeze on the large pole.I hope u like :D
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the poem "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Jack Prelutsky, I think of a sidewalk ending into a crosswalk for children to safely get to a grassy park where they can play. The author seems to want us to feel safe walking along the sidewalk and crossing the street. He also wants us to be happy and careful about where we are walking. My favorite verse from the poem was the first verse. It gives a detailed description of the end of the sidewalk and gives a picture of what the surroundings are like.
ReplyDeletei think the author was thinking about the streets and something you would see everyday near your house or park. my favorite part is when the author writes "cool in the peppermint wind" because i like peppermint flavored....everything and sometimes when i walk by an ice cream stand i smell the scent of peppermint ice cream just like in the poem.i think that the emotion the author was feeling is calm or bored and even curios well to me that is because he talks about grass and the side walk, the streets every little thing you see everyday . i really like it because it catches your eye when you read the first sentence or paragraph. i am liebe nasser and these are my thoughts about "where the sidewalk ends"by: jack prelutsky bye bye now. ;P
ReplyDeleteThe poem is about a great place and it is where the sidewalk ends. It made me feel happy and relaxed. My favorite part is when it talks about the moon bird resting from flight in the peppermint wind.I like th part because it makes me feal good
ReplyDeleteI think this means that the author is describing a place with a sidewalk and street and the sidewalk ends. I think the author wanted me to think this poem was creative or wanted to make me interested in it. My favorite part was the 2nd paragraph because i think it used great detail and that's why it stood out.
ReplyDeleteI think that this weeks question is about noticing things that might not be there, and having fun with it. I think that because, it says... and watch where the chalk-white arrows go to the place where the side walk ends. You wouldn't normally say that to somebody on a regular old day. That is the line that stood out to me the most.
ReplyDeletethis poem makes me feel peacfull calm the line that stood out was this is were th sid walk ends
ReplyDeletethis poem is about the dtails and how the sidewalk looks like ithink this poem is so good because in this poem there is the ordinary things but the poet maes it sound awsome
I think that the poem "Where the sidewalk ends" is about the stages of life because the first stanza has like when you're a child you are happy and excited, also calm. The frist stanza shows that happy stage in our lives. Once the second stage in our lives as as adult we feel more stressed and rushed. Take this as an example: "Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black and the street winds and bends". It feels you have lost your happiness. After the second stanza comes the last and final stage in your life. The third stanza is when you try to (as an adult) find yourself back to the happy side of life. It could also mean you trying to find your path to heaven. Lastly, it could mean when you might have kids they find the happy stage and that can make you happy. My favorite line was when the poet said, "The children they know, the place where the sidewalk ends" because it makes me want to make every moment of my life count. I enjoy feeling mized emotions about this story.
ReplyDeleteThe first part I think it tells you life has always a start and a end.The second part I think it said when a life ends a new and clean life begins and also it says a human has always a difficult part on their life.The last part says any human dies but everyone never stops looking front even some relative dies.
ReplyDeleteI like this part. There is a place where the sidewalk ends
ReplyDeleteand before the street begin.this part it kind of feel like that something is to began. and this sentence and watch where the chalk-white arrows go
to the place where the sidewalk ends.
this feel like that the arrow is travel around the sidewalk until it ends.
I licked the part wher the moon berd restsin a nest ow and I also hav the book and its sequl a light in the adik so I can read it aney time
ReplyDeleteI thenk the poem means adventure. The author is saying to go have fun. I thenk the author is tring to make you feel like to go and play out side. I like the third verse because it make me feel like the children know were the sidewalk ends.
ReplyDeleteI like the third part with the sentence "let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
ReplyDeleteand the dark street winds and bends."
Using my imagination about a secret and beautiful forest at the end of the sidewalk.
I think my favorite part is when it says ........And we'll go where the chalk white arrows go,for the children,the mark,and the children they know,the place where the sidewalk ends.And what I noticed during the first stanza was it was more happy and peaceful.I noticed the second stanza is more sad and the third stanza is also sad too that's what I noticed in those paragraphs.And what I think when it says I'll follow where the white arrows go cause while your going toward the end of the sidewalk it means your going to die soon in your life.And the happy part about that is when a baby or a newborn is born and that's how the life of a human is like.And the humans life go's over and over for generations.
ReplyDeleteThis is for you Thomas. I do not get what you mean by they are trying to go where the side walk ends. To me it does not even make since what someone would try to go to where the side walk ends. Please respond on the blog and explain to me what you mean by they are trying to go where the side walk ends.
ReplyDeleteI think of the poem as a war because their saying at first it like the grass is clean and the sun is up but then a war starts to happen and smoke and it is dark but then people are leading them to a new city, state, country , or continet and they start a new life and their is alot of other ways I could explain it but this one stands out to me the most.
ReplyDeletenicole auer
ReplyDeleteI think this part is the best... There is a place where the side walk ends and before the street begins,and there the grass grows soft and white,and the sun burns crimsom bright. I like this part because it reminds me of the sun how it is bright,and how he or she wrote using ther imagination because the side walk never ends with nothing there.
I enjoyed all of the lines,it's a really good poem.It seemed like emotions to me. The first verse made me feel peaceful, calm, and happy. Then I feel sad in the second verse because of the line "Let us leave the place where the smoke blows black and the dark street winds and bend." The last verse makes me feel peaceful and relaxed. Its like after you blow off some energy and stress you feel better.
ReplyDeleteThe part that realy stands out to me is when he sais "Peppermint wind" I think it means the wind and your life is fresh and there's nothing to worry about befor the sidewalk starts. I think that the first stanza means theres not a place trying to lead you anywhere spacifically the sidewalk. I think the second stanza means you are looking for clues where to go, and finding your way to heven. I think the third stanza means your happy about somthing. It could be you have found your way to heven and your happy there. Or it could mean that you have gone away while a new side walk was growing for the person's grand child. But I think there could also be alot of differant sidewalks.
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed reading all of your interpretations of this poem. Master Catalano, your interpretation is particular interest--very deep!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite line is "past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow." It took me a minute to picture what he was trying to describe and then I saw all the buildings of a city outline in the horizon and realized that the buildings are the asphalt flowers. Of course, this was used to give a feeling of dismal hardness and is a contrast to the promising softness that lies on the other end of the sidewalk.