Our fourth grade students at Commodore Sloat Elementary spent the spring term reading, learning, and writing poetry. They focused on different forms, worked with similes, metaphors, and personification, and learned to put forth their own ideas poetically.

Autobiography

I am a sister to Jennifer, Stephanie, Justin, and Justice.

A am funny, crazy, creative, and active

I am a lover to my family

I feel safe with family and friends

I feel free when I ice-skate

I need music, I need fun, I need play

I give love, laughter, and hugs

I fear haters

I am a resident of California

I am Amaka Duru

-Amaka

From an exercise in Point of View, and Personification.

The Ball’s Point of View

Balls bounce

hit the ground

feels bad

hits the racket

blasts out of the park

hits a tree

bounces onto someone’s head

is kicked

comes back

makes a grand slam.

-Adrian

The Baseball

Here I am, the guy you see every day baseball is on tv. I get hurt a lot as you can see, every time a bat hits me. Here is the windup, I’m about to get thrown. Here I go. I’m up in the air. I’m going down. Smack! I hit the glove. Now I’m getting thrown up again. Hey look, it’s Buster Posey. I’m heading right to him. I’ve always wanted to meet him. I hit his glove so hard I black out. I wake up because of a shout. A man yelled, “Out!”

-Peter

From an exercise in writing Odes

Ode to cards

They wait on Andrew’s cabinet for someone to challenge Andrew to a duel. When Andrew wins with his cards he brags, jumps, gets new cards. Andrew buys covers for his cards so they won’t bend. Andrew Li trades cards.

- By The Great Andrew

Kitten

It was morning on a happy day,

and a cute kitten was

thinking

about

the stories Mommy told him about Pegasus.

ALL I WANT TO DO IS FLY!

he yelled.

Sister says: Cats stay on the ground

where they can eat rats.

Where humans live in their fancy hats

and feed us cats.

That help us through all our lives,

even when the humans are busy picking chives.

-Taj

Ancient Writing

Waiting in a temple

Never to be discovered

The Ancient Writing yells,

“I am here explorers!

Come and get me!”

The temple said,

“They can’t hear you, dude.”

The Ancient Writing complains,

“I have always wanted to be discovered.

Why haven’t I been disc…”

Suddenly, he heard stomping.

It was an explorer.

-Spencer

The students were asked to consider the importance of line breaks, how to organize the words on a page, and to focus on the images they want to stand out.

My Room

I love my room

I do my homework there

and art there

and read there

and play there

sometimes dusty and

sometimes rusty

I always stay there

more than an hour

I can’t eat there but

I do

I see green walls

I hear birds

I hear music

No difference

but I love my

-Priscilla

From work with Abstraction and Personification

Foolishness

When foolishness crashes through the window, people will run into telephone poles. People will also stick their tongues out and there will be more circuses.

When foolishness crashes through the window, people will wear huge shoes and run red lights.

When foolishness crashes through the window, people will do dumb stuff like litter, and trip and fall. -Hayden

Friendship

When friendship flies through the door

Everyone has a friend

No one is lonely

Everyone is happy

No one is sad

Everyone will have fun

No one will be bored

Everyone will have someone to sit with

No one will sit alone. -Oona

Darkness

When darkness walks through the door

Night will be permanent

Zombies will rise

Bats will be hunting

When darkness walks through the door

Frankenstein will awake

More vampires will summon

Love will be crushed

When darkness walks through the door

RIch will be poor

Friendship will break

Gods will be devils

Peace will be war

When darkness walks through the door

Darkness will be permanent. -Sam

When happiness walks through the door When happiness walks through the door

the dark light is no more

When white light is in ore

to the doors say no more

When happiness walks through the door. -Jalen