Three Days With Fourth Graders: The Poems

Last week, I shared some of the highlights and the areas I needed to work on in my poetry residency with fourth graders. Today I want to share just a few of their poems. Most of these were first drafts, written in three minutes or less–we put the timer to good use! I loved how after a little practice, the words just poured out like water from a faucet as soon as I said, “Start!”

Here are just a few brief samples of the kinds of poems we worked on. We worked a lot on formatting poems on the page, and that element is TOTALLY lost here. Sorry about that!

I Am Poems

I am

I am a wild thing I
bloom like a flower I am a bright
sunny day I am a weeping willow
I am

–Olivia T.


Book Spine Poems


Yellowstone moran
In her hands
An eye for color

–Hannah H.

Raspberries
Yummy

–C.K.

15 Words or Less Poems Inspired by Picture of T. Rex Mouth

A T‑rex tooth

My teeth look
like bats hanging
from my mouth
What am
I

–Alan J.

The T‑Rex Porcipine

T‑Rex’s have sharp
teeth it makes me think
of a porcipine’s quills.

–Rilee H.

What Does It Do Poem, Inspired by C. Drew Lamm’s Night

Night (This was our example poem)

Rests
on
shadows.

Kisses
my
eyes.

Dips
me
in twilight.

Covers
me
with dreams.

–C. Drew Lamm, all rights reserved

A great summer
walk in the day twist all
around Hop gladly tap on the
summer beat
Leap
home

–Anonymous

Peace

Waks
   on earth
lays
   on the world
spins
   around the world
makes
   children laugh

– Haylee P.


15 Words or Less Poems Inspired by Picture of a Firework


I grow on a bush
I make a great fruit
I explode because I’m
to ripe

–Michelle S.

fireworks are really
beautiful in the sky and
you get to say oh ah loudly.

–Peter H.

Paint Chip Poems

Hint of cream
reminds me of
cream cheese
my lister
loves it
but I
don’t

–Sam B.

Quaking Grass

color of beauty
each and every day
looking nice and fine
rember the color
of beauty

–Anonymous

Ireland’s Sky

The blueish greenish
sky in Ireland
hanging over with white
clouds people looking up
see.

–Jayden P.

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