Happy Places - The Chicago Poetry Center

Happy Places

Later in the week, Ms. Wilson’s 4th-graders at Dulles Elementary dove right into figurative language! We read Nikki Giovanni’s Knoxville Tennessee and talked about our happy places. I lead them through a short guided meditation to help build the scene, either from memory or a fantasy. They found all of the senses in Giovanni’s poem, and then worked to incorporate each one into their poems, check it out!

Ms. Wilson 4th Grade

Me at golden corral with my family Deziyah

I see golden corral place
I smell fresh food
I taste the pizza
I touch the white plate
I hear the spirit bubbling

i see, i hear, i smell, i touch, i taste Anonymous

i see my teacher in the morning
i hear my baby brother when he cry i
give him his bottle
i smell mcdonalds spicy mcchicken
i touch Taraji when i get bored
i say i’m say i’m sorry

i taste pasta in the mac in cheese

School Krystal

I see my teacher
I hear the bell
I smell the lunch
I touch the pizza
I taste pizza

On a tropical beach Taraji

On the tropical beach I hear
my family playing
and splashing in the water
with the shallow waves

I see lots of food that my dad
made. he made barbeque, lemonade,
fruit, homemade bread, and icecream

I smell the yummy food my dad
cooked up all this time.

I touch the soft warm sand
then the wavey water with my hand

I taste the sauce my dad made
and sweetness and homemade bread.

I L♥VE SEAFOOD E'moni

I see shrimp and seafood on the cob
I smell crab legs
I hear chewing
I taste the sauce
I touch all the food.