Until the Fence! - The Chicago Poetry Center

Until the Fence!

This week in Ms. Wilson’s 4th-grade class we started by asking ourselves about a time we were surprised. We then read the poem, “Skating in the Wind” by Kristine O’Connell George. The poem ends on a pretty surprising line, so we took some time to go over what we’ve learned about line so far. We noticed that line-breaks can also be used to surprise the reader, so we decided to give that a try in our own poems. O’Connell George also has some really nice similes in their poem, the students found “taught like a sail” (the speaker’s jacket) and “skimming like butter on a hot skillet” (the speaker’s skates). The following poems are about surprises and they endeavor to use a simile to bring the reader closer to the action!

Ms. Wilson 4th Grade

The day I shared a room Raven

My mom told me
that I had to share a room with
my five year old sister
she was as happy as a penguin
my oldest sister
got a room to herself and I was
surprised as a ghost she was cheerful
as a chick.

My Poem Malorie

My name is Malorie and
this is thee story about
me and my mom fun
day!

My mom told me
that I’m loud like the
theme park because I was
on the rollercoaster that’s
why my mom told me
that I was loud.

My little kittens Alphonse

I was in bed my brother wake me up
I look under the bed
my cat was sleeping like
a sloth I flash some light
I saw a kitten 3 of them

The surprisement of Christmas Deziah

One lovely night aka morning
there was a big green tree
I have realized it was a
Christmas tree. I was so
excited. to know what I
had. I saw some presents
under the tree and I opened
it I had a lot of stuff
under the tree and that
is when I was surprisement.

and I had a hooverboard
some necklace and new shoes
and a toy kitchen and makeup
and a VR set. It was fun
I played with it for hours.

The Surprise Michael

I was ready for school when
my mom stopped me like I was gonna do something
bad but there was someone waiting for me.

I stayed home but then we drove to the airport
we were going to the Bahamas.
I was surprised as a mouse getting caught.

Scene 75 Taraji

A time when I was suprised
when my mom took me to Scene 75 for
my birthday.

I got on the roller coasters with
my sister, cousin, and friends.
When the ride started the wind hit my face.

The wind hit my face like
a bunch of feathers at one time.
It was fun next time I go
I’ll have more fun.

And I was surprised like
a baby chicken.