By: Ms. Brown and Ms. Hafner
4th Grade Teachers at Roosevelt Elementary
When our families and friends walked into Roosevelt Elementary School, we could feel the excitement right away. We were proud to celebrate the end of our poetry unit with a special event where we shared our writing. Our gymnasium turned into a poetry space, and although we were nervous, we couldn’t wait to show what we had been working on.
During our poetry unit, we learned about many kinds of poems, including acrostics, free verse, question poems, and memory/narrative poems. We practiced using imagery, figurative language, and strong word choice to help our poems come alive. “I didn’t think I could do it because it is so different from writing stories,” one student said. Another student said, “I really like my poems, and people gave me so many compliments. I felt so good!”
When it was time to read our poems aloud, some of us felt nervous at first, but we were also excited. As we read, we heard applause and encouragement from the audience. “I felt nervous at first, but then I felt better because I started believing in myself,” one student shared. Another added, “When I read my poem about my mom to her, she had tears of happiness in her eyes.” Our audience was moved by laughter and, for some, tears, by the power of our words. It was so uplifting to know that our writing could affect others that way.
Around the room, we displayed our Poet pages, giving our family and friends an insight into who we are as 4th-grade students. It was great watching our family and friends move around the room, read our pages, and learn more about each of us.
This celebration helped us see ourselves as authors. Sharing our work made us feel confident and reminded us that our words matter. We were proud of what we accomplished and happy to celebrate poetry together at Roosevelt Elementary School.