For our penultimate sessions, we read and discussed Vievee Francis’ “Clarity.” As kind of a ‘greatest hits’ literary device-wise, we examined the poet’s use of simile, personification, and in particular blank space, as well as the poem’s (apparent) main idea as expressed through its language and lineation. Leading into their own composition time, we focused on its interesting title, clarity—being certain, clear, definite—and they then made their own poems around something they figured out, or want to figure out.
Ms. Travis
4th Grade
Is There 2 of Me?
Arin B.
I wonder is there 2 of me?
I wonder,
does he have the same
personality about me?
Does he like pizza + burgers?
I need to know!
If there’s 2 of me can he see
that I like books?
I wonder,
does he go to my school?
Is he a fool or just super cool?
I need to know is he famous?
Is he fun? Does he like the sun?
Even if there’s none that
makes me happy cause I am
special!
Figure Me Out
Enzo B.
I’m like a puzzle
figure me out
you could get good or bad
you finish the puzzle,
I’m complete
you don’t finish it
I’m missing parts
I don’t know my name
I don’t have a personality
that’s why you have to figure me out
I don’t know everything about myself
I need to figure that out
I need to complete the puzzle
Do I Have a Dog?
Kree B.
Something I wanna figure out
is am I getting a surprise
dog. I heard my mom talking
about it but I didn’t know if
it was about me so now
I’m curious so now I’m thinking
because I really wanna new
dog even though I have
3 dogs and 1 cat but
I love dogs so I will continue
to want more.
Figure Out Stuff
Samuel D.
many things can be confusing
and lots of things can be
amusing
stuff has stumped people for
years
like how to get to Mars
or make healthy candy bars
we could end up figuring it out
over time
but it might take a little penny
and a dime
Figure Out
Felix E.
I figure out things all the time, like when I was rock climbing
and I couldn’t reach the next piece but I figured out I could
jump and then I did it. Or when I lost my book but then
I traced my steps and I figured out where it was. These
things happen all the time, and most of the time you can
figure it out, but sometimes I can’t figure something out but
then after time you’ll maybe find it on accident, or
even someone else will find it.
The Oven
Carter J.
I was about 6 years old when I knew
how you use the oven
and listen, I know it’s just an
oven but it was the only opponent
I could never beat. But then
I watched a YouTube video
and boom there it was I had
finally learned how to use the oven.
I had won the battle but I
still can’t cook so what that’s no
clue.
Lies
Kayden L.
There are things that people tell that isn’t true
they’re called lies. I figured out most of them.
Why tell lies? One thing I want to find out
not many people know.
People fall for these lies every day.
People tell them every day.
Not many people will ever know
that’s just life.
Figure It Out
E’Mari M.
“Can I play it?” I say as I ask
my mom if I could play the game
I love. “Football.” I’ll never fall.
I’ll love the game everyone adores,
until they’re unsure. I never give up until
it’s time. I really hope you loved these
rhymes!
Long Ago, On My Own
Riya S.
I want to figure out
the mystery of how humans
lived, long ago, on my own.
I wish to go
to caveman time,
to find out, long ago,
on my own.
Ancient scripts of unknown writing.
No cars or motorbikes or flying.
Animals of the past, who know what?
For I will find out this long ago, on my own.
If I could, I would
go back to caveman times.
No nickels, no pennies, no dimes.
I will find this out, long ago, on my own.
Ms. Nelson
4th Grade
Read My Mind!
Abdul A.
read my mind
pick:
red
blue
green
take 5 seconds
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and
what was I thinking
blue!
Stop It!
Grayson B.
So many questions we want to know
but only so many can be answered.
One question that should be answered first is
how to stop global warming. We need to
stop it! Stop it! Stop it! It hurts everything
from oceans to animals. We’re the cause of it.
We got to pause it.
Fake or Real
Jade L.
I do not feel as I seem,
I simply feel like a dream.
Am I just a toy
who brings children joy?
Am I just a doll?
If someone drops me, will I fall?
Am I fake or real?
And if I am fake,
how fake should I feel?
Figure
Liam M.
I figured out
my dog is
sick
I figured out I’m
faster than
my friend
I figured I triggered
a washing machine
The Void
Nyla P.
Why does the dark loom over
us?
What does it want?
It opens up something
inside us
it makes that light go
away.
It happens every day.
No one knows why
like a raven alone in a tree.
Like a portal leading to
nowhere.
And you never really know
what is out there.
I have tried to look for
that light.
I went deeper than anyone
before.
I tried, I really did.
But sometimes you can’t
escape that monster.
Because it is inside you
it will never come out
no matter how hard you try.
And that is what I
figured out.
Mrs. Keffer
4th Grade
Untitled
Maxim C.
The unknown word
No one knows it
No one knows what it could be
Blank minds
“Shopify.com” SHUT UP!
WE DON’T NEED ANY ADS!
The word needs to be figured out
TO THE LAB!
The word is being thought of
What is it? We don’t know.
“Grammarly” NOOOO!
WE ALREADY TOLD YOU! NO ADS!
I got it!
Never mind.
It’s so hard to think
I’m broken. Oh no! I need my thoughts.
“Disney+!” OH NO! Ugh! Never mind.
“Gasps” the word was bkakms
Niceness
Bryant H.
Why can’t I be nice? I just want
to be nice to my friends. I always
take my jokes too far. One day
everything will go wrong everyone
will hate me and I will be an out-
cast. I don’t think. I shouldn’t be here.
No one will like me and one day I
should just stay quiet.
Untitled
Jiaan J.
He shoots he scores, a feeling
of boredom goes straight over him.
“This is way too easy,” he says. “I can’t
seem to figure out when it gets
harder.”
At the next practice he wonders
who his team is playing next.
He finds out it is the
Lakers.
They lose the game 80-63
but he didn’t care. Finally
he figured it out, the meaning
of a challenge.
Unknown
Mei’yanna W.
Is it a boy? A girl?
My brother is unknown.
He is a dirty shrimpo!
He hates everything! But
for what reason?
He bites, punches, scratches,
hits. ANYTHING YOU CAN
NAME! So,
why is he mad? Ugh, I guess
I’ll never know.
???
Melody Z.
The question nobody knows. Why do we live?
We don’t know.
Why do we need Grammarly? Oh I know.
Because people need better grammar.
AD
“UGH whyyyy please no ads!!!”
Anyway, why can’t Hungry Mungry
cook? BECAUSE HE ONLY EATS!
Mr. O’Brien
4th Grade
The Day I Figured It Out
Khaleesi C.
The day I figured out how to
ride a bike I was 6
I think and my dog got too
close to me when
we were riding and I started
freaking out and I
fell. I was OK. (This was
at Woodhaven.)
It was a few days later
and me and my grampa
had gone to a big hill.
I was kind of nervous.
I did it! Wowww!
Untitled
Viaan M.
I want to climb a mountain
by the way my favorite way
to drink is from a fountain
it’s not scary it can be fun
now sit on the mountain
until you’re done you ate a
big meal and it was yummy
and pretty quick it makes
its way to your tummy
a little while later just
before the food you get to
the place that you call
the bathroom.
Untitled
Natasha P.
I love fall it’s the best thing I
always go out to eat and to the store
Figure It Now
Ranveer R.
I am figuring something it’s a pump machine
so I can pump a guy named Nick who tries
to find curry ingredients. He loves a guy named
currymonkey. Nick is figuring out how to
eat currymonkey. He just likes curry, he wants
to be in a curry show but he is figuring it out.
