"I Remember" Poems - A Quick And Easy Poetry Structure

Using a set structure for poems is an effective way to offer poetry "training wheels" to your young students. Budding poets will enjoy expressing their creativity through the structure you offer them.

"I Remember" Poems work well because everybody has cherished memories and can find a unique voice for expressing hopes for the future.

Teach your students to be very specific and use concrete details to create a vivid picture for their readers. Model with your own "I Remember" Poems and share brainstorming techniques to help them come up with ideas.

Here is an example of an effective "I Remember" Poem that one of my students wrote:

I Remember

I remember the first time I walked into Room 14 and I saw cursive on the wall.

I remember smiling when I saw some old classmates from second grade.

I remember a furry brown monkey swinging on his long arms at the Wild Animal Park.

I remember receiving the first letter from my pen pal and he told me he likes pizza.

I remember the sweet taste of milk chocolate in my mouth after we did fractions with Hershey bars.

I remember noticing a brightly-colored butterfly landing on my blue jeans.