In his poem “First Grade” Ron Koertge describes, from the point of view of a student, the first major change children face: starting school. Beginning the poem, the speaker describes their fond memories of before school; but, towards the end of the poem, the focus shifts to how the speaker felt upon entering school for the first time. During the time the speaker of the poem recalls events from before school began, they focus on positive memories. Koertge expresses the whimsical joys of childhood shenanigans, such as thinking “it would be fun to wear snowshoes/all the time”, to establish normal behavior for kids (Koertge 3-4). Children possess imaginations strong enough to convince themselves that “Every forest/[has] wolves in it”; and, looking