Building Community – Using Poetry
Look Out!
-Max Fatchen
The witches mumble horrid chants,
You’re scolded by five thousand aunts,
A Martian pulls a fearsome face,
And hurls you into Outer Space,
You’re tied in front of whistling trains,
A tomahawk has sliced your brains,
The tigers snarl, the giants roar,
You’re sat on by a dinosaur.
In vain you’re shouting "Help" and "Stop,"
The walls are spinning like a top,
The earth is melting in the sun
And all the horror’s just begun.
And, oh, the screams, the thumping hearts—
That awful night before school starts.
How did you feel the night before school started?
Write a brief paragraph (5-7 sentences) in the space below about your feelings towards starting school today.
____________________________
Homework! Oh, Homework!
-Jack Prelutsky
Homework! Oh, homework!
I hate you! You stink!
I wish I could wash you
Away in the sink,
If only a bomb
Would explode you to bits.
Homework! Oh, homework!
You’re giving me fits.
I’d rather take baths
With a man-eating shark,
Or wrestle a lion
Alone in the dark,
Eat spinach and liver,
Pet ten porcupines,
Than tackle the homework
My teacher assigns.
Homework! Oh, homework!
You’re last on my list,
I simply can’t see
Why you even exist,
If you just disappeared
It would tickle me pink.
Homework! Oh, homework!
I hate you! You stink!
What is the worst homework assignment you have ever been assigned (or what would you think was a really horrible assignment)?
In a brief paragraph (5-7 sentences), describe the assignment and the work you did for it. What made it the worst assignment? Did you finish it?
____________________________
School, Some Suggestions
-Bobbi Katz
If kids could be the teachers,
if kids could make the rules,
there’d be a lot of changes made
in almost all the schools.
First thing they’d stop the homework.
They’d never give a test.
They know that growing children
must have their proper rest.
They’d make the lunchtime longer—
let’s say from twelve to two,
so every growing boy or girl
had time enough to chew!
Of course, concerning recess,
kids clearly realize
to keep their bodies healthy,
kids need to exercise.
And so there would be recess,
perhaps from nine to ten,
and then when it is two o’clock
it’s recess time again!
With longer, stronger weekends,
each child would grow so smart—
he would perform with excellence
in music, gym, and art!
What would your suggestion be if you could make the rules at school?
Describe briefly, in one paragraph, how your suggestion would change the school and why it is an important change.