I had the pleasure of meeting my future fifth graders, class of 2004/2005. We talked about some of the things we will be doing during the upcoming school year, including exploring many forms of poetry. Mentioning poetry to children ... well, the most positive of reactions is not always what happens!
I asked my incoming children to list all the reasons why they couldn't write a poem, the more ridiculous, the better! At least one line from each of the lists was included in the poem below. I'm confident their opinions will change, but in the meantime...
Forget it!
You must be kidding!
I'm allergic to pencil lead.
I wrote my nice ideas on clear wrap and now I can't find it!
I broke my wrist.
I have to go home to try to make pigs fly.
My computer is on safe mode and it will blow up its memory if I don't restart it!
I'm lazy.
I have to finish my homework.
My head hurts.
I have to go to a Halloween party.
I'm putting ice on my eye.
I'm thirsty.
I'm distracted.
I'm hungry.
I have to do stuff at home.
Poetry is annoying.
I'm not good at rhyming.
I've run out of ideas.
I won't make sense.
My dog ate my paper.
It gives me white hair.
I need to go to Florida to get my color back.
It's recess!
It's time to go home.
I have to finish my PowerPoint.
It sounds weird.
I have to itch my leg.
I have to sharpen my pencil.
I'm rushed and I make mistakes.
Poems take a long time.
They are hard.
I don't know what a poem is.
I'm in the middle of a very exciting book.
A bird just picked up my paper and flew it away.
I'd rather play.
It won't help us when we're grown up.
It's hard to concentrate.
I can't get it to sound right.
Time's up? Uh Oh!
All we have is this list of really silly excuses.
You like it? Really? No kidding?
When can we write another one?
