I had the pleasure of meeting my future fifth graders, class of 2006/2007. 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!
It's confusing.
I never know what to write.
My cat will have a heart attack.
It's boring.
I'll cry.
It hurts my fingers.
Writing a poem makes me think too hard.
My parents told me not to.
I have a stomach cramp.
It will take too long.
I haven't learned much about it.
I don't have a pencil.
I don't like poems.
It gives you bad luck.
My poem might try to eat you.
I spilled water on it.
I'm busy doing my homework.
My dog ate all the pencils.
My brother is too loud.
I'm too young.
It's mean.
An eagle took it away.
My hand will get very tired.
It's not fun.
The mutant pickle ate my paper and my pencil.
My magic 8 ball said I can't.
I broke my nose with a water bottle.
My imagination is funny most of the time.
My eyes hurt.
I'm allergic to paper.
My thumb is dislocated.
I write in Japanese characters.
My handwriting stinks.
The purple people-eating monster ate me.
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?
