Share the Square Roles Instructions: With your group, read every poem. Choose one poem to respond to. Each of you will fill one square. You can not play a role more than once. Word Wizard 1. Define any important, difficult, or long words using a dictionary. You should define at least one word, but no more than three. 2. Answer ONE of the following questions: a. Describe the mood of the poem. Is it happy, mysterious sad, energetic? How can you tell the mood of the poem? b. What does the title of the poem mean? Can you think of a better title? Adventurous Artist 1. Find a way to artistically represent the poem. You can draw, paint, make a collage etc. You can represent anything: one part of the poem, the most important part of the poem, the most exciting part of the poem etc. 2. Briefly explain why you represented it this way. Explanation Expert 1. Pretend you are a teacher and you have to explain the poem to your classmates. Write a paragraph to tell them everything you know about the poem: Who is in it? What is it about? Why do you think this poem is important? What is the theme? Question Quizzer. 1. Write two questions that you have about the poem. For example, why is the poem shaped this way or why does the poet choose this word? 2. Try to answer your own questions.
Poem Package A Instructions: With your group, read every poem. Choose one poem to respond to. Each of you will fill one square. You can not play a role more than once. Roles: Word Wizard, Adventurous Artist, Explanation Expert, and Question Quizzer. Jimmy Jet and His TV Set I'll tell you the story of Jimmy Jet-- And you know what I tell you is true. He loved to watch his TV set Almost as much as you. He watched all day, he watched all night Till he grew pale and lean, From 'The Early Show' to 'The Late Show' And all the shows in between. He watched till his eyes were frozen wide, And his bottom grew into his chair. And his chin turned into a tuning dial, And antennae grew out of his hair. And his brains turned into TV tubes, And his face to a TV screen. And two knobs saying 'vert.' and 'horiz.' Grew where his ears had been. And he grew a plug that looked like a tail So we plugged in little Jim. And now instead of him watching TV We all sit around and watch him. -- Shel Silverstein
Poem Package A Part 2 All my Great Excuses I started on my homework but my pen ran out of ink. My hamster ate my homework. My computer's on the blink. For Sale One sister for sale! One sister for sale! One crying and spying young sister for sale! I m really not kidding, So who ll start the bidding? Do I hear a dollar? A nickel? A penny? Oh, isn t there, isn t there, isn t there any One kid that will buy this old sister for sale, This crying and spying young sister for sale? -- Shel Silverstein I accidentally dropped it in the soup my mom was cooking. My brother flushed it down the toilet when I wasn't looking. My mother ran my homework through the washer and the dryer. An airplane crashed into our house. My homework caught on fire. Tornadoes blew my notes away. Volcanoes struck our town. My notes were taken hostage by an evil killer clown. Some aliens abducted me. I had a shark attack. A pirate swiped my homework and refused to give it back. I worked on these excuses so darned long my teacher said, "I think you'll find it's easier to do the work instead." --Kenn Nesbitt
Poem Package B Instructions: With your group, read every poem. Choose one poem to respond to. Each of you will fill one square. You can not play a role more than once. Roles: Word Wizard, Adventurous Artist, Explanation Expert, and Question Quizzer. Xbox, Xbox: A Love Story Xbox, Xbox, you're the one for me. I also love my 3DS and my Nintendo Wii. GameCube, GameBoy, Apple ipod Touch. I never thought that I would ever be in love this much. Pac-Man, Sonic, Mario, and Link. Your names are etched inside my mind in everlasting ink. Run, jump, flip, hang, double-jump, and climb. That's all I want to do with every second of my time. This is true love. Yes, it's plain to see. Xbox, Xbox, will you marry me? --Kenn Nesbitt Rain I opened my eyes And looked up at the rain, And it dripped in my head And flowed into my brain, And that I hear as I lie in my bed Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head. I sleep very softly, I walk very slow, I can t do a handstand, I might overflow, So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said I m just not the same since there s rain in my head -- Shel Silverstein
Foul Shot With two 60s stuck on the scoreboard And two seconds hanging on the clock, The solemn boy in the center of eyes, Squeezed by silence, Seeks out the line with his feet, Soothes his hands along his uniform, Gently drums the ball against the floor, Then measures the waiting net, Raises the ball on his right hand, Balances it with his left, Calms it with fingertips, Breathes, Crouches, Waits, And then through a stretching of stillness, Nudges it upward. The ball Slides up and out, Lands, Leans, Wobbles, Wavers, Hesitates, Exasperates, Plays it coy Until every face begs with unsounding screams And then And then And then, Right before ROAR-UP, Dives down and through. -- Edwin Hoey Poem Package B Part 2
Poem Package C Instructions: With your group, read every poem. Choose one poem to respond to. Each of you will fill one square. You can not play a role more than once. Roles: Word Wizard, Adventurous Artist, Explanation Expert, and Question Quizzer. Silent, but... I MAY be silent, but I m thinking. I may not talk, but Don t mistake me for a wall. -- Tsubnoi Shigeji Translated from Japanese by Geoffrey Bownan and Anthony Thwaite. I Know I Am Young I know I am young and need to learn but you are old and need to remember. -- Ann Lazechko Thoughts There are so many things in life I want to do: But some I don t have the courage to do, Some I don t have the ability to do, And others nobody will let me do. So I fish. -- Marty Robillard
Poem Package D Instructions: With your group, read every poem. Choose one poem to respond to. Each of you will fill one square. You can not play a role more than once. Roles: Word Wizard, Adventurous Artist, Explanation Expert, and Question Quizzer. The Meeting As I walked home down the Old Wood Road With my basket and my lesson book A deer stepped out of the tall trees And down to drink at the brook Twilight was all around me Twilight, and tree on tree I looked straight into those great strange eyes And those eyes looked back at me Beautiful, brown, and unafraid Those eyes returned my stare And something with neither sound nor name Passed between us there Something I shall not forget Something still, and shy, and wise In the dimness of the woods From a pair of gold-flecked eyes. -- Rachel Field. The Land of Counterpane When I was sick and lay a-bed, I had two pillows at my head, And all my toys beside me lay, To keep me happy all the day. And sometimes for an hour or so I watched my leaden soldiers go, With different uniforms and drills, Among the bed-clothes, through the hills; And sometimes sent my ships in fleets All up and down among the sheets; Or brought my trees and houses out, And planted cities all about. I was the giant great and still That sits upon the pillow-hill, And sees before him, dale and plain, The pleasant land of counterpane. -- Robert Louis Stevenson