Our POEM OF THE DAY was ‘Mulga Bill’s Bicycle’ by A. B. Patterson who turned away his good old horse for a shining new machine.
Go HERE to read this fun poem about Mulga Bill and his adventure on a penny farthing. You can also view it being read HERE.
Reading a poem out loud …
We discussed how to read a poem and the different ways to bring interest. Some of these tricks are:
– Varying pace at different places in the poem
– Pausing for punctuation or for effect
– Speaking softly in places or loudly for some words
– Definitely speaking clearly, know what you are reading well. This is a must!
– Using gestures/actions like pointing your finger, shrugging your should or walking along depending on what you are reading.
Hot Seat Fun
This week, we reviewed the poems we had read about the children who had troubles listening to their parents. And then we put a few of our young authors in the ‘HOT Seat’ as the characters from these poems. We asked questions such as:
– What makes you happy?
– What is the most difficult thing you have had to face?
– Do you have a special talent or hobby?
– Why did you do it/not do it?
– What advice do you have for parents?
From our discussions we discovered that Gordon was probably claustrophobic, Bradley would advise his parents to hire a cleaner and Tawny’s best friend is a cat.
Vocabulary
Some of the vocabulary we covered this week was:
Resplendent – Attractive and impressive through being richly colourful, shining brilliantly
Chiefest – the main, first and foremost
Sole – being the only one
Axle – The rod that rotates the wheels and supports the weight of a vehicle.
Girths – The measurement around the middle of something, a persons waist OR a band attached to a saddle to keep the saddle in place
Abode – the place where someone lives.
Fray – a fight, struggle, something to test ones ability
Precipice – a very steep rock face or cliff; especially a tall one
Despair – having lost hope
Encountered – unexpectedly meeting someone or something (can be unpleasant)
Henceforth – a formal word meaning starting from this time
Innovating sentences
To play around with ideas, we began with a sentence and switched out words to make our own ‘innovated’ sentences. We try to do this as a short burst writing activity to get ideas flowing quickly. We can always change as we go or afterwards.
The sentence we innovated on today was:
In the clouds, I saw an old man resting in his bed. It became …
- In the garden, I saw a farmer digging a vegetable garden.
- In the circus, I saw a sad clown playing with the hoops.
I didn’t manage to capture everyone’s innovation but if you wish to send me some more, I will add them:)
Poetry Challenge ‘What if …’
Our final challenge was to take this ‘What if’ poem and create our own joint class innovation. Again, this activity required lots of quick thinking input from the group and a choice word had to be selected. Children can often be unsure of their ideas and reluctant to offer up thoughts; however, once we were getting into this activity, ideas were flowing.
Here is the original ‘What if …” poem:
What if …
The Mona Lisa began to sing like Kylie Minogue.
Yawned loudly.
Asked the way to the shops.
Winked at me,
wrinkled her nose,
ate a double cheeseburger and fries,
took her dog for a walk,
went to live in Wellard.
(Pie Corbett)
Our Innovated Class Poem ‘What if ….’
What if …
Bob the Builder
began to deliver parcels like Postman Pat.
Destroyed bananas.
Asked how to build a statue.
Burped loudly.
Flicked French fries or was it flies.
Ate a golden steak and an apple pie, with ice cream on the side.
Took himself for a walk.
Went to Alaska.
Home Tasks
- Glue into your Magpie Journal ‘Mulga Bill’s Bicycle’ poem at page 27 (like we glued in the Bradley Baxter poem) AND glue in the other ‘adjective, noun, adverbs and verbs’ sheet at page 28.
- Watch some of these poems being read for inspiration on “Reading a poem out loud”
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- Michael Rosen reading his poem ‘Newcomers‘
- Steve Attewell “Once, I laughed my socks off“
- Joseph Coelho “Onomatopoeia“
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- In preparation for sharing your poem with each other, practise reading your poem to each member of your family, to yourself in the mirror and why not read it to your pet turtle (let’s just pretend you all have pet turtles)!
- Add at least one word, a phrase or an idea to the ‘Magpie Treasures’ part of your magpie journal. You certainly may add some more thoughts if you find more:)
