I shared this with a team member today and thought you might like it for the future...

The Guppy
by Ogden Nash

Whales have calves,
Cats have kittens,
Bears have cubs,
Bats have bittens,
Swans have cygnets,
Seals have puppies,
But guppies just have little guppies.

I've always liked this one but I don't know who wrote it.

Smiling is infectious
You catch it like the flu
When someone smiled at me today
I started smiling too
I walked around the corner
And someone saw me grin
When he smiled I realised
I had passed it on to him
I thought about the smile
And then realised its worth
A single smile like mine
Could travel round the earth
So if you feel a smile begin
Don't leave it undetected
Start an epidemic
And get the world infected.

And I just thought of another one by Shel Silverstein that I always thought was good too

Sandra's seen a leprechaun,
Eddie touched a troll,
Laurie danced with witches once,
Charlie found some goblins' gold.
Donald heard a mermaid sing,
Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known
I've had to make myself.
--Shel Silverstein

ragdoll2007, now I am smiling too. Both of those poems are sweet and true. I just googled the first poem (most asked question online: we do before Google?!) and the author is Russel H. Conwell.

I think I should start a poetry file/ collection again! Hopefully, this Tuesday I'll be able to do my workshop.

Editing to say welcome to the forums Ragdoll2007. Glad to meet you.

I just found this poem....

The Optimist
by Author Unknown

The optimist fell ten stories.
At each window bar
He shouted to his friends:
"All right so far."

This particular poem was my children's favourite, I can still hear them laughing at it now.

Daddy fell into the Pond

Everyone grumbled. The sky was grey.
We had nothing to do and nothing to say.
We were nearing the end of a dismal day,
And then there seemed to be nothing beyond,
Then
Daddy fell into the pond!

And everyone's face grew merry and bright,
And Timothy danced for sheer delight.
"Give me the camera, quick, oh quick!
He's crawling out of the duckweed!" Click!

Then the gardener suddenly slapped his knee,
And doubled up, shaking silently,
And the ducks all quacked as if they were daft,
And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.
Oh, there wasn't a thing that didn't respond
When
Daddy Fell into the pond!

Bear In There
by Shel Silverstein

There's a Polar Bear
In our Frigidaire--
He likes it 'cause it's cold in there.
With his seat in the meat
And his face in the fish
And his big hairy paws
In the buttery dish,
He's nibbling the noodles,
He's munching the rice,
He's slurping the soda,
He's licking the ice.
And he lets out a roar
If you open the door.
And it gives me a scare
To know he's in there--
That Polary Bear
In our Fridgitydaire.

I love poetry. I'm not too good at memorizing or even remembering their authors but I remember a couple from my childhood. Titles and authors are unknown but maybe you've heard them?
I hope this is helpful.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I,
But when the trees bow down
their heads,
The wind is passing by.

and

He's an old, blind bear
Alone in the winter woods
With only the smell of his
breath for comfort.
Too mean to die, too lost to care
But show some caution,
he's still the bear.

"Who Has Seen the Wind?" is by Christina Rossetti. I agree, it's a nice one for children.
As to the "Bear" quote, I cannot find it anywhere and have never heard it.Do you have any clues? It seems lovely.

One of my favorite poems:

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.

The purple-headed mountain,
The river running by,
The sunset, and the morning,
That brightens up the sky;

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,
He made them every one.

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell,
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.

Cecil Frances Alexander

I finally had children at my poetry workshop (the first two weeks it was too cold and snowy and we had fewer than 10 kids come out-all in the gym and computer lab).

Last week we didn't have anyone come but I recited my Chicken poem (see above a couple of posts...) to some kids eating their snacks. I saw several of the kids at school and they said they were coming to hear my poems. And another teacher told me they commented that they wanted to come see the poetry teacher!

I had six children- they didn't come until 30 minutes until we closed. We just had time to read through some poems and talked about them.- didn't get to writing our own. But got to start someplace!

Then, they were really interested in pasting their poems in their notebook. We talked about one poem that said the crocodile looked like it was grinning. I asked if the poet was taking something we don't usually like or think it looks scary or awful and remind us that it lives in our world like we do.

So, we basically just read poems and started our poetry book.

Now, I need rest! I got to work at 6:45 AM and got home at 8:20 PM!

Again, thanks for all the poems. I am going back through and use them. There are a lot of variety here.

Joy

Joy, I don't know if this is too late, or if you're going to do another session, but this is a good one for kids as you can have a lot of fun with it. It's probably an obvious one, but i always liked it as a youngster.

By Lewis Carroll:


Jabberwocky

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.


"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.


`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

It's not too late! I do remember that one but haven't read it for awhile. We will be having more sessions, and I think I might use this one.

But here is a question. How do I pronounce these silly words? I mean, I am the worst being able to pronounce harder than usual words. Can I think of words that sort of rhyme with these and substitute the letters?

Another thing I am thinking of doing is introducing poems to my after school tutoring program. This is a reading program with 1st graders. They have behavior issues and I'm wondering if I use poems to start the session, it might give them something to think about other than they are STILL in school, after a long day.

If anyone has suggestions still, maybe some that might be funny, like some of these posted, I'd love to know, be reminded of.

Off topic a bit- I am really excited about my tutoring program that I have been recruiting tutors. We have about 20 people that have agreed to tutor the kids. They are a mix of college students, professionals, retirees and even a high school student. When I think of my program, I get this image of these smiling happy people who are eager to help us.

It gives me a warm feeling and I am so happy to have helped bring them to my school. I hope I can convey that to my children. Maybe the poems can help me do that.

OH! I just had an inspiration! I was thinking of how I want to share poems with my students but I will be away from them tomorrow (going to meet some university students recruited by one of the campus organizations).

What I will do is leave two poems. The first one will be a short poem that will be read to them while they are at the door of our room. One about four or five strands long. Then, when they find their names and in their seats, they will hear a second one.

If we do that each day, it'd be a nice way to start our session!

Yeah!

Again, thanks so much for the poems and keep them coming!