Second Grade Poets Grow Big and Small

(submitted by Alysa Cummings, Supervisor of Curriculum & Instruction)

To get a head start on their April celebration of National Poetry Month, second grade teachers invited Curriculum and Instruction Supervisor Alysa Cummings into their classrooms during the month of March for a fun Shel Silverstein lesson based on his Where the Sidewalk Ends poem,

One Inch Tall:

If you were only one inch tall, you'd ride a worm to school.The teardrop of a crying ant would be your swimming pool.A crumb of cake would be a feastAnd last you seven days at least,A flea would be a frightening beastIf you were one inch tall…

The students tried to imagine what life would be like if they were suddenly shrunken in size. After reading One Inch Tall, here are some of the creative ideas that Miss Hill’s boys and girls shared:

I could swim in a bowl of cheerios
I would fly in a bubble
I would jump through a paper clip
And dance on the computer keys

Next, the second graders used their imaginations to write about a different perspective: how would your life change if you were suddenly 15 feet tall? Miss Frazier’s and Mrs. Tsombaris’ students really liked being big:

I would give my teacher a ride to work on my shoulder
I could eat 6000 bags of cookies
I could walk from New Jersey to the North Pole
I would step on a lot of people
I could jump as high as the sky
I would slide down a rainbow
I would feel big and strong
I could do anything I wanted to if I was 15 feet tall…

Shel Silverstein is just one of many poets that elementary students will be celebrating during National Poetry Month and clearly a top ten favorite among second graders.