Two Groups

Mrs. McKeown's Poetry

Two Groups

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Two Groups

I'm Thankful

Introduction:
Break the class up into 2 groups. Let each group read and practice their lines before you put them together with the other group. Have each group then read every other line of the poem. Make sure the 2nd group reads like they are responding to the first.

I'm thankful for my baseball bat,
I cracked it yesterday,
I'm thankful for my checker set,
I haven't learned to play,
I'm thankful for my mittens,
one is missing in the snow,
I'm thankful for my hamsters,
they escaped a month ago.

I'm thankful for my basketball,
it's sprung another leak,
I'm thankful for my parakeet,
it bit me twice last week,
I'm thankful for my bicycle,
I crashed into a tree,
I'm thankful for my roller skates,
I fell and scraped my knee.

I'm thankful for my model plane,
it's short a dozen parts,
I'm thankful for my target game,
I'm sure I'll find the darts,
I'm thankful for my bathing suit,
it came off in the river,
I'm thankful for so many things,
except, of course, for LIVER!

--Jack Prelutsky --

From New Kids on the Block by Jack Prelutsky, published Greenwillow Books, 1984.

Extension:
Brainstorm as a class a number of things they are thankful for. Using these ideas, write a class poem similar to the poem above. Have them add the twist of humor to each thing they are thankful for.