August 18 is Bad Poetry Day
You know the kind of poems I mean-the kind that make you say “ouch!” when you hear them. Some bad poetry is created on purpose, and some is quite accidental. All of it is fun to read, and you can have alot of fun writing it.
Limericks are some of the best bad poetry around. These little poems are great jokes and puns, and some are hilarious. They’re also pretty easy to write. Writing limericks is an exercise in control over language and humor, and it’s as much fun as it is good for you. Check out these favorite Limerick Sites:
Limericks A wide selection here, and some info about writing limericks.
Loony Limericks Here’s a fun collection, but it’s definitely rated PG.
Limerick Lesson Plan Teaching a lesson on limericks? Check this out.
Other poetry is simply bad. It was done by accident, usually by someone who thought he or she was writing good poetry. The author just completely missed the boat. For examples, check out these websites:
The Bad Poetry Page -this one features a do-it-yourself system! You can post your own bad poetry here.
Very Bad Poetry Visit here and you’ll be treated to a randomly selected bad poem.
Writing Bad Poetry It’s true that you must truly master something to mess it up on purpose. Check this one out!
Sometimes the best way to appreciate the good stuff is to read the bad. Have fun with Bad Poetry Day!
*******************************************
Return to the Front Page.
Return to the Holidays Section.
© 2008 Sandra Fleming
Get in Gear for Learning
School’s right around the corner for most of us, and it’s time to switch on those mental gears and get the kids back into the swing of learning. You can help everyone, from the youngest to the oldest, get back into school mode by challenging the brains a bit during these last few weeks of summer break. Here are some fun ideas that won’t seem like school, but will get the brains fired up.
Play Family Games
Nearly any game from your game closet will help kids learn something important for school success. Whether they get to practice math facts with dice, learn about modular math with game boards that go in circles, count play money, or plan strategy, it’s all working toward the goal of getting ready to hit the books.
Plan a Shopping Trip
Use catalogs or the newspaper sale flyers and send your group on an imaginary shopping spree. You can have them shop for anything they want: cars, groceries, toys, whatever. Give them each a set amount of pretend spending money and have them find advertisements for things they’d like to buy.
Want Ad Stories
Nearly every newspaper has a personals or a lost and found section in the want ads. Choose an ad and have your young writer make up the story to go with it. What happened to cause this ad to be placed? What happened after the ad was in the paper? How did it all turn out?
Try Some Science
You don’t need a school to tell you to do science projects. How about setting up a family-wide science fair? The internet is loaded with experiment ideas if you need them, and every student will benefit from the logical thinking, writing and presentation practice.
These are just a few ways to get the mental muscles back in shape for the coming school year. Give it a try! You will find that your kids will be more willing and efficient students if they get some of the rust out of the brain in August.
***********************************************
Return to the Front Page
Return to the Parents’ Corner
******************************************
© 2008 Sandra Fleming
Happy Sea Serpent Day! (August 7)
Now here’s a holiday for all ages! Celebrate sea serpents all day today. Try writing a story or a poem with a sea serpent in it. Make up a recipe for sea serpent stew. Use rulers, yardsticks and tape measures to pace out imaginary sea serpents of various sizes. Get artistic and draw a sea serpent. The sky’s the limit, and you can really get your imagination in gear for this party. How could you build a sea serpent or make a sea serpent costume with what you have around the house? Let’s see…some blankets would come in handy, and maybe some rope.
And check out these helpful links:
Look! Sea Serpents in Wikipedia!
Here’s a real winner: a Sea Serpent PARTY!
*******************************************
Return to the Front Page
Return to the Holiday Section
*********************************************
© 2008 Sandra Fleming
Hooray for National Mustard Day!
August 5 is National Mustard Day, and what a great day for cooking with the kids. Check your favorite cookbooks or internet recipe sites and find a few mustard-related recipes, like potato salad, baked beans, or honey-mustard sauce. Head off to the kitchen and let the kids loose. While they’re having fun, they will be learning about sequencing, following directions, reading comprehension, measurement, time management and more.
And don’t forget that mustard is also a color. Can you come up with a yellow art project to round out your day? Try this with young children: get a collection of yellow paint sample sheets from your local hardware store. Cut the yellows apart and then challenge your young child to arrange them in order of shade. You can make this as easy or as tough as you like-just change the number of shades you use and how closely they resemble each other.
Finally, take some time to learn about mustard itself. Where does it come from? What is its history? What is it used for? Who makes it? Do all of the plants with the name ‘mustard’ actually have anything to do with the condiment? Why do they have the names they do?
Have fun!
*******************************************
Return to the Front Page
Return to the Holidays Section
******************************************
© 2008 Sandra Fleming
