Poetry

Welcome Parents! 

One of the best ways to help your child read with fluency is to practice reading with poetry. I have begged, borrowed, and scavenged to find many poems to help our young readers.

To get to the poetry, click on a category listed below. All poems for that category should show below. I apologize if this page on my site looks a little messy. I first want to make the poems available to you. I will later work on cleaning up a bit! Thanks for understanding and supporting our young readers!

Good luck, and happy reading!

Categories

Description

My Brain Has Wings
by Donnie Thomassen

My teacher asks us questions
about math and other things.
My brain tries hard to listen
but sometimes it grows wings.

My brain flies off to distant lands
and leaves me in my seat.
My brain has fun with other brains
on some faraway street.

Then when I get home Mom asks
what I learned today.
I told her that my brain has wings and
it sadly flew away.

My mother then glared at me
in a most unpleasant way.
But that's all that I remember
on this unbelievably strange day.




Uncle Harm's Farm
by Donnie Thomassen

I traveled to Uncle Harm's Farm
which is very far away.
My Uncle put me right to work
on this sunny day.

He told me there'd be a great lunch
when the chores were done.
I asked him if I could skip the work
and just go and have some fun.

My Uncle Harm glared at me
with his scraggly face.
"You'll do your chores, little boy,
and you will learn your place."

So I milked the cows and fed the
mule and even gathered eggs.
I fixed the roof and hauled some wood
and got splinters in my legs.

I shoed the horse and fixed the fence
and even fed a pig.
I worked so hard that my little headache
suddenly turned big.

The morning was done and lunch was
served—green beans and smelly fishes.
When we got done my Uncle said,
"Go ahead and do the dishes!"






Now take a moment and sing a geology song! Have fun!

Rock Cycle Song
by Donnie Thomassen
(Sung to the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”)

Rocks rollin’ down the hill
weather and erode
‘til there just a pile of pebbles
on some kind of road.

Soon there’ll be a ton of them
and they’ll start pushing down.
They will now be underground
and in their dark new town.

The rocks get “smooshed” real tight
Sedimentary rock is a go.
They’ll keep going down
where heat and pressure grow.

The heat and pressure, due to depth,
start to change the rocks.
Folding and bending will occur
creating quite a shock.

M-e-t-amorphic rocks
now have their own place.
They are changing all the time
cramped in their tight space.

The rocks will continue down
where magma violently blows.
Now our once solid rock
is a liquid flow.

Now the magma will shoot up
either fast or slow.
Volcanoes will erupt quite fast
and there the magma goes.

If magma travels slowly
all the way to the top,
igneous rocks will be seen-
big crystals the main crop.

If you see tiny crystals,
that tells you something too.
The magma cooled quite quickly
just like a rock igloo.

Some igneous rocks stay underground
for a bit too long.
Metamorphic rocks they become-
geology can’t be wrong.

Uplift, quakes, and eruptions can occur
at any time.
That’s why we have different rocks
discussed in all these rhymes.

Study the rock cycle if you
would like to learn some more.
Lots of fun geology facts will
certainly be in store.




Clothes Shopping
by Donnie Thomassen

Mom dragged me to the shopping
mall after school today.
She said I needed all new clothes--
my others were in decay.

I told my Mom I liked the holes
found in all my jeans.
I even like the weird stains
I got from spilling beans.

She didn't seem to listen and
she dragged me in instead.
She ripped my favorite baseball cap
right off of my dirty head.

She made me try on a shirt made
from the weirdest new material.
I told her that I thought the shirt
smelled just like day-old cereal.

Then I tried on pants and
even fancy socks.
I even tried on bowties—
I'd rather sleep on rocks.

I think I tried on everything they had
in the big boy section.
I will not vote for my Mom
in the Greatest Mom Election!






Half a Watermelon
by Donnie Thomassen

I used to own the entire house
'til Mom brought sister home.
She's half a watermelon in size
and her little hairs need a comb.

I used to spread my trains out
all over our family room.
But baby sister's play pen
means for my trains there's doom.

For such a little baby, she sure
has lots of junk.
There's blankets and bottles and binkies and even
diaper rash gunk.

I asked my Mom the other day
how long this girl was staying.
My Mom said, "Forever!" I guess
there goes my playing.

Then Mom sat me on her lap and
let me hold this thing.
The baby started crying, and
Mom began to sing.

The little watermelon then
showed me a cute little smile.
"Okay," I told my Mom.
"She can stay for awhile!"



The Bus and the Ant
by Donnie Thomassen

My family stood outside the station
waiting for the bus.
Soon we'd throw our bags inside
and visit Uncle Gus.

The enormous bus arrived
and the driver gave a grin.
"Throw in your bags," he did say,
"and then you can come in!"

I pulled and I heaved and gave
my bag a nudge.
I pushed it and I shoved it
but my bag would not budge.

My Dad told me to get my bag in, and then I said,
"I can't!"
He then picked me up and pointed to the ground
and there I saw an ant.

The tiny ant was dragging a crumb about
ten times his size.
He pulled and heaved and dragged and
would not let go of his prize.

Dad gave me a wink and put
me down and told me not to fuss.
I pulled with every muscle I had
and got that bag in the bus.

We loaded up and were on our way
and I began to hum.
I know I'll be able to do anything
just like the ant and the crumb.


Mixing Up
by Donnie Thomassen

I once read an animal book with
mammals and snakes and birds.
Then my crazy twisted brain starting mixing
up the words.

Would a bird and snake become a "snird"
or maybe even a "bake"?
Would this creature fly in the air
or would slithering be the path it takes?

Would a giraffe and monkey make
a "gironkee"? What else could it be?
Would this thing be able to climb
or would it become the tree?

Would a dog and cat be a
"cog" or a "dat"?
Who would want an animal in the
house like that?

Would a hippo and a mouse
be a "mippo" or a "house"?
Would you like to have
one of those for a spouse?

What would you get if you mixed
a bluebird and a lizard?
I guess you get an odd looking bird
or perhaps you'd get a "blizzard."

And then I mixed a fish and a bull
and I got a "full" and a" bish."
I hope my brains stops mixing these.
That is my biggest wish.



The Bank Robbing Tank Riding Iguana
by Donnie Thomassen

I once saw an iguana that
was riding on a tank.
He drove that tank right into
our little town's bank.

Then he looked up at
the sweet little teller.
She said to the iguana,
"Well you're a cute little feller!"

"Gimme your money!"
exclaimed the wrinkly pain.
"Or I'll throw you all out
into this nasty rain!"

The teller was shocked at this
very odd surprise.
She simply could not
believe her little eyes.

But she did as she was
told and gathered all the money.
She leaned over the counter and said,
"Here ya go honey!"

The iguana said, "Thanks…
I'll spare your life today."
And off the iguana went
to ride his tank and play


There are no files available for this category.

 

Parents and Teachers:

I hope to make my website a growing resource for developing readers. If you find links to any interesting, appropriate poems for first graders, please send me the link or a copy of the poem!

Thanks!