Giggle Poetry in the English Class!

Students are usually reluctant to reading poetry, let alone ... writing it!
Well, that's because they think a poem is an extremely difficult and serious piece of writing. But it shouldn't be, because it really isn't! Trying to turn it into something more appealing to my students, while I was teaching the unit "Addictions", I came across an interesting site on Giggle Poetry:

http://www.gigglepoetry.com/index.aspx

And I thought to myself it would be an easy way to make them write something funny.
I chose the "Smoker's Epitaph", a funny poem which they had to complete in order to rhyme. Here is the original poem:

Smoker's Poem

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Poetry Creative Writing addictions

After completing it they had to go on writing similar rhyming verses. These were the results:

Here lies Sam Shay
Smoked six packs a day
He started smoking when he was thirteen
Now he won't know what he could have been
(DÚNIA, 9º 2ª)

Here lies Sam Shay
Smoked six packs a day
He started smoking when he was fourteen
Now he can't eat a bean
(AISHA, 9º 2ª)

Here lies Sam Shay
Smoked six packs a day
He started smoking when he was fifteen
Now he cannot fulfil his dream
(CLAUDIA, 9º 2ª)

Here lies Sam Shay
Smoked six packs a day
He started smoking when he was sixteen
What he did was a sin
(JOÃO, 9º 2ª)


Here lies Sam Shay
Smoked six packs a day
He started smoking when he was sixteen
Now there's only an epitaph to be seen
(SOFIA and KARLA, 9º 2ª)


Here lies Sam Shay
Smoked six packs a day
He started smoking when he was seventeen
Now he'll never meet his queen
(SOFIA and KARLA, 9º 2ª)


Here lies Sam Shay
Smoked six packs a day
He started smoking when he was eighteen
I wonder what he could have been
(DAVID, 9º 2ª)


They exercised their imagination and, at the same time, they had fun. I had fun, too!

More Poets!

While I was teaching the unit "Dependencies:smoking", I came across with this interesting site:

http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poetryfun/smokersfib.html

I thought I would try it with my students (I was not really sure about their reaction, but it was worth giving a try. So I did it! THEY LIKED IT! They were so involved during this lesson, they didn't hear the bell ringing!!!


TASK
Smoker's Epitaph Fill-In-The-Blank Poems

Here's a great way to be a poet and learn about why you shouldn't smoke! An epitaph is the writing people put on their gravestones. Each of these Smoker's Epitaph Anti-Smoking Poems is missing a word or two. Can you figure out what they are? For a hint, look at the third line of each poem. The missing word or words must rhyme with the last word in the third line. Good luck.


Here lies Sam Shay.
Smoked six packs a day.
He started smoking when he was thirteen.
Now, he doesn't have the life he used to dream
(Verónica, 9º 6ª)

Here lies Sam Shay.
Smoked six packs a day.
He started smoking when he was thirteen.
Now, he won't see the Queen.
(Sílvia, 9º 6ª)

Here lies Sam Shay.
Smoked six packs a day.
He started smoking when he was thirteen.
Now, he'll never be seen.
(Íris, 9º 6ª)

Here lies Sam Shay.
Smoked six packs a day.
He started smoking when he was thirteen.
Now, you can only see him on the screen.
(Mafalda Mota, 9ª 6ª)

Here lies Sam Shay.
Smoked six packs a day.
He started smoking when he was thirteen.
Now, he's out of scene.
(Conceição, 9º 6ª)

Here lies Sam Shay.
Smoked six packs a day.
He started smoking when he was thirteen.
Now, he can't watch Mr Bean on the screen.
(Tiago Baptista, 9º 8ª)

These are just a few examples!