I wonder who lived here;
I wonder why they went?
What fate struck these pioneers
and left their spirit spent?
They built their dreams to last,
stone by golden stone,
but now these dismal relics
lie ragged and alone.
Teacher’s note: One of many abandoned dwellings in Burra, South Australia.
You can carry a laptop to school,
but it wasn’t always that way.
The first computers were huge,
way back in the day.
They were used to break secret codes,
so we’d know the enemy’s plans.
And after the war was over,
they were soon in everyone’s hands.
We take them for granted today,
but once they didn’t exist.
If we didn’t have them now,
do you think they would be missed?
Teacher’s note: During the Second World War, Alan Turing (1912—1954) was a code breaker who worked in Hut 8 at Bletchley Park in England. Pictured above is a bombe, the electromechanical machine which cracked the enemy’s Enigma code. Turing’s pioneering work in computer technology sped the development of today’s computers. It is estimated that his code breaking computer science shortened the war in Europe by more than two years and saved over 14 million lives.
I bought a tube of toothpaste
and squeezed it from the top.
I was getting lots of toothpaste out,
till people yelled for me to stop!
“You should squeeze it from the bottom,
then roll the tube up neatly.
That way you won’t waste toothpaste
’cause you’ll use it all completely!”
Teacher’s note: Use this poem to ask students how they avoid wasting toothpaste and other products around the home, and why it’s a good idea to avoid wastage of any kind.
Image courtesy Anti Plastic Pollution
We’re celebrating pasta
all around the world,
spaghetti and linguine
are being swirled and twirled.
Ravioli’s all the rage!
Rigatoni’s lots of fun!
I think my gnocchi rocks!
Some penne anyone?
Macaroni and fusilli,
canelloni, fettuccine,
tagliatelle, vermicelli,
agnolini, tortellini —
Let’s celebrate them all,
every kind of pasta!
There’s nothing like a pasta
to fill your tummy faster.
In response to Celebrations prompt.
Photo from Pexels.com by Vanessa Loring
He’s big and fat and noisy,
He buzzes ’round my head.
I know he carries lots of germs,
That’s why I want him DEAD!
He crawls across the windowpane —
He’s absolutely rude! —
Then squats and rubs his grubby legs,
On top of all my food.
I tried to swat that blowie
With a paper nicely rolled,
But — tinkle, crash — I missed
And smashed mum’s wedding bowl.
Next I got a schoolbook,
And whacked him hard with that,
The monstrous fly went down
With a great big juicy SPLAT!
The moral of my story
Is that education’s great,
Not only does it make you smart,
It keeps flies off your plate.
What’s that bird
doing on my head?
Why doesn’t it
fly away instead?
It’s not fair
being a statue,
because I know
what birds like to do!
James’ poem was inspired by the image below which was taken in Venice
Imagine living here
with all those stairs to climb,
and every room you enter
takes you back in time.
Everywhere you wander,
every corner you explore,
could there be a ghost or two
behind a secret door?
Teacher’s note: Martindale Hall, Mintaro, South Australia, famously appeared in the movie Picnic at Hanging Rock. Completed in 1880 with 32 rooms, and once the home of the Mortlock family, this Georgian mansion is now open to the public six days a week.
I went to Devon
in a dream,
and there I ate
scones, jam and cream.
I put the cream on,
then the jam,
and someone said,
“That’s wrong, young man!
The jam goes first,
the cream is next.”
I was getting
very vexed.
So what do you do?
Which comes first?
The jam? The cream —
or reversed?
Everyone asks me
the same old question,
and it interferes
with my digestion.
How do I look
down in the mud?
The dam’s so cold
I can’t chew my cud.
So if you ask me
how I am now,
I’m a very grubby
hungry cow.
In the mountains,
above the snow,
I found a castle
from long ago.
Forbidding walls
rise to the sky;
gloomy forests
meet the eye.
I wonder whom
I’ll meet inside —
which king will be
my ghostly guide?
Teacher’s note: Wartburg (pronounced Vartburg) Castle sits on 410-metrte precipice above the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. Dating from 1067, it is associated with Saint Elisabeth of Hungary, Martin Luther, and a legendary minstrels’ contest.
Australian Children’s Poetry 