Monthly Poems

To help build public speaking confidence, students are expected to memorize (no note cards) and recite a poem in front of their peers at the end of each month. The monthly poem is worth one language test grade. So if a student decides not to recite the poem, it’s the same as taking a zero on a test. Don’t worry the poems are fun and silly! Students’ in the past have you used great hand gestures, props, and facial expressions to bring the poems to life. Class clowns this is your time to shine! These presentations have been known to bring giggles and laughs to Mrs. Chaves and her students!

MONTHLY POEMS 2008-2009

Month	Poem	Due Date
September	“Deep in Our Refrigerator” by Jack Prelutsky (located below)	September
October	“Pet Shopping” by Kenn Nesbitt	October
November	“There's a New Cook In the Cafeteria” by Bruce Lansky	November
December	“The True Meaning of Christmas” by M.S. Lowndes	December
January	“The Snowman” Anonymous	January
February	“The Marvelous Homework and Housework Machine” by Kenn Nesbitt	February
March	“Boy’s Song” by James Hogg	March
April	No poem due to SAT Testing	No poem
May		May

*If your student is absent on the day the poem is to be recited they are responsible for reciting it the day they return to school.

Deep in Our Refrigerator

by Jack Prelutsky

Deep in our refrigerator, there's a special place for food that's been around awhile . . . we keep it, just in case. “It's probably too old to eat,” my mother likes to say. “But I don't think it's old enough for me to throw away.”

It stays there for a month or more to ripen in the cold, and soon we notice fuzzy clumps of multicolored mold. The clumps are larger every day, we notice this as well, but mostly what we notice is a certain special smell.

When finally it all becomes a nasty mass of slime, my mother takes it out, and says, “Apparently, it's time.” She dumps it in the garbage can, though not without regret, then fills the space with other food that's not so ancient yet