Computer Virus
by Amy LV
Students - I am going to call today's poem a Channeling-Amelia-Bedelia-Poem! When I was a little girl, I loved the way Amelia Bedelia took words at face value, mixing up all sorts of household tasks. She did not understand idioms, and her mistakes helped me understand the complexity of language at a young age and in an entertaining way. Amelia may have been my first window into wordplay, and I was charmed by her good-hearted mistakes.
For today's poem, I took a phrase that we hear all of the time and made my little speaker take it literally, treating the computer as one would treat a sick child. And while "computer virus" isn't exactly an idiom, I used the idea from Peggy's "Amelia Bedelia" books and wrote a confusing-meaning poem. You might wish to try this little exercise. Here's a fun list of idioms from Tammy Worcester that you might wish to start with.
You can read about Peggy Parish, the author of the Amelia Bedelia books, here.
World Book Night is coming up on April 23, 2012 the anniversary of Shakespeare's birth and death. I've signed up to be a Book Giver, and I hope I'll be chosen to hand out copies of THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS by Rebecca Skloot. Check it out - you may wish to sign up too!
If you like poetry-related crafts, check out The Poem Farm facebook page. I've been finding some neat ones.
And at Sharing Our Notebooks, author J. Anderson Coats is sharing her notebook!
(Please click on POST A COMMENT below to share a thought.)
My daughter and I spent lots of time laughing over Amelia Bedelia-such clever books, as is your poem. Of course you should give your computer OJ! I'll share this one with the tech person at school!
ReplyDeleteYour blog layout is totally cool, not to mention great content. I also write in rhyme---sometimes short snippets and other times much longer. I will follow your blog if I can figure out how to do it.
ReplyDeleteLinda - Amelia Bedelia was a good friend in my childhood - she helped me understand figurative language like no one else! Thank you, Bill! I've enjoyed your posts too...we rhymelovers must stick together!
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