Last week for our thirteenth lesson Hale 3rd-5th grade poets dealt with a heavy snow and storm warnings. Yet, this didn’t stop us from from exploring hyperbole. Hyperbole is when a poet uses language that exaggerates what they mean. Which makes something bigger and better that what it actually is.
Together we read the poem “Sick” by Shel Silverstein where a girl named Peggy Ann McKay who uses hyperbole to make excuses for not going to school. My hip hurts when I move my chin/My belly button’s caving in/ My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear/There is a hole inside my ear. Despite the silly excuses she make at the end of the poem Peggy goes outside to play when she realizes that it was Saturday. Inspired by Silverstein we wrote a class poem using hyperbole to make up our own excuses for not going to school.
We also read the poem “Grandpa,” by Kenn Nesbitt where a boy uses hyperbole to describe his grandfather. His voice is like rickety floor board/It crackles and groans when he speaks/Whenever he bends down to hug me/ It sounds like his skeleton creaks. Students then described the people in their own families using hyperbole.
Stay warm and laugh with these silly and exaggerated poetic lines and artwork.
Ms. Degiulio’s After School
3rd-5th Grade
Can’t Go To School
by 3rd-5th grade
I have a big hole in my mouth.
My feet are as heavy as bricks.
My heart has a thousand bees in it.
I can’t get up I’m as slow as a sloth.
I have a toy car in my throat.
I have a frog in my stomach.
I’m sick, one more sneeze and my head
will explode!
My other cat eats like a pig.
– Kasia B.
My mom make delicious food, it makes me want to dance on the table.
– Karen D.
Papa is funny as a clown.
-Jayce L.
My baby brother could cry an ocean.
– Federico R.
My dog is so cute, she is going to make you explode with her cuteness.
-Alexcia S.
