Wonderful Thank You Letter from my Students

Makes it all worthwhile.

Cats & Dogs - fun poem & workshop idea

Cats and Dogs

It’s raining, it’s raining,

it’s raining cats and dogs.

It’s raining owls and butterflies

and buffalo and hogs.

It’s raining moose and antelope

and guinea pigs and frogs.

It’s raining, it’s raining,

it's raining cats and dogs!

 

It’s raining, it’s raining,

it’s raining dogs and cats.

it’s raining mice and water voles

and billy goats and bats.

It’s raining crabs and crocodiles

and cheetahs, ducks and rats.

It’s raining, it’s raining,

it’s raining dogs and cats!

It’s raining, it’s raining,

I promise you it’s true.

It’s raining cows and ostriches

and dragonflies and gnu.

It’s raining bears and monkeys

and I even saw a shrew.

I think there’s been a whopping

great explosion at the zoo!

'It's raining cats and dogs' is a bizarre English idiom. What other weird and wonderful idioms can you think of? Examples include: 'hot potato', 'at the drop of a hat', 'best thing since sliced bread', 'costs an arm and a leg'. Write a poem imagining they are literally true. This activity can also be extended to pupils who speak other languages. The following poem was written by two Bengali students, for whom 'it's raining elephants' is apparently a common saying:

Raining Elephants by Masuma and Amaani

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The heavy lumps come crashing to the ground

Their rope-like trunks flare upwards

Before a loud trumpet noise belts out

In the misty atmosphere.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

One by one

Powering on top of people

Like dominoes they fall

As they reach the earth’s ground

They charge

Demolishing stalls in the overcrowded city.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

It’s not a lie, you must believe me

For it’s raining elephants and…

CRASH! OH NO!