For lots more exciting info about me, please go to my main home - www.joshuaseigal.co.uk

Tuesday 12 May 2015

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!