Mysterious Fishtank poem by Calef Brown, from the book Dutch Sneakers and Flea Keepers, 2000, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (FYI, all of Calef Brown’s books of poetry are crazy and have marvelous illustrations, and are a must read for everyone)
Literacy, fine motor skills
Poem (the motions are too hard to describe; please watch the video):
Mysterious fish tank
Mysterious fish
Green like asparagus,
Flat like a dish
Toss in a peppercorn,
Then make a wish
Mysterious fish tank,
Mysterious fish.
Comments:
This poem adds wonderful “body language” to the class vocabulary which can be incorporated into certain open-ended songs (e.g. No More Pie, Open Shut Them, There’s an Elephant in My Shoe), or just to introduce a new song: “Mysterious owl” (if you were about to do Wide-Eyed Owl, for instance), or for transitions: “Mysterious fire drill.”
Just the provocation: “Mysterious…” is arresting. What might be mysterious? Great fun can be had imagining mysterious things, what goes with them, and their attributes. “Mysterious chair…mysterious – hmm, what might go with the chair? Mysterious pillow! Soft like a… What could be soft?” and so forth.
The images and words I added aid in literacy, and will help with those who are learning English.
Once the children have it memorized, I may change the order of the pages to create a new poem (I made an extra “Wish” page to do this):
Mysterious fish tank
Mysterious wish.
Flat like a peppercorn
Green like a fish
Toss in asparagus
Then make a dish
Mysterious fish tank
Mysterious wish.
