School-wide Poetry Month: Day Nine (Mayu)

I chose "I Wonder Why Dad Is So Thoroughly Mad" because it has been one of my favorite poems ever since I got the poem book "The New Kid On The Block." I like how this rhyming poem really makes you laugh out loud and makes you think, "How funny can this poem get?" To me it's cool how the poet was able to give so many examples of how mad dad is without realizing why himself. This poem is hilarious and I hope that it makes you laugh too!

I Wonder Why Dad Is So Thoroughly Mad

I Wonder why Dad is so thoroughly mad, 
I can't understand it at all, 
unless it's the bee still afloat in his tea,
or his underwear, pinned to the wall.


Perhaps it's the dye on his favorite tie,
or the mousetrap that snapped in his shoe,
or the pipeful of gum that he found with his thumb,
or the toilet, sealed tightly with glue.


It can't be the bread crumbled up in his bed,
or the slugs someone left in the hall,
I wonder why dad is so thoroughly mad,
I can't understand it at all.
Poem ©Jack Prelutsky. All rights reserved.

Buzz

In our class we've been working on a game called Buzz.

In this game instead of counting by 2s, 5s, and 3s, we counted by what's called a prime number. A prime number is a number is a number were you can only multiply it by one and its own number (such as 7, 5, or 3).

The way you play this game is you count by 1s and when ever you get to the chosen prime number or one of its factors you say buzz. For example, if the prime number was 7, you could say: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, buzz, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, buzz, etc. 

If you chose to do this game a little more difficultly you can count by more than 1 prime number (your limit is 3 numbers). This time if you get to any of the factors of your numbers you can say buzz for the first, fizz for the second, and jazz for the third.

To know when the game ends 1 person either says the number instead of saying buzz or if somebody says buzz at the wrong time.

Special thanks to Sam's dad (John) for teaching us this game.

This entry is written by Mayu and Andrew!

(Update: 11/1/10: Here is a picture from our morning with John!)