Viorst, Judith. 1995. Sad underwear and other complications. Illustrated by Richard Hull. New York: Atheneum Books For Young Readers. ISBN: 0-689-31929-0.
This poem makes a list of all the things children would like to change about the world. Because of its list format, it would make a great linearound poem where each child would read one line of the poem.
It's A Wonderful World, But They Made A Few Mistakes
1: It's a wonderful world, but they made a few mistakes,
2: Like leaving out unicorns and putting in snakes.
3: Like no magic carpets, no wishing wells, no genies.
4: Like good guys getting picked on by the meanies.
5: Like arithmetic, especially multiplication.
6: Like expecting a person to stay at home for one whole week with a sitter while that person's mother and father take a vacation.
7: Like needing to finish the green beans to get the dessert.
8: Like everyone caring way too much about dirt.
9: Like letting there be a cavity in a tooth.
10: Like calling it a lie when all that this person has done is not mention part of the truth
11: Like raining on soccer games, and liver for supper.
12: Like bunk beds where the younger person always gets the upper.
13: Like leaving out mermaids and putting in splinters and bee stings and wars and tornadoes and stomach aches.
All: It's a wonderful world, but they made a few mistakes.
Have students write about or discuss their own vision of a "perfect" world. What things do they think are unfair?
Module three focuses on poetry performance. Poems selected for this module include: