~Behind the Museum Door~
By Lee Bennett Hopkins
What's Behind the museum door?
Ancient necklaces,
African art,
Armor of knights,
A peasant cart;
Pioneer wagons,
Vintage cars,
A planetarium
ceilinged
with stars;
Priceles old coins,
A king's golden throne,
Mummies in linen,
And
A dinosaur bone.
Poetry Extension: Read the poem
to your class, let's pick third grade. Then ask, "Do you think museums will have any of the items mentioned? What do you want
to see first?" Lead the discussion into, "What if you had a museum, what would you choose to include in your collection?"
Have the children write poems about their own museum collections.
Then, field trip time! Have enough chaperones that the children aren't
rushed through the exhibits. It is best to go before the massive field trips at the end of the year. Or kick the new year
off with the poem and subsequent trip.
Make sure you follow up the next day in the classroom with discussions
about what they saw and if it met their expectations. Time for them to write a new poem on their individual future museums.
Hopkins, Lee Bennett. 1995. Good rhymes,
good times. Ill. by Frane Lessac. U.S.A.: HarperCollins. ISBN 0060234997
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