Ages 8-9
9. Pitter, pitter,
pitter pat.
Pitter, pitter,
pitter pat.
Pitter, pitter,
pitter pat.
Chase the cat,
Chase the cat.
10. ‘Run out in
the rain – into Mrs Prune’s Schoolhouse. See the grandfather
clock…’
Ding, Dong,
Ding
Tick-tock
Tick-tock
Time is passing in
motion.
Morning, noon and
midnight chime,
Wind the clock and
tell the time.
Hours and hours
are left behind
As the
Tick-tocks
Tick-tock,
Tick-tock
Time is passing in
motion.
Ding, Dong,
Ding.
11. ‘School is
Out’
Hip Hip
Hoorah!
Hip Hip
Hoorah!
Hip Hip
Hoorah!
12. Mo was gazing
up at the evening sky, entranced with the play of wind, and clouds
and stars. His 25 sheep were peacefully keeping in the hollow below
the ridge. He hardly even noticed how darkened the sky, and gusty
the wind had become; when the storm was upon him.
‘Loudly blew the
bitter blast
Hail and rain were
falling fast
Bank and bushes
bleak and bare
Chilling bit the
fighting air!’
-
From 'Journey
Through Time in Verse and Rhyme - Poems collected by Heather
Thomas'
The torrents of
bitter weather forced Mo to tend to his sheep. Then the storm
flashed by but left the night sky still over clouded and low. But
where, where was all the fold? And Mo began to seek and saw
that:
‘Rippling and
rustling, restless the rill
Rattled and
clattered a-down a steep hill.
Rolling and rising
o’er ridges of rock,
It frightened and
scattered his frisky sheep flock!’
Oh, no! The sheep
had scattered in all directions, all over the land “U”. In great
alarm he called to the moon on the other side of the hill. He knew
it was due to grace the night sky; so he spoke these words with all
of his might:
‘Moon on the field
and the foam
Moon on the mount
and the wold
Moon, bring them
home, bring them home.
Safe from the dark
and the cold,
Home, sweet moon,
bring them home,
Safe with the
flock to the fold.’
And through the
blur in the mist and the dark, the moon ‘gan to glow and gleam. His
sheep only numbered 16. So again he sounded the rhyme. And this
time 4 more appeared. Now he still was missing 5. So once more, he
sounded the verse as the moon rose in the night sky.
‘Moon on the field
and the foam….’
And, ‘lo in the
dark, 5 white marks came bleating along the hillside. And back in
the hollow under the ridge, there gathered all 25:
___ _ ‘Slowly,
silently now the moon
Walks the night in
her silver swoon
This way and that
way
She turns and she
sees
Silver lambs and
silver sheep.’
A Shepherd
Boy's Flute:
(A Norwegian
Folk Tale translated by Dan Lindholm and written in free verse by
Katherine Rudolph)
13.‘Of a poor
shepherd Boy on the first Christmas tide, this
Tale is oft told;
may it spread far and wide, who
Weary and
windblown, aching with cold, long sought
a lamb that had
wandered alone, lost it was, straggling astray.
Along the trail of
a dried up brook, behind the shadow of
bramble and bush;
everywhere did the shepherd boy search
uphill and down,
in the land beyond Bethlehem, city of David…
At last at the
top, he scanned o’er the plains of the ancient
Land of Judea and
BEHOLD now the wonder that entered
His heart, when an
angel appeared amidst the night stars
And the heavens
rang forth to rejoice in the birth of
The babe who was
born in a manger; these words spoke
The angel of
peace: ‘Have now no fear, you keeper
of sheep. Your
lost lamb is fast asleep, and safe in the
lower pasture. A
greater shepherd has been born to save
the world from sin
and scorn, the Saviour to be Christ
the Lord, in
Bethlehem this sacred morn’: Make haste;
Make haste to the
babe in a manger’
‘A saviour is
born, and I so forlorn; what have I to give
him on the
wondrous morn: Alas, I’ve no gift.’
But the Angel
answered him thus: ‘Nothing to give? Seest
thon aright. Take
now this flute; let it ring in the light
that shineth so
bright in an orb around the manger.’
With this the
Angel disappeared and uttered not another
word; but the
shepherd saw that it was true, for
on the ground,
there shone a flute. This he held then
to his mouth and,
lo it played all by itself, O’Hear!
Seven pure tones
did fill the air, such as one might hope
to hear, ringing
from the heavenly spheres…
The ass and the ox
pricked up their ears; the other shepherds
gathered their
herd; Mary and Joseph beamed with joy,
at the tone of the
poor ragged shepherd boy, but the
Christ child in
the manger low, wrapped in light, and
swaddled in
clothes, stretched out his tiny hand to touch
the flute that the
shepherd lad had borne through
trials and woe,
and BEHOLD how that flute did glow.
Seven pure tones
both full and clear did fill the air, as they
had before; just
as the shepherd boy first received as a gift
from the Angel of
comfort and peace…
High in the hills,
the tale is still told, how he’s ought
the lamb that fled
from the fold; how weary and heartsick
he hearkened and
heard, tidings of the Saviour, Christ the Lord.
Sam’s Adventure (4th grade)
(Used for a boy who overcame
stuttering)
Sam
grew up with the blacksmiths. Since his earliest days he had heard
their pounding hammers. He had learned to walk and talk to their
rhythms. One day, while talking to a friend he described the
situation:
1. Swart smirched
smiths, smattered with smoke
Drive me to death
with din of their dents.
Such noise on
nights one ne’er heard never
Such clashing of
cries and clattering of knocks
The craftsmen
clamour for coal, coal, coal.
And blow their
bellows their brains to burst…
- Old
English Alliteration
Sam said, ‘That
may be great for blacksmiths but I want to be a bard and write
about my adventures.’ So he decided to “Take the road.”
2. ‘Let us take
the road
Hark, I hear the
sound of coaches
The hour of the
march approaches
It will soon be
the time to go.’
And Sam went
a-walking and a-talking
3. and a-walking
and a-talking
As he walked he
spoke G N SH F W
4. go now, show
free will.
5. He shot an
arrow into the air and it landed in a hollow oak, where Sam found a
crystal quartz. There was a message etched in the tree bark, which
said K. L. S. F. M. = ‘Clue left Sam, from Mu.’ Is the crystal the
clue? Same spoke the words 3 times:
‘Clue left Sam
from Mu
Clue left Sam from
Mu
Clue left Sam from
Mu.’
A spiral path
opened up for him. He followed, tossing the crystal from hand to
hand.
And indeed, there
in the rock was a 'staff stuck in the stone'. On top of the staff
sat a little elfin creature who said 'I am Mu. I left the clue. The
clue left Sam from Mu, KLSFM will get you through. Now take your
staff and wander!' And Sam did.
And Sam arrived at
the ocean. He looked up at the sea cliffs and saw a cane high up.
‘My, I would like to climb up there.’ KLSFM and Mu gave the clue.
“Speak Sam! If you say ‘Staff roof’, then will your staff root. Say
‘Staff loosen’ and your staff will loosen. That way you will reach
the top’.
‘Staff ,
root
Staff,
loosen
Staff,
root’
Sam reached the
top.
He came to the
entrance of the cave just in time to see a dwarf disappearing
around a bend in the tunnel. Sam followed and saw the dwarf walk
across a dangerous swinging bridge. Mu asked, ‘What will you do?’.
Sam answered:
9. O’er the bridge
will I march
___ _ ___ On I go
to the end
Courage be my true
guide.
When he reached
the other side, the tunnel opened into a round room carved in white
marble. In the middle a shimmering pool was a-glow. ‘Twas the
Shimmering Pool of Krie where pictured stories were told and seen a
myriad riddles unfold. Mu told the rule, ‘qu st z f p m’, questions
for poems. A bard’s pool of yore. Your question is the key! So Sam
asked, ‘Where did that dwarf go?’ And Sam stepped into the ‘Story
of Iggy the Dwarf’.
Suddenly he was at
the beach again and he met the Bard’s Boat. A rowing boat it was.
When Sam climbed on board, he was given an oar, while he rowed the
story was told:
10. Iggy Dwarf was
bold and bearded
On a kind of quest
adventure,
Seeking seeds in
ancient wondrous
Long forgotten
lands of Krienols,
Ochre earth was
once transparent,
And the sun was
deeply shining,
Sowing seeds was
his endeavour
For he knew the
herbs of healing.
Iggy sought the
root intended
For restoring
words and phrases
Lost amidst the
drooping dismal
Mud lands
underneath the marshes.
That one root
‘galearis’ was
grown no longer in
the gardens
Farmers never
sowed the seedlings
For they vanished
all together.
Iggy knew the
reason why,
And what he knew
made him unhappy.
Witch Xethea had
the seeds all
Hoarded deep in
her Rock Castle.
He decided to
discover
Where they were
and how to get them.
King Kroleen was
growing weaker
Weary was he,
nearly failing.
Witch Xethea’s
castle built on
Sea cliffs rose
above the waters
Iggy found at last
the entrance
Stepping from
steep stony stairsteps.
Gloom met Iggy
when he entered
Blundered down
dark hallways hiding
Sought the cave
rooms where Xethea
Brewed her potions
good and rotten.
For 7th grade
and above, written in hexameter by Katherine
Rudolph:
Hidden away in the
woodlands - has Percival grown into manhood.
Blind to the ways
of the world - knowing nought of the rulers of kingdoms.
There Herzeleide
his mother - tells only the secrets of nature
Beauty of streams
and of paths - in the forest are all he encounters.
© Copyright 2005 Katherine Rudolph, Exploring The Word in Colour
and Speech | 