A poem that would capture
your students’ imagination is Topsy-Turvy Land by H. E.
Wilkinson. It would be appropriate for elementary to low-intermediate level.
Children love paradoxes;
adults, if put up to it, do too. What if things were exactly the opposite of
how they stand now? What if the sky was in the place of earth? (We would look
down rather than up) What if the law of gravity pushed us up rather than down? (It
would be the law of lightness) What if our eyes were at the back of our head? (Would
we walk backwards?)
Questioning the status quo
is the way forward; challenging the norm is progress.
So you could introduce the
poem by inviting your students to ask what if questions. In a
topsy-turvy world anything is possible.
To stimulate your
students’ interest and develop their creativity, show the following slide show
of the poem in images and ask them to supply the line of the poem that the
image suggests.
It is best to provide the
last line of each verse which is almost invariably the same.
When this is done, you can
show them the slide show with both images and words and get them to compare
their version of the poem with the actual poem.
