Careless Whispers....Clever Whispers

On days when I am thinking what to teach,

I can't help but sometimes panic,

When I need lessons that 8-11 year old minds can reach,

Comprehension and application they should mix.

Times like these when I feel so drained,

And ideas are elusive, they wouldn't flow,

On the Net I'd search till my eyes pained,

There are lucky days when with one click, they'd show.

I wonder if I am on the right track?

The lessons, do I teach them with tact?

It is such a task to teach an English concept,

A game must come with it, showing the subject.

Teaching vocabulary words, one day I was set,

For better recall, a set of words, will be best bet,

Words that go together, those commonly met,

In the classroom, from their schoolbags, they can get.

I asked the class to bring out each item I will say,

Before long, we have some 10 items on display,

a ruler, eraser, notebook, book and paper,

crayons, scissors, pencil, glue and sharpener.

For about three more rounds I soon got everything done,

The names of the ten items, in English, I called out one by one,

I went slowly and clearly, emphasizing the sounds,

I hoped they retain it, even after they're homeward bound.

Recognition of words and objects, the first task now complete,

Application should now follow, before the interest depletes,

Attention span is short, any teacher will get annoyed,

A chance for them to lose it, that's what I must avoid.

I called on ten boys, in front of the class I made them stand,

While the items on a table I carefully aligned,

The table on the far end, the boys in line on the other,

I need them close to me, so it will be easy to whisper.

To the first boy, I whispered, the name of the object in English,

He whispered it to the next boy, then passed to the next, till they finished,

The tenth boy ran to the table, where all the objects lay,

Pick up the item whispered, hand in to teacher, that's the play!

The last boy is the first to run , after that he'll stand first in line,

The same routine done all over, it was great, it was fun!

Ten times they did all over, until all items are done,

The goal is to pick up the correct item, never mind the time.

The game went on though most of the time you can hear giggles.

As they whispered to another's ear, of course it got them tickled!

After all ten items were retrieved, it is now time to check

To find out how many the ten boys got correct.

In the first few rounds, scores were low, I was upset,

Poor recall, it just showed, I failed on my target.

In the last few rounds, results changed, scores were climbing up,

I said, "good work!, I am glad!"The lesson, now they're picking up.

Finally at the end of the period ,the whispering game ended

To wrap up I called "One last round" , they all relented

From the class, I chose the group that performed the best

Their memory I wanted to refresh and to test.

Amused, I looked on and again I whispered,

Still happy at how they have so far managed

Alas!!! to my dismay, a whiff I have heard,

a clever boy, was whispering the words in Thai language!!!!