My new Favorite Poem

Introduction

Explain why some children are sent to the United States from war sung countries. They are not familiar our holidays. April 1 is a day of tricks but that’s not the only time we play tricks. Some times tricks are not taken well and other times they help us to grow and appreciate life.
I have a poem that shows us how to look for the good in a trick played on us.

ANY DIRECTION IS GOOD

Nazli came to us from Cairo.

The day she arrived at our house,

she asked, “Which way is East?”

My little brother, ever the joker,

happily faced her prayer rug due north.



Six years she studied for her doctorate.

Six years she sank to her knees on the plush rug

And prayed faithfully to Allah, toward Oregon,

Alaska and the great Arctic Circle.



When Nazli discovered my brother’s treachery,

she called him Little Stinker. Then she laughed.

No worries, Jimmy. North is good.

Wherever they are headed

all prayers reach God.

Johnson, Tony. VOICE FROM AFAR: POEMS OF PEACE. Guevara, Susan ill. Malaysia: Holiday House, 2008.

Extension

Read the poem a second time. Let the kids absorb the poem then let them tell of a trick they played on a friend or relative and what happened as a result of the trick. Provide a display of books with riddles, about children displaced by war and holidays celebrations from other countries. Let the children read a poem to the class or a riddle to see who knows the answer.