Here’s a rhymed riddle and a challenge for newly-minted homeschool teachers.
I’m black as a crayon. I love corn.
My cry is as loud as a rusty horn.
But like a parrot, I can learn to speak.
I’m a smart, dark bird with a yellow beak.
What am I?
Now, help kids do their own research on any topic. It doesn’t have to be about an animal. Have them write their own riddle, based on their research. It can be rhymed or unrhymed, formal or informal. What matters is that the information is correct. They should try to sneak in odd facts and little-known tidbits.
Sharon Edge Martin is a reading specialist, poet, and writer whose work has appeared in such magazines as Family Circle, Oklahoma Today, Outside, True West and in Michael Bugeja’s The Art and Craft of Poetry. She writes a weekly essay for Oklahoma Observer and is a frequent reader in Oklahoma’s spoken poetry scene. Her first picture book is Froggy Bottom Blues (2017). Her first full length book of poetry is Not a Prodigal (2018). When she isn't teaching poetry workshops or presenting at schools, you'll find her on the farm with her artist husband, a dog, two cats, and a couple dozen chickens.
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Sharon Edge Martin 