Many have written poems about blackberries

ACTIVITIES
I. Instructions: Read the following questions and answer them in your own words.

1. What do you like most about nature?

2. What do you do to protect nature?

3. What are your favorite plants? Why?

Answers: Answers will vary.

II. Instructions: Listen to the poem Many Have Written Poems About Blackberries by Stephanie Bolster at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIGW31o9WIY (minutes 12:30 to 14:00), and number the group of sentences (1-10) in the order you hear them.
the bushes themselves ramble like a grandmother's sentences, giving birth to their own sharpness. ________ for a small mouse. Sometimes it is home to a secret green worm seeking safety and the power of surprise. ________

the berries' purple tongue; otherwise the thorns will pierce your own blank skin. ________

but few have gotten at the multiplicity of them, how each berry composes itself of many dark notes, spherical,_________

sometimes it plunks into a river and takes on water. Fishes nibble it. ________

as yet unnamed. It is shaped to fit the tip of the tongue, to be a thimble, or a dunce cap_______ inside might lurk nests of yellowjackets; rabid bats; other, larger hands on the same search. ________ swollen, fragile as a world. A blackberry is the colour of a painful bruise on the upper arm, some internal organ________ best to be on the safe side, the outside of the bush. ________ picking blackberries must be a tactful conversation of gloved hands. Otherwise your fingers will bleed________

Read the complete poem at http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/bolster/poem4.htm to check your answers.

III. Instructions: Read the poem again, and find the words below. Write a

definition for each word based on its context in the poem.

Dunce:

Gibberish:

Mellifluous:

Nibble:

Plunk into:

Ramble:

Thimble:

Thorn:

IV. Instructions: For each question, complete the second sentence so that it

means the same as the first, using the word given, and no more than three words. Contractions count as one.*

a) Maybe Joanna missed the last bus.

(may)

Joanna the last bus.

b) I'm sure that Diana didn't take your books.

(taken)

Diana your books.

c) Perhaps David didnt notice you.

(may not)

David noticed you.

d) It was a bad idea for us to be rude to the policeman!

(been)

We rude to the policemen!

e) Perhaps Tim has lost his way.

(might)

Tim ....his way.

f) It was possible for you to hurt yourself.

(could)

You ..yourself.

g) It would have been a good idea to tell me.

(told)

You ..me.

h) Im sure the class enjoyed it.

(must)

The class ..it.

i) I helped her but it wasn't necessary.

(needn't)

I .

j)

Im sure the butler didnt do it.

(done)

The butler ..it.

*Exercise adapted from http://www.eslhandouts.com/worksheets/past-modals-transformations/

Answers: a) may have missed b) cant have taken c) may not have noticed d)shouldnt have been e) might have lost f) could have hurt g) should have told h) must have enjoyed i) neednt help her j) cant have done.

V. nstructions: Write a composition (200-230 words) about what people can do to help stop deforestation.

VRL June 2012