It has been such a tremendous pleasure to work with the 3rd grade students of Moos Elementary this school year. Ms. Santiago's and Ms. Becker's classes are groups of smart, funny, warm, respectful and creative friends, who do a great job of expressing their ideas, and of supporting each other in doing so. I'm honored to have gotten to work with them. For our last assignment this week, I brought the students a very playful, whimsical poem, which continues our final exploration of writing poetry about imagined worlds. Compulsively Allergic to the Truth by Jeffrey McDaniel is a wondefully imaginitive poem full of rediculous excuses about why the author was late somewhere. It contains great absurdist notions like, "I'm sorry I was late. I was on my way when I felt a plot thickening in my arm". As a source of inspiration for our assignment, the poem offers students permission to invent their own absurd and wildly imaginitive scenarios. I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I did.

Ms. Becker's class:

I'm Sorry I Was Late To Class
by Liliana P.

I'm sorry I was late to class,
this is what happened.
I was pulled over
by a bunny that
told me to jump around,
he told me jokes
that weren't funny
and didn't make any sense.
I'm sorry I was late.
I was singing and dancing
until I turned into a statue.
I'm your mother shaking
her head and decorating
your house with red flowers.
I'm sorry I was late for
the doctor. I was drawn to kiss
a human, and turned the man
into a frog. And I'm sorry
I'm late; I was taking the lost
people from your ear.

I'm Sorry I Was Late
I'm Sorry I Lied
by Ariana Z.

I'm sorry I was late. I was on my way
to school when I found a hole in my pants.
I'm sorry I was late. I fell asleep and
woke up as an alient who said "take me to
your leader". I'm sorry I was late. I
tripped into the pond and turned into a frog
with a big tongue. I was eating flies flies flies
but I wasn't a good catcher. I'm sorry I was late.
I woke with a knot in my hair that looked like
a witch. All I needed was a broom and a hat.
I'm sorry I was late. I'm sorry I lied.
Would you forgive me? Sure. I'm sorry I was
late, I... I, oh, forget it.

My Excuses
by Daviaunt W.

I'm sorry I was late. I was walking
up the road when I suddenly saw a moose
that was eating a goose. I started
to run then it chased me down the road.
It grabbed me and took me to it's home.
I got in the house, and then I saw a mouse.
She grabbed me and taped me to a chair
and ate me. I was a skeleton. Now she's
an elephant. Now I got out of that house.
Old as a mole, and now I know the reason
she put me in. She just wanted some gold.
So, never walk up the road.

I'm Sorry
by Alejandro V.

I'm sorry.
I'm late because a dinosaur
swallowed me and spit me out.
I'm sorry I'm late.
I was chased by a spider
and a dragon.
I'm sorry I was late.
When the tractor dug,
it took me to space.

From Ms. Santiago's class

I'm Sorry I Was Late
by Stephanie M.

I'm sorry
I was late.
I got stuck
in the zoo
and a monkey
ate me. I'm sorry
I was late, a
fish grabbed me
and took me in
the river to
show me his
collection of toys.
I'm so so sorry
I was late. I got
stuck because I
turned into a litle
puppy, and a girl
grabbed me and
took me to her house.
I'm so
sorry I was late.
It was because
I turned into
a little cat
and animal control
took me to
the pet shop.

Untitled
by Wesley D.

I'm sorry that I'm late,
my sister gave me a tattoo
of a butterfly.

I'm sorry I am late.
I was fighting with
the kids next door
because they are bad guys.

I'm sorry that I'm late.
There were monkeys reading
me a book, and I
stayed asleep.

I Am Sorry I Am Late
by Ashley L.

I am sory I as late.
Because I got eaten by
a whale. It told me
"do you ant to go
to an island?"

I am sorry I was late. It's
because a hamster
ate me.

I am sorry I
am late. It's
because my friend
died a year ago.

I am sorry
I am late.
It's because I was
coloring in
a book.