NEATE presents "The Basics" by Cheryl Miller Thurston

NEATE
Fall Conference Connection

Linda Rief spoke at the author's breakfast during NEATE's 2001 fall conference. One of the poems she shared with her audience was "The Basics" by Cheryl Miller Thurston. When several members of the audience asked for copies of this piece, Linda offered to give her copy to NEATE so we could disseminate copies. Rather than making photocopies, it was suggested that we put the piece online, but there was the matter of getting permission from the author. Linda had originally found the poem in the September 1983 edition of Learning Magazine, but with that publication out-of-print, she had no further information about how to contact Ms. Thurston. Luckily, we were able to track her down via the internet, and she has graciously given NEATE permission to post her poem on our site.

The Basics
By Cheryl Miller Thurston

Gerunds, clauses, interjections,
participles, verb inflections,
nouns and... What's that, Mr. White?
Yes, it's sad that kids can't write.

Pi, percent and numerator,
dividend, denominator,
subtrahend and... What's that, Billy?
Balance checkbooks? Don't be silly.

Fugue and rondo, treble clef,
scale, chromatic, key of F,
chords and rhythm... Question, Pat?
Sing? We don't have time for that!

Synonyms, syllabication,
roots and blends, pronunciation,
speed and phonics... What now, Corey?
Well, we might soon read a story.

Testing: Stanford, diagnostic,
comprehensive, hearing, optic,
verbal, motor... Ms. McGuire?
Learning? No, that's not required.

From the book Hide Your Ex-Lax Under the Wheaties, by Cheryl Miller Thurston.

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Last updated: May 2, 2004