Pedagogical Prison
This young girl with eyes big and bright
Rapunzel’s hair wearing a tangerine top
This sweetheart we meet once a week
To read and write and laugh and talk
State says she must infer, analyze
Know words bigger than her tiny size
Read faster and write with precision
Be a little Einstein trapped in pedagogical prison
Forget about learning for the sake of learning
Forget about reading for reading is fun
Pass this test place in the highest percentile
Higher than all the rest
This little girl tries with all her might
Sounding out words
Smiling when she gets them right
Full day already she’s pulled
Yet she does not complain
Just keeps on trying
To be the best that she can be
Tricks I show her
Look at “but, although, instead, however”
There you can find the key to whatever
Words you may not know
Providing a place in which to begin
So you can go back and infer within
The meaning of that big word
You are seeing for the first time
Now we go back for we must review
Seeing if we’ve learned this word so new
How I love my little friend
She thinks I am the one helping her
But if the truth be known
The opposite is true
