PTSW: Little Ball

Earthrise from Luna (NASA)

Malvina Reynolds wrote a song almost every day. Often a word or two from the newspaper would inspire her. This little song took flight with the manned space missions of the 1960s. It is another selection from the first reader I taught from in 1969. I was shocked to find a song I knew in the reader. It's a good one to use during the Space unit each year. Pete Seeger wrote the music and popularized it.

From Way Up Here

From way up here the earth looks very small,
It's just a little ball of rock and sea and sand,
No bigger than my hand.

From way up here the earth looks very small,
They shouldn't fight at all
Down there, upon that little sphere.

Their time is short, a life is just a day,
You'd think they'd find a way.
You'd think they'd get along
And fill their sunlit days with song.

From way up here the earth looks very small,
It's just a little ball,
So small, so beautiful and clear.

Their time is short, a life is just a day,
Must be a better way,
To use the time that runs
Among the distant suns.

From way up here the earth is very small,
It's just a little ball,
So small, so beautiful and dear.

by Malvina Reynolds

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The series of posts, A Poem to Start the Week, is my little anthology of poetry, many of which I have used with my students in elementary schools during 27 years of teaching.



Previous Poems to Start the Week:
Tacks, Splinters, Apples and Stars
Oh, Captain, My Captain!
Metaphor
Introducion to Poetry
Loveliest of Trees
Flax-Golden Tales
The Dinosaurs Are Not All Dead
Owl Pellets
Mummy Slept Late
Just My Size
The Kindest Things I Know
Miles to Go
Love that Brother
Oh, Frabjous Day!

Other Posts about Children's Literature:

The Lion's Paw top kid's OOP book!
Harry
Aslan is Dead!

Multiplying People, Rice, and Readers

A Teacher's Life

You can read some of my own efforts at poetry here.
And then there's Alien Invasion.

A weblog dedicated to Poetry for Children.
Watch Sonja Cole's reviews of children's books at Bookwink.com.