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My name is litter

Module by: Octávio Lima

Summary: Classroom activities based on a poem by Levi Tafari about litter

My name is litter

By Octávio Lima

First published in APPI publication 2007

Litter is something that worries a lot of people even though we carry on taking it home disguised as packaging. Most of us see litter as a critical problem, whether it is cigarette butts and fast food wrappers or plastic bags and other trash carelessly dropped on the streets and pavements, and consider it a blatant lack of community pride among people who live or work in a place they should be proud of. Consuming habits, daily behaviours and attitudes and threats to the environment are but a few of the subtopics in “O mundo à nossa volta”, one of the social-cultural topics in the current 11th year syllabus.

The following is a series of classroom activities based on a poem about litter. They were carried out in two periods of 90 minutes. Please feel free to tailor them to fit your class’s level(s) and needs

1. Write these words on the board: tidy, healthy, popular; pretty, rich.

Ask the Sts to say their opposites.

2. Ask the Sts what the words menace/threat, poison, vermin, deadly and suffer have to do with LITTER.

3. Elicit other words that mean more or less the same as litter. (eg rubbish, garbage, trash, scrap, refuse, waste)

4. Check if the Sts understand what wanna and ain’t stand for.

5. Hand out Litter, a poem by Levi Tafari. The text will have a few words missing ( e.g. paper, make, upset, thrown out and messing up) [Text at the end of this article]

a. Ask the Sts to guess the missing words. Sts then listen to the author read the poem. (The author’s audio version of the poem may be downloaded at http://jech.bmj.com/misc/poems.shtml). Then they check their predictions.

b. Ask the Sts why

- “I’m getting larger hour after hour” (e.g. people buy things that come with lots of packaging)

- “I’m really unhealthy” (e.g. untreated rubbish can cause the spread of rats and diseases)

c. Ask the Sts to comment on the following: “I’m produced by the rich/thrown out by the poor”.

d. Ask the Sts to suggest one or two ideas or measures to prevent litter from being a menace to society. (e.g. reduce packaging, tax plastic bags)

6. Further activities

a. Ask the Sts to research online on problems caused by litter. (eg http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Serious_Health_Risk_In_Naples_Area_As_Garbage_System_Backs_Up_999.html,

http://www.terradaily.com/2007/070528115604.p3qhbsc2.html,

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2581251.ece,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/25/nbins225.xml)

What problems do towns/communities face? What solutions have they tried out?

A feedback session could be scheduled for the Sts to present and share their findings.

b. Ask the Sts to research on Levi Tafari and his involvement in helping Liverpool youngsters deal with community problems like rubbish.

LITTER, by Levi Tafari

(Tafari, Levi, Rhyme don’t pay, Headland 1999, pp 51-52).

“Well hello everybody how do you do? I wanna introduce myself to you! My name is LITTER I dwell in the gutter I’m comprised of glass, wood, metal and paper I’m getting larger hour after hour you’ll find me lurking in your area." "I move around the city I make it untidy to human beings I’m really unhealthy I’m not very pretty in fact I’m quite ugly some people even say I’m real dirty so I do what I can to upset man I’m unpopular I’m not a part of his plan a menace to society I’m very naughty like poison

I’m quite deadly

vermin love me

I make them feel secure

I’m produced by the rich

thrown out by the poor

I’ve been around

a really long time

even though you’ve made

dropping me a crime

and if you think I’m rough

you ain’t seen nothing yet

I’ll get up to your neck

and make you sweat

this is a promise

it is not a threat

yes you can call me names

say I’m no good

but it won’t stop me

messing up your neighbourhood.”

“Because

I’m LITTER

from the gutter

and my mission

is to make you SUFFER.”

Internet sources, last access - June 2007:

http://jech.bmj.com/misc/poems.shtml

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/download/britlit/levi/levi.shtml

http://www.liverpool08.com/Images/Glitter_tcm79-80443.pdf

http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/Images/tcm21-32267.pdf

http://www.cpia.ca/files/files/files_10_2005_municiple_world.pdf

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