Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom

Songs and Poems About Growing Things and the Environment

The Big Sunflower
The Boll Weevil Song
An English Country Garden
The Green Grass Grew All Around
The Littlest Worm
I Love Dirt
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
I'm a Little Scarecrow
My Strawberry (Helen Hunt Jackson)
November Cotton Flower (Jean Toomer)
Squirming Worms
Theme in Yellow (Carl Sandburg)
This Compost (Walt Whitman)
The Water Cycle Song
To Autumn (John Keats)
When the Frost is on the Punkin (James Whitcomb Riley)
Winter Trees (William Carlos Williams)

The Big Sunflower

I'm just as happy as a big sunflower
That nods and bends in the breezes,
My heart's as light as the wind that blows,
Blowing from off the trees-es.

I'm just as happy as a butterfly
That dips and spins in the flowers
My song's as joyous as the pretty bird's
Singing to us for hours.

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An English Country Garden

How many kinds of sweet flowers grow
In an English country garden?
We'll tell you now of some that we know
Those we miss you'll surely pardon
Daffodils, heart's ease and flox
Meadowsweet and lady smocks
Gentian, lupine and tall hollihocks
Roses, foxgloves, snowdrops, blue forget-me-nots
In an English country garden.
How many insects come here and go
In an English country garden?
We'll tell you now of some that we know
Those we miss you'll surely pardon
Fireflies, moths, gnats and bees
Spiders climbing in the trees
Butterflies drift in the gentle breeze
There are snakes, ants that sting
And other creeping things
In an English country garden.

How many songbirds fly to and fro
In an English country garden?
We'll tell you now of some that we know
Those we miss you'll surely pardon
Bobolink, cuckoo and quail
Tanager and cardinal
Bluebird, lark, thrush and nightingale
There is joy in the spring
When the birds begin to sing
In an English country garden.

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The Green Grass Grew All Around

There was a hole in the middle of the ground
The prettiest hole that you ever did see.
Well, the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around and around
And the green grass grew all around.

And in this hole there was a root
The prettiest root that you ever did see
Well the root in the hole
And the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around and around
And the green grass grew all around.

And on this root there was a tree
The prettiest tree that you ever did see
Well the tree on the root
And the root in the hole
And the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around and around
And the green grass grew all around.

And on this tree there was a branch...
The prettiest branch that you ever did see
Well the branch on the tree
And the tree on the root
And the root in the hole
And the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around and around
And the green grass grew all around.

And on this branch there was a twig.
The prettiest twig that you ever did see
Well the twig on the branch
And the branch on the tree
And the tree on the root
And the root in the hole
And the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around and around
And the green grass grew all around.

And on this twig there was a nest.
The prettiest nest that you ever did see
Well the nest on the twig
And the twig on the branch
And the branch on the tree
And the tree on the root
And the root in the hole
And the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around and around
And the green grass grew all around.

And in this nest there was an egg,
The prettiest egg that you ever did see
Well the egg in the nest
And the nest on the twig
And the twig on the branch
And the branch on the tree
And the tree on the root
And the root in the hole
And the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around and around
And the green grass grew all around.
And in this egg there was a bird...
The prettiest bird that you ever did see
Well the bird on the egg
And the egg in the nest
And the nest on the twig
And the twig on the branch

And the branch on the tree
And the tree on the root
And the root in the hole
And the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around and around
And the green grass grew all around.

And on this bird there was a wing...
The prettiest wing that you ever did see
Well the wing on the bird
And the bird on the egg
And the egg in the nest
And the nest on the twig
And the twig on the branch
And the branch on the tree
And the tree on the root
And the root in the hole
And the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around and around
And the green grass grew all around.

And on this wing, there was a feather...
The prettiest feather that you ever did see
Well the feather on the wing
And the wing on the bird
And the bird on the egg
And the egg in the nest
And the nest on the twig
And the twig on the branch
And the branch on the tree
And the tree on the root
And the root in the hole
And the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around and around
And the green grass grew all around.

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The Littlest Worm

Tune: Sippin’ Cider Through a Straw

The littlest worm (The littlest worm)
You ever saw (You ever saw)
Got stuck inside (Got stuck inside)
My soda straw (My soda straw)
The littlest worm you ever saw
Got stuck inside my soda straw

He said to me (He said to me)
"Don't take a sip ("Don't take a sip)
'Cause if you do ('Cause if you do)
You'll get real sick." (You'll get real sick.")
He said to me, "Don't take a sip,
'Cause if you do, you'll get real sick."

I took a sip (I took a sip)
And he went down (And he went down)
Right through my pipe (Right through my pipe)
He must have drowned (He must have drowned)
I took a sip and he went down
Right through my pipe, he must have drowned.

He was my pal (He was my pal)
He was my friend (He was my friend)
There is no more (There is no more)
This is the end (This is the end)
He was my pal, he was my friend
There is no more, this is the end.

Now don't you fret (Now don't you fret)
Now don't you fear (Now don't you fear)
That little worm (That little worm)
Had scuba gear (Had scuba gear)
Now don't you fret, now don't you fear,
That little worm had scuba gear.

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I Love Dirt

Sing to the tune of “Three Blind Mice:”

I love dirt. I love dirt.
It can’t hurt
On my shirt.
I love to squirt it with my hose.
I love to squeeze it between my toes.
The fun we have just grows and grows.
Oh, I love dirt. I love dirt.

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I'm a Little Scarecrow

I’m a little scarecrow, raggedy and worn.
I wear a hat and a shirt that’s torn.
When the crows come I wave and shout
“Away from my garden! Get on out!

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Squirming Worms

There are lots of worms under the ground
Lots of worms wiggling around
I know they're way down there digging around
Way under, way under the ground

If you hear a sound from under a mound
A funny sound way down in the ground
You know it's squirmy worms just squirming around
Way under, way under the ground

There are lots of worms under the ground
Lots of worms wiggling around
I know they're way down there digging around
Way under, way under the ground

So dig a hole into the ground
Reach down there and feel around
You'll find great big worms, by the pound
Way under, way under the ground

There are lots of worms under the ground
Lots of worms wiggling around
I know they're way down there digging around
Way under, way under the ground

There are lots of worms under the ground
Lots of worms wiggling around
I know they're way down there digging around
Way under, way under the ground.

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This Compost

by Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Behold this compost! behold it well!
Perhaps every mite was once form'd part of a sick person - yet behold!
The grass of spring covers the prairies,
The bean bursts noiselessly through the mould in the garden,
The delicate spear of the onion pierces upward,
The apple-buds custer together on the apple-branches,
The resurrection of the wheat appears with pale visage out of its graves.
What chemistry!
That the winds are really infectious,
That all is clean forever and forever,
That the cool drink from the well tastes so good,
That blackberries are so flavorous and juicy,
That the fruits of the apple-orchard and the orange-orchard, that melons, grapes, peaches, plums, will none of them poison me,
That when I recline on the grass I do not catch any disease
Now I am terrified at the Earth, it is that calm and patient,
It grows such sweet things out of such corruptions,
It turns harmless and stainless on its axis, with such endless succession of diseased corpses,
It distils such exquisite winds out of such infused fetor,
It gives such divine materials to men, and accepts such leavings from them at last.