Teachers and
Other Pests
A Poetry Anthology for BIH
Grade 7 Students
The Aliens Have Landed
by Kenn Nesbitt
Learning Objectives
As we study this poem you will learn:
 the meaning of the poem,
 be introduced to the terms,
Stanza, Rhyme - Alternate Couplet, Line, Simile & Imagery,
 how to read out the poem to the class,
 You will also complete some mini tasks and a quiz on this poem.
The aliens have landed!
It's distressing, but they're here.
They piloted their flying saucer
through our atmosphere.
They landed like a meteor
engulfed in smoke and flame.
Then out they climbed
immersed in slime
and burbled as they came.
Their hands are greasy tentacles.
Their heads are weird machines.
Their bodies look like cauliflower
and smell like dead sardines.
Their blood is liquid helium.
Their eyes are made of granite.
Their breath exudes the stench of foods
from some unearthly planet.
And if you want to see these
sickly, unattractive creatures,
you'll find them working in your school;
they all got jobs as teachers.
The Aliens Have Landed
Kenn Nesbitt
Vocabulary:
Engulfed: to swallow up or
submerge.
Exudes: to ooze out gradually.
Immersed: surrounded by a liquid
Granite: a type of very hard rock.
The Key Devices used in this poem
are:
Stanza
Rhyme - Alternate Couplet
Line
Simile
Imagery
The aliens have landed!
It's distressing, but they're here.
They piloted their flying saucer
through our atmosphere.
They landed like a meteor
engulfed in smoke and flame.
Then out they climbed
immersed in slime
and burbled as they came.
Their hands are greasy tentacles.
Their heads are weird machines.
Their bodies look like cauliflower
and smell like dead sardines.
Their blood is liquid helium.
Their eyes are made of granite.
Their breath exudes the stench of foods
from some unearthly planet.
And if you want to see these
sickly, unattractive creatures,
you'll find them working in your school;
they all got jobs as teachers.
The Aliens Have Landed
Kenn Nesbitt
Copy the information in the
Blue Box into your Anthology
booklet.
The Key Devices
Stanza
A series of lines in a poem that
are grouped together.
This poem has 3 stanzas
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
The aliens have landed!
It's distressing, but they're here.
They piloted their flying saucer
through our atmosphere.
They landed like a meteor
engulfed in smoke and flame.
Then out they climbed
immersed in slime
and burbled as they came.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Their hands are greasy tentacles.
Their heads are weird machines.
Their bodies look like cauliflower
and smell like dead sardines.
Their blood is liquid helium.
Their eyes are made of granite.
Their breath exudes the stench of foods
from some unearthly planet.
1
2
3
4
And if you want to see these
sickly, unattractive creatures,
you'll find them working in your school;
they all got jobs as teachers.
The Aliens Have Landed
Kenn Nesbitt
Copy the information in the
Blue Box into your Anthology
booklet.
The Key Devices
Stanzas are made up of lines
Line
The group of words on the
same line.
This poem has 3 stanzas of 9,
8 and 4 lines.
On your copy of the poem
number each line in each stanza
The aliens have landed!
It's distressing, but they're here.
They piloted their flying saucer
through our atmosphere.
They landed like a meteor
engulfed in smoke and flame.
Then out they climbed
immersed in slime
and burbled as they came.
Their hands are greasy tentacles.
Their heads are weird machines.
Their bodies look like cauliflower
and smell like dead sardines.
Their blood is liquid helium.
Their eyes are made of granite.
Their breath exudes the stench of foods
from some unearthly planet.
And if you want to see these
sickly, unattractive creatures,
you'll find them working in your school;
they all got jobs as teachers.
The Aliens Have Landed
Kenn Nesbitt
Copy the information in the
Blue Box into your Anthology
booklet.
The Key Devices
Rhyme - Couplet
Two lines next to each other
that rhyme.
Rhyme - Alternate Couplet
Two lines that rhyme that have
an un-rhymed line between
them.
This poem uses both!
On your copy of the poem
highlight the lines that rhyme.
The aliens have landed!
It's distressing, but they're here.
They piloted their flying saucer
through our atmosphere.
They landed like a meteor
engulfed in smoke and flame.
Then out they climbed
immersed in slime
and burbled as they came.
Their hands are greasy tentacles.
Their heads are weird machines.
Their bodies look like cauliflower
and smell like dead sardines.
Their blood is liquid helium.
Their eyes are made of granite.
Their breath exudes the stench of foods
from some unearthly planet.
And if you want to see these
sickly, unattractive creatures,
you'll find them working in your school;
they all got jobs as teachers.
The Aliens Have Landed
Kenn Nesbitt
Copy the information in the
Blue Box into your Anthology
booklet.
The Key Devices
Simile
Where an object or a person is
compared to a similar object
often with the word ‘Like’ or
‘as’.
On your copy of the poem
underline the similes.
The aliens have landed!
It's distressing, but they're here.
They piloted their flying saucer
through our atmosphere.
They landed like a meteor
engulfed in smoke and flame.
Then out they climbed
immersed in slime
and burbled as they came.
Their hands are greasy tentacles.
Their heads are weird machines.
Their bodies look like cauliflower
and smell like dead sardines.
Their blood is liquid helium.
Their eyes are made of granite.
Their breath exudes the stench of foods
from some unearthly planet.
And if you want to see these
sickly, unattractive creatures,
you'll find them working in your school;
they all got jobs as teachers.
The Aliens Have Landed
Kenn Nesbitt
Copy the information in the
Blue Box into your Anthology
booklet.
The Key Devices
Imagery
Words and phrases that are
used in literature to create
clear pictures in our minds.
You can also have sound, taste
and smell imagery.
On your copy of the poem
identify one example of visual
imagery from each stanza.
The aliens have landed!
It's distressing, but they're here.
They piloted their flying saucer
through our atmosphere.
They landed like a meteor
engulfed in smoke and flame.
Then out they climbed
immersed in slime
and burbled as they came.
Their hands are greasy tentacles.
Their heads are weird machines.
Their bodies look like cauliflower
and smell like dead sardines.
Their blood is liquid helium.
Their eyes are made of granite.
Their breath exudes the stench of foods
from some unearthly planet.
And if you want to see these
sickly, unattractive creatures,
you'll find them working in your school;
they all got jobs as teachers.
The Aliens Have Landed
Kenn Nesbitt
Copy the information in the
Blue Box into your Anthology
booklet.
The Key Devices
Sound Imagery
Words and phrases that are
used in literature to create
clear pictures in our minds.
You can also have sound, taste
and smell imagery.
On your copy of the poem
identify the example of sound
imagery .
The aliens have landed!
It's distressing, but they're here.
They piloted their flying saucer
through our atmosphere.
They landed like a meteor
engulfed in smoke and flame.
Then out they climbed
immersed in slime
and burbled as they came.
Their hands are greasy tentacles.
Their heads are weird machines.
Their bodies look like cauliflower
and smell like dead sardines.
Their blood is liquid helium.
Their eyes are made of granite.
Their breath exudes the stench of foods
from some unearthly planet.
And if you want to see these
sickly, unattractive creatures,
you'll find them working in your school;
they all got jobs as teachers.
The Aliens Have Landed
Kenn Nesbitt
Copy the information in the
Blue Box into your Anthology
booklet.
The Key Devices
Smell Imagery
Words and phrases that are
used in literature to create
clear pictures in our minds.
You can also have sound, taste
and smell imagery.
On your copy of the poem
identify one example of smell
imagery .
The aliens have landed!
It's distressing, but they're here.
They piloted their flying saucer
through our atmosphere.
They landed like a meteor
engulfed in smoke and flame.
Then out they climbed
immersed in slime
and burbled as they came.
Their hands are greasy tentacles.
Their heads are weird machines.
Their bodies look like cauliflower
and smell like dead sardines.
Their blood is liquid helium.
Their eyes are made of granite.
Their breath exudes the stench of foods
from some unearthly planet.
And if you want to see these
sickly, unattractive creatures,
you'll find them working in your school;
they all got jobs as teachers.
The Aliens Have Landed
Kenn Nesbitt
Meaning:
This is a humorous (funny)
poem in which Kenn Nesbitt
imagines that all teachers are
some sort of slimy, smelly
alien race that have invaded
Earth, to make children’s lives
miserable. He uses a lot of
horrible but funny similes and
imagery to make his point.