Article
Bats Langley
Poetry,

Crash! Bang! Boom!

A spooky poem about mysterious sounds

By Kenn Nesbitt
From the October/November 2025 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will enjoy reading repetitive words that describe sounds.

Complexity Factors
  • Levels of Meaning
    “Crash! Bang! Boom!” is a fictional poem about a child who hears mysterious sounds late at night.
  • Structure
    The poem contains one stanza of 12 lines. The poem has an ABAB rhyme scheme.
  • Language
    The language is simple and conversational.
  • Knowledge Demands
    No previous knowledge is required.
Featured Skill: Figurative Language,
Other Key Skills: elements of poetry, main idea, interpreting text, cause and effect, text features, connecting to the text, explanatory writing
Standards
  • Common Core
    RL.3.1, RL.3.2, RL.3.4, RL.3.6, RL.3.7, RL.4, W.3.2, W.3.3, SL.3.1, SL.3.2, L.3.5
  • TEKS Grade 3
    1a, 1c, 3a, 3b, 4, 6a, 6c, 6i, 7b, 7c, 7f, 7g, 9b, 10b, 10c, 10d, 12a, 12b

Presentation View
See Student View

Crash! Bang! Boom!

I close my eyes, turn off the light.

CRASH! BANG! BOOM!

Oh, what’s that noise so late at night?

CRASH! BANG! BOOM!

It seems that something isn’t right.

CRASH! BANG! BOOM!

It’s giving me an awful fright.

CRASH! BANG! BOOM!

I shine my flashlight, nice and bright.

CRASH! BANG! BOOM!

My brother’s playing drums tonight!

CRASH! BANG! BOOM!

Think and Write

Use our skill builder to explore how the poet uses sound words. Then write a paragraph using sound words of your own!

Reprinted by permission of Kenn Nesbitt. All Rights Reserved.

Audio ()
Activities (4)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Audio ()
Activities (4) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Table of Contents

1. Preparing to Read

2. Reading and Discussing the Poem

3. Skill Building

1. Preparing to Read

Set a Purpose for Reading

  • Read the title of the poem along with the poet’s name. Ask students to describe the illustration and predict what the poem will be about. Review the predictions after reading the poem.
  • Explain that the poem contains one stanza. The poem has an ABAB rhyme scheme. The last words of every other line rhyme.

2. Reading and Discussing the Poem

  • Read the poem to the class, play the audio Read-Aloud, or use Text-to-Speech.
  • Next ask students to take turns reading aloud each line in the poem.
  • Discuss the Close-Reading Questions.

Close-Reading Questions (30 minutes)

  • Which words rhyme in the poem? The rhyming words are light, night, right, fright, bright and tonight. (elements of poetry)
  • Read the first four lines. What does the boy hear? The boy hears a very loud noise late at night. (main idea)
  • Read the next four lines. Why does the boy say, “It’s giving me an awful fright”? The boy is scared by the loud noises he hears because he doesn’t know what they are. (interpreting text)
  • Read the last four lines. What is causing the loud noises? The speaker’s brother is causing the loud noises. His brother is playing drums. (cause and effect)
  • Read the lines “CRASH! BANG! BOOM!” How do these lines help you understand the loud sounds that are scaring the boy? These lines help me understand what these sounds sound like. These words are describing the loud sounds. (figurative language)
  • How does the illustration help you understand what is happening in the poem? The illustration helps me understand that the boy is lying in his bed. He is holding a flashlight. His bedroom is dark because it’s late at night. He looks very scared. (text feature)

3. Skill Building

Featured Skill: Figurative Language

Distribute or digitally assign our Figurative Language Skill Builder and have students complete it in class or for homework.

Text-to-Speech