Thursday, September 20, 2012

Week 4

The theme of Week 4 is PETS, always a popular topic among young readers. This week, we feature a "pet" poem for every grade level with subjects ranging from a petting zoo, pet fish, wished-for pets, not-pets, to pet opposites. Here is an excerpt from the poem for second grade. It's "My Pet" by David L. Harrison. 

My Pet
by David L. Harrison

See those bats?
In the maple tree?
The one on the left
Belongs to me.

Haven't told him yet
He's my pet.

...

(Read the rest of the poem on p. 110 in the book.)

Take 5
1. To set the stage before reading this poem aloud, make an origami bat. A simple model is available here: nickrobinson.info/origami/diagrams/bat.htm. After reading the poem aloud, hang the bat upside down.

2. Read the poem again and this time invite students to chime in on the second and final stanzas in whisper voices while you read the rest aloud.

3. For discussion: If you could have any pet (that’s not usually a pet) what would it be?

4. Guide students in identifying the rhyming words in this poem (tree/me; yet/pet; friends/ends; night/flight; skies/flies). Read the poem out loud again and display the poem so students can join in on the rhyming words.

5. Compare this with another poem, “Bat” by X. J. Kennedy (1st Grade, Week 8) or a selection from Fuzzy-Fast Blur: Poems About Pets by Laura Purdie Salas.

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Find more Poetry Friday fun at Renee LaTulippe's wonderful blog, No Water River.
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3 comments:

  1. Janet WongSeptember 21, 2012 at 1:00 PM

    I admire the way this poem expands the definition of pet to encourage kids to look around, "claim" something to love and look after, and instantly have a pet (especially if their parents won't let them have a regular pet). This way, your pet can be the frog in the stream without you actually needing to catch it and shove it in a jar (which, forgive us "Popsie #1 and Popsie #2, we did to you)!

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  2. Renee LaTulippeSeptember 22, 2012 at 9:16 AM

    Poor Popsie(s), Janet.

    I had to laugh when I first read David's poem because we're living it! My boys have a "pet" cat that they named Tita and who lives in the cat colony by the sea. She always comes out to see them when we take them to the park there, and doesn't mind so much when they pull her tail. I think it's kind of amazing.

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  3. Janet WongSeptember 22, 2012 at 6:07 PM

    "The Cat Colony By the Sea": what a great title for a poem!

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