Laura Purdie Salas

Small Reads for Brighters Days

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[psvid] “Coward Crocodile” (Renee LaTulippe)

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Poem_Starter_VidHappy National Poetry Month! Thanks for dropping by my Poem Starter Video party.

Today’s poem comes from??Lizard Lou: A Collection of Rhymes Old and New (All About Reading Level Pre-1, Volume 2)?(All About Learning, 2011), by the talented and theatrical Renee LaTulippe of No Water River.?Renee is the person who first invited me to make a video of myself reading a poem a year or so ago, and I accepted with great trepidation. So, in a way, you have Renee to thank for (or blame for!) the Poem Starter Videos I’m now doing!

Coward Crocodile

My snout is long,
my teeth are sharp,
my bite is hard and strong.
But when?I see
a slimy eel,
I squeal and scream ?So long!?

I?run with speed,
my claws can scratch,
my tail can crush a stone.
So why do?I
cry in the dark
when?I am left alone?

I?don’t like bugs
or snakes or storms,
nor my cousins in the Nile!
Sometimes?I even
scare myself?
I?m just a coward crocodile.

–Renee LaTulippe, all rights reserved

And here is my Poem Starter Video:

[wpvideo sJQujgBN]

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Comments

  1. Dear Laura:
    Today I enjoyed the way I can look at the poem while listening to your recitation. The size is perfect and the site uncluttered.
    Finally your eye contact is direct so I guess you are looking at a script behind the camera.
    Many of my beginning videos on my iMac are below eye level since the camera is atop a giant screen.
    Jeanne Poland

    • Thank you for the feedback, Jeanne! My eyes are different because I was reading Renee’s poem on the screen instead of from the book. Hmmm…Most of my NPM videos are already made, but I will keep in mind for the future ones that you liked this direct eye contact. Good to know! Regarding looking at the poem: On my laptop, this post looks exactly like every other post from this month. Does something about it appear different to you? Something that makes the size and clutteredness different? Your comments are super helpful–thanks!

  2. Dear Laura:
    Today I enjoyed the way I can look at the poem while listening to your recitation. The size is perfect and the site uncluttered.
    Finally your eye contact is direct so I guess you are looking at a script behind the camera.
    Many of my beginning videos on my iMac are below eye level since the camera is atop a giant screen.
    Jeanne Poland

    • Thank you for the feedback, Jeanne! My eyes are different because I was reading Renee’s poem on the screen instead of from the book. Hmmm…Most of my NPM videos are already made, but I will keep in mind for the future ones that you liked this direct eye contact. Good to know! Regarding looking at the poem: On my laptop, this post looks exactly like every other post from this month. Does something about it appear different to you? Something that makes the size and clutteredness different? Your comments are super helpful–thanks!

  5. Terrific poem to use to get younger students write about fears, or perhaps to write about something another “thing” fears, like this awesome, but scared crocodile. Great to see Renee’s poem, Laura. Thank you!

    • Thanks, Linda! I did a fear poem workshop a few years back at a Young Authors Conference, and the students came up with some absolutely amazing things!

  6. Terrific poem to use to get younger students write about fears, or perhaps to write about something another “thing” fears, like this awesome, but scared crocodile. Great to see Renee’s poem, Laura. Thank you!

    • Thanks, Linda! I did a fear poem workshop a few years back at a Young Authors Conference, and the students came up with some absolutely amazing things!

  9. Thanks for featuring my poem, Laura, and for giving my poor crocodile such a heartfelt reading! Fears are definitely great fodder for poems, and not just for the kiddies. Hm, now that I think about it, I have a few I should write about… . 🙂

    • Thanks, Renee–reading your poem was particularly nerve-wracking, since you do such masterful videos/readings. Glad you were OK with my very homespun version. :>)

  10. Thanks for featuring my poem, Laura, and for giving my poor crocodile such a heartfelt reading! Fears are definitely great fodder for poems, and not just for the kiddies. Hm, now that I think about it, I have a few I should write about… . 🙂

    • Thanks, Renee–reading your poem was particularly nerve-wracking, since you do such masterful videos/readings. Glad you were OK with my very homespun version. :>)

  11. ADIOS

    I’m running toward the mountains,
    I’m going far away,
    I don’t want you to find me
    I’ve had a lousy day.

    No friend, you don’t understand
    I’ve witnessed something bad,
    You never want to be around
    When my infant sister’s mad.

    (C) Charles Waters 2013 all rights reserved.

  12. ADIOS

    I’m running toward the mountains,
    I’m going far away,
    I don’t want you to find me
    I’ve had a lousy day.

    No friend, you don’t understand
    I’ve witnessed something bad,
    You never want to be around
    When my infant sister’s mad.

    (C) Charles Waters 2013 all rights reserved.

  13. What a great twist to have a scaredy crocodile, super poem Renee.

    Scaredy Spider

    I crawl so slowly
    so as not to scare
    but then big monsters move
    and I run everywhere.

  14. What a great twist to have a scaredy crocodile, super poem Renee.

    Scaredy Spider

    I crawl so slowly
    so as not to scare
    but then big monsters move
    and I run everywhere.

    • Thanks, Lauri! I’m learning a lot about what I should probably have done differently:>) But I wouldn’t be learning all this without diving in and just giving it a try…

    • Thanks, Lauri! I’m learning a lot about what I should probably have done differently:>) But I wouldn’t be learning all this without diving in and just giving it a try…

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