Happy Poetry Friday! Today’s poem wraps up a week of poems from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, Fairy Tale Garage Sale. This one comes from Jack himself. As with every good horror story, this fairy tale ends with the seed (literally, in this case) of the next terrible event. I hope you’ve enjoyed this week (except Thursday) of Jack and the Beanstalk poems. This book is available in Kindle and paperback, and it includes lots of great extras for teachers.
A Note from the Poet:
Do you know the phrase ?Don’t have a cow?? When I was a kid, ?have a cow? was slang for ?get all upset.? So we would say things like, ?My mom’ll have a cow if I don’t unload the dishwasher.? Saying, ?Don’t have a cow? to someone was like saying, ?Chill out. No big deal.? When I wrote this cinquain (a poem with 5 lines of 2–4‑6–8‑2 syllables), I had fun playing with literal vs. figurative. Literally, the mom wants to have a cow in exchange for the money. But Jack has bought a bean instead. And figuratively, he knows his mom would be super upset if he planted another magic bean.
Here I am reading both the poem and the Note from the Poet.
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For more Poetry Friday fun, visit Keri and the Poetry Friday Roundup at Keri Recommends (I love her new blog design). Here’s hoping poetry is offering Keri solace during this sad time for her family.
22 Responses
I Love this poem
I Love this poem
Yes, we used the phrase, ‘don’t have a cow’, too, Laura. I’ll ask the students today if they know it (middle school). This is fun, & a different look of course. I never thought about Jack hiding away one bean-fun!
Linda I have been injoying some of the books you talked about on your blog I haven’t figgered out to leave you replays on it thow I wish that I did
Yes, we used the phrase, ‘don’t have a cow’, too, Laura. I’ll ask the students today if they know it (middle school). This is fun, & a different look of course. I never thought about Jack hiding away one bean-fun!
Linda I have been injoying some of the books you talked about on your blog I haven’t figgered out to leave you replays on it thow I wish that I did
Funny! My kids still say “don’t have a cow”. Great poem, Laura! =)
Oh, good! Glad they’re carrying the torch for the next gen!
Funny! My kids still say “don’t have a cow”. Great poem, Laura! =)
Oh, good! Glad they’re carrying the torch for the next gen!
HA!! So fun! I’m loving these peeks into your series!
Thanks, Mary Lee–SEE you soon!
HA!! So fun! I’m loving these peeks into your series!
Thanks, Mary Lee–SEE you soon!
Think I need to go buy this book. I know my students would love it. And I remember saying “Don’t have a cow” in high school!
Thanks, Carol! The Kindle is only $2.99–if you buy the paperback, which is more expensive, the Kindle version comes free. I hope you like the rest of the poems!
Think I need to go buy this book. I know my students would love it. And I remember saying “Don’t have a cow” in high school!
Thanks, Carol! The Kindle is only $2.99–if you buy the paperback, which is more expensive, the Kindle version comes free. I hope you like the rest of the poems!
Oh, yes, we used this a lot! “She’ll have a cow when she finds out about XYZ”!! Can’t wait to see your new books, Laura! Terrific.
:>)
Oh, yes, we used this a lot! “She’ll have a cow when she finds out about XYZ”!! Can’t wait to see your new books, Laura! Terrific.
:>)