I’m trying something new–poem starters!
I’ve been trying to figure out what I can offer of value to teachers and young writers, and poem starters seems to be something lots of them are looking for. So I’m going to give it a try. I’ll be trying some different options in the coming months, and once I figure out what works best, I’ll settling into a nice routine (I hope!) and also be able to start featuring poems by other poets!
This week, my poem is “Say Yes,” from A Fuzzy-Fast Blur: Poems about Pets (A+ Books: Poetry).
Say Yes
You said no to the orca
Our bathtub’s too small
And no to the stallion
He needs his own stall
You said no to the spider
Those long hairy legs!
And no to the tortoise
She digs to lay eggs
You said no to the tiger
He eats bloody meat
And no to the skunk
She smells like old feet!
But this elephant’s perfect!
He’s easy to groom
I’ll clean up his mess
He can live in my room?
Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaase?
–by Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
Teachers, if you’re looking for a poetry idea and want to share a reading of this poem and a poem starter with your class, here’s the video. By the way, have I mentioned that I stink at video? But I’m hoping to get better!
Poem Starter: Listen to the poem “Say Yes,” by Laura Purdie Salas, and then write a poem about an unusual pet you would like to have.
Julie at The Drift Record has today’s Poetry Friday roundup – enjoy!
54 Responses
It’s great great to hear you reading your poetry, Laura and what a fun poem it is. Thinking cap is on…
It’s great great to hear you reading your poetry, Laura and what a fun poem it is. Thinking cap is on…
Hi, Laura. I use poem starters during school residencies. It would be interesting to see which students choose to describe the unusual pet and which focus on the wanting. This is one of my favorite poems from A Fuzzy Fast Blur!
Thanks, Laura! I love writing poems with kids. Always so cool to see how their brains work and what they come up with.
Hi, Laura. I use poem starters during school residencies. It would be interesting to see which students choose to describe the unusual pet and which focus on the wanting. This is one of my favorite poems from A Fuzzy Fast Blur!
Thanks, Laura! I love writing poems with kids. Always so cool to see how their brains work and what they come up with.
I enjoyed hearing you read this poem. It’s a cute poem.
Thanks, Freeda! I’m going to keep in mind all the lovely comments you guys are making to give me courage when I make the next batch!
I enjoyed hearing you read this poem. It’s a cute poem.
Thanks, Freeda! I’m going to keep in mind all the lovely comments you guys are making to give me courage when I make the next batch!
Love this, Laura! And fun to read fresh from Amy’s fuzzy dog poem today at The Poem Farm. I think I’ll go pet my dogs now… (My folks let me have a lot of pets growing up, including the occasional lizard and such I’d bring in. Didn’t agree to that ocelot I wanted, though.…)
What, no ocelot? Your childhood was incomplete:D Hope to get to all the Poetry Friday posts this w/e. Amy always has a winner up, doesn’t she?
Love this, Laura! And fun to read fresh from Amy’s fuzzy dog poem today at The Poem Farm. I think I’ll go pet my dogs now… (My folks let me have a lot of pets growing up, including the occasional lizard and such I’d bring in. Didn’t agree to that ocelot I wanted, though.…)
What, no ocelot? Your childhood was incomplete:D Hope to get to all the Poetry Friday posts this w/e. Amy always has a winner up, doesn’t she?
Fabulous poem and video, Laura! I love the idea of my dog wanting a pet of her own…she’s not been to life affirming to the lizards in our yard. *wink* I’m looking forward to more poem starters…great idea. =)
Thanks, Bridget. Ha! Poor lizards…Luckily, our dog isn’t fast enough to catch squirrels and rabbits, and he’s not interested in the things like lizards and bugs that he’s able to catch. He just sniffs at them and walks away:>)
Fabulous poem and video, Laura! I love the idea of my dog wanting a pet of her own…she’s not been to life affirming to the lizards in our yard. *wink* I’m looking forward to more poem starters…great idea. =)
Thanks, Bridget. Ha! Poor lizards…Luckily, our dog isn’t fast enough to catch squirrels and rabbits, and he’s not interested in the things like lizards and bugs that he’s able to catch. He just sniffs at them and walks away:>)
How wonderful to see you in action, Laura! And to know that you’re thinking of how teachers can use this in the classroom. Well done.
Thanks, Julie. I appreciate it!
How wonderful to see you in action, Laura! And to know that you’re thinking of how teachers can use this in the classroom. Well done.
Thanks, Julie. I appreciate it!
Nice to see the lovely work you do for school visits, Laura. This is a great poem. I imagine students really will want to write about their “favorite” pet. (I think the video is good-no worries!)
Thanks, Linda. I’m very awkward on camera:>( Hopefully it will get better, though!
Nice to see the lovely work you do for school visits, Laura. This is a great poem. I imagine students really will want to write about their “favorite” pet. (I think the video is good-no worries!)
Thanks, Linda. I’m very awkward on camera:>( Hopefully it will get better, though!
Yay! Love this. More, please :).
More coming. I recorded 7 or 8. All my poems. Once I have a few to show people, then I hope to start sharing other people’s poems, along with a poem starter mission! Thanks, Jama:>)
Yay! Love this. More, please :).
More coming. I recorded 7 or 8. All my poems. Once I have a few to show people, then I hope to start sharing other people’s poems, along with a poem starter mission! Thanks, Jama:>)
Great poem and video, Laura. So many of my sixth graders write about pet-longing, this would be such fun to do with them!
Thanks, Tara! Kids on school visits have fun with this one (with the younger ones, we make it an action poem).
Great poem and video, Laura. So many of my sixth graders write about pet-longing, this would be such fun to do with them!
Thanks, Tara! Kids on school visits have fun with this one (with the younger ones, we make it an action poem).
Laura,
I want to know more about how to make better videos. When you learn, will you teach me.
By the way, I’m still waiting for the horse I begged for as a child. I got a goat. We called him Bully, because I wasn’t old enough to say Billy. My sister got the horse. We did have a monkey, and ducks. I guess I did have a colorful childhood.
My boyfriend did bring me a tube of fruit flies once to apologize for being 2 hours late for our date–I thought he was standing me up. He had been in genetics lab counting flies. Can’t believe that I married him. TMI, right?
You poem “Her Room” in the Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School is a good one. Well done.
Well, I don’t mean the tech stuff (I’m keeping that super simple, obviously–one take on my laptop webcam, for now at least). I hope to get better at being on camera. I’m so stiff and unnatural! If I ever get better at it, I’ll definitely share any tips. I think that, like school visits, it’s just going to take doing tons of them for me to come across more naturally. Sigh.
Aw. Your sister got the horse? That stinks. Love the Bully Goat, though. There’s got to be story there. And hahahahaha on your fruit fly story. Ah, true romance!
Thanks for the kind words about “Her Room.” I can’t wait to read through my copy of PFAMS–it will pry be a week or two. I hope you have a poem or poems in there!
Laura,
I want to know more about how to make better videos. When you learn, will you teach me.
By the way, I’m still waiting for the horse I begged for as a child. I got a goat. We called him Bully, because I wasn’t old enough to say Billy. My sister got the horse. We did have a monkey, and ducks. I guess I did have a colorful childhood.
My boyfriend did bring me a tube of fruit flies once to apologize for being 2 hours late for our date–I thought he was standing me up. He had been in genetics lab counting flies. Can’t believe that I married him. TMI, right?
You poem “Her Room” in the Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School is a good one. Well done.
Well, I don’t mean the tech stuff (I’m keeping that super simple, obviously–one take on my laptop webcam, for now at least). I hope to get better at being on camera. I’m so stiff and unnatural! If I ever get better at it, I’ll definitely share any tips. I think that, like school visits, it’s just going to take doing tons of them for me to come across more naturally. Sigh.
Aw. Your sister got the horse? That stinks. Love the Bully Goat, though. There’s got to be story there. And hahahahaha on your fruit fly story. Ah, true romance!
Thanks for the kind words about “Her Room.” I can’t wait to read through my copy of PFAMS–it will pry be a week or two. I hope you have a poem or poems in there!
Cute poem! I’m sure plenty of kids can identify with it…whether their request is unusual or not!
I can even still identify with it:>) Thanks, Matt.
Cute poem! I’m sure plenty of kids can identify with it…whether their request is unusual or not!
I can even still identify with it:>) Thanks, Matt.
Nice! It was fun to see you reading it, too.
Thanks, Ruth!
Nice! It was fun to see you reading it, too.
Thanks, Ruth!
What a cute,funny poem! I am really going to enjoy your Poem Starter series!
Thanks, Penny! We’ll see how they go! It’s a little scary for me…
What a cute,funny poem! I am really going to enjoy your Poem Starter series!
Thanks, Penny! We’ll see how they go! It’s a little scary for me…
Here’s my response to your mission.
A SIMPLE REQUEST
Mom, Dad, may I have an elephant for a pet?
Before you said no, here me out.
He’d be my own personal jungle gym,
I could swing from his husks
Then practice my pull-ups or chin-ups.
His trunk would be a great for sliding
As well as a one way teeter board.
Food wise you could buy peanuts in bulk
For the corner store, that should satisfy
His appetite. As for sleeping arrangements
He could chill out in the living room.
I’ve really thought this through haven’t I?
So what do you say? Wait, I’m confused.
Why are you both laughing so hard
that tears are coming out of your eyes?
© Charles Waters 2013 all rights reserved.
Hehe–I love all the ways you could play on an elephant. And the lines from “Food wise” to “his appetite” totally sound like a kid trying to sound grown up. Nicely done!
Here’s my response to your mission.
A SIMPLE REQUEST
Mom, Dad, may I have an elephant for a pet?
Before you said no, here me out.
He’d be my own personal jungle gym,
I could swing from his husks
Then practice my pull-ups or chin-ups.
His trunk would be a great for sliding
As well as a one way teeter board.
Food wise you could buy peanuts in bulk
For the corner store, that should satisfy
His appetite. As for sleeping arrangements
He could chill out in the living room.
I’ve really thought this through haven’t I?
So what do you say? Wait, I’m confused.
Why are you both laughing so hard
that tears are coming out of your eyes?
© Charles Waters 2013 all rights reserved.
Hehe–I love all the ways you could play on an elephant. And the lines from “Food wise” to “his appetite” totally sound like a kid trying to sound grown up. Nicely done!