Perfectly Piping Poetry

An Author Study on Jack Prelutsky

By: Taylor Giany

Introduction:

I chose to study Jack Prelustky because I have studied or read any of his works

until recently. I wanted to learn more about Mr. Prelutsky and his works. Upon

reading his works, I felt like children in grades 3-5 could really appreciate,

understand, and enjoy his work. While some of the content is probably not

suitable for K-2, teachers can also use excerpts of his poems in these grades. The

poems are easy to relate to and very funny. I feel that children are more likely to

gravitate towards poems if they are funny and Mr. Prelutsky does a great job at

making the poems funny and exciting. I am excited to learn more about Mr.

Prelutsky, his works, and what really makes kids gravitate towards his poetry.

Guiding Questions:

How many poems has Jack Prelutsky written?

Are there any books that Jack Prelutsky has written?

Which poem has his first poem?

Where does he get his inspiration from?

About the Author:

Jack Prelutsky was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 8th, 1940 and lived

in a six-story apartment house. He loved to read and his favorite books were

“Wild Animals I Have Known” by Ernest Thompson Seton. He also loves stories of

Robin Hood and King Arthur. Growing up, Mr. Pelutsky didn’t like poetry. In grade

school, he had a teacher that left him with the impression that poetry was the

literary equivalent to liver. Mr. Prelutsky always enjoyed playing with language,

but he had no idea he would become a writer. At 24 years old, he discovered

writing as a career by accident. He spent months drawing several imaginary

animals but one night he decided to write a little poem to go along with each

drawing. A friend encouraged him to show the poems to an editor. At first he as

weary but when he did, the editor Susan Hirschman, thought he had a natural

talent for writing verse. She published his first book, “A Gopher in the Garden” in

1967 and 30 years later, she’s still his publisher. In his spare time he enjoys

photography, carpentry, creating games, collages, found objects, etc. He currently

resides in Washington State with his wife of over 30 years, Carolynn.

Websites:

http://www.jackprelutsky.com

Jack Prelutsky’s website gives both children and adults a chance to view Mr.

Prelutsky’s work. There is a section for kids with all of his poems, and a section for

adults with poems that adults can read to kids about difficult or certain times in

their lives.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/jack_home.htm

This website gives children a chance to “work with Jack.” They can create their

own poetry with Mr. Prelutsky, using Mr. Prelutsky as a guide.

Annotated Bibliography of Mr. Prelutsky’s Works:

Be Glad Your Nose is On Your Face Be glad your nose is on your face is a funny poem about different scenarios of your nose being on different parts of your body. For example, your nose could be on your feet and you would be forced to smell your feet.

A Pizza the Size of the Sun A pizza the size of the sun is a delightful poem about a person who is making a huge pizza and all the toppings he or she would put on it. The poem has good exaggeration within the story. For example a pizza the size of the sun.

Gobble Gobble Gobble Gobble is a very short poem ( 4 lines to be exact). But it gives two meanings to the same word. “When the turkey gobble gobbles, it’s plump and round and perky, when our family gobbles gobbles, we’re gobbling down the turkey.” This is an excellent way to show students that the same word can have different meanings.

An Extraterrestrial Alien This is a silly poem about a boy who finds an alien in his room. He describes the alien as only standing on half of his forty-four toes. This could be integrated into a math lesson. The alien is nice and the alien wants to be friends in the end. When the alien wants to be invited to dinner, the little boy hopes his parents won’t mind.

Twaddletalk Tuck Twaddletalk Tuck is an excellent poem to show alliteration. This poem is about all of the scenarios in which the person talks. This person talks when he or she cries, when he or she laughs, when she or she is “creeping” as well.

Bleezer’s Ice Cream Ebenezer Bleezer is the owner of Bleezer’s Ice Cream Shoppe. He has a variety of wacky flavors that are sure to tie your tongue, for example Cocoa Mocha Macaroni, Checkerberry Cheddar Chew, and Peach Pimento

Pizza Plum. Taste a flavor from his freezer and you will surely ask for more!

The Visitor This poem talks about someone who has discovered a mysterious creature living in his house. The poem goes on to describe how the creature makes the family feel and what the creature did to torment the person.

The Creature in the Classroom The Creature in the Classroom is about a creature that comes into the classroom and gobbles up desks, pencils, blackboards, and eventually gobbles up the teacher.

It’s Raining Pigs and Noodles Its Raining Pigs and Noodles is a funny poem about different silly things that are raining from the sky (not rain). For example, pickles, bananas, brooms, and cats. This would be a good lesson for students to make up what they would want to rain from the sky.

I Have a Secret Dragon This is about a boy who has an invisible dragon in his bathtub. His parents can’t see it but he can. They play and play and when it’s time to dry off, the dragon dries him off with his wings. This would be a good way for students to talk about their bathtub friends.

Sunshine State Standards:

Benchmark Number: LA.4.1.6.3

Benchmark Description: The student will use context clues to determine

meanings of unfamiliar word

Goal 3 Standards:

Goal 4: Creative and Critical Thinkers

Objective: The student will use context clues to determine meanings of unfamiliar words by creating their own unfamiliar words using Jack Prelutsky’s Poem “Bleezers Ice Cream.”

Assessments/Evaluation:

Initial: The teacher will ask the students if they have ever heard of any poems by Jack Prelutsky before, just to get a headcount (if any) of the students who are familiar with Prelutsky.

Informal: The teacher will walk around the room, examining who is having trouble and who isn’t, while the students are reading and analyzing “Bleezer’s Ice Cream” by Jack Prelutsky.

Formal: On a piece of paper, students will write down their own mixed up, whacky ice cream flavors.

Introduction to the Lesson:

Teacher will read “Bleezer’s Ice Cream”

Materials:

26 copies of “Bleezers Ice Cream”

Lesson One: Make Up Your Own “(Insert Last Name Here) Ice Cream” Names.

by Jack Prelutsky out loud to the class. List of names that start with each letter of the alphabet

Technology Integration:

The Vizcam will be used to show “Bleezer’s Ice Cream.”

Teacher Presentation/Facilitation:

Teacher will gain student’s attention by saying “Today we are going to learn about a silly, fun poet named Jack Prelutsky, how many of you know who Jack Prelutsky is or have heard of any of his silly poems before?” The students will answer yes or no. The students who answer yes will tell the class their experiences with Mr. Prelutskys work. I will then have a student helper pass out 26 copies of “Bleezer’s Ice Cream” to each student.“I am going to read “Bleezer’s Ice Cream” by Jack Prelutsky today, so follow along with your copy please and listen for some silly names!”I will then proceed to read the poem to the end.“Okay class, now what I want you to do is to get out sheet of paper. Remember in the story when Bleezer was naming off all of his whacky ice cream flavors? Well today you will do the same. I would like you all to give me at least two ice cream names that are three letters long that start with each letter of the alphabet. For example: Apple Anchovy Aruba and Beetle Bop Blue. These ice cream names can be as whacky and as made up as you want them to be. The words have to be real words though, but the ice cream names do not. I have put up, on the vizcam, names that start with each letter of the alphabet

for you to reference. This is here to help you, so if you need help, you may use these words. I strongly encourage you to come up with words on your own though. Remember to be creative when writing this because no answer is wrong. I would also like you to refer back to the original poem so you can generate some ideas there. Do not copy the original ice cream names though; they have to be your own. You may work in partners if you need some extra help. You have thirty minutes to complete this activity. Begin.The teacher will come around the class assisting students who have difficulty with this task. This lesson is not necessarily based on spelling or writing skills, but creative thinking skills. I have put on the vizcam helpful words students can reference when thinking of ideas for their ice cream. After thirty minutes is up I will call the class attention to me. “Students, I would like you to each stand up and read one or two of your whacky ice cream names.” Examples of Student Responses:Whacky Wet WatermelonHungry Hippopotamus HamburgerFrito Fried FingersLucky Licking LlamasAsk the students if there is any special ice cream name that they just have to say to the class outloudAs a class, discuss what we liked about the activity and some of the difficulties student’s came across.Ask the students to hang up their lists around the classroom for the whole world to see!

Differentiated Instruction:

I chose to start off by asking a question and reading the poem rather

than have students jump right in to writing and reading, especially with a poem because most students think that poetry is boring. I also chose to have students have a copy of the poem at their desks so students with difficulty seeing can read the poem at their desk.Students with learning disabilities can refer back to the poem on their desk to use as comparison to their own ice cream names. Spanish speaking students are allowed to work with partners if they choose to. Students have the choice to express themselves through this activity because there is no set rule to what the students can or cannot write (within the means of appropriateness).

Content: What should I teach next or re-teach?:

I would like to teach more about Mr. Prelutsky’s works now that the students are familiarized with his stories.

Students: Who still needs support in this content?:

If students are still struggling with this, I may want to go back and re-teach some vocabulary prior to this lesson to the students struggling.

Bleezer’s Ice Cream Example:

Whacky Watermelon Wombat

Loopy Luscious Laffy Taffy

Perfectly Purple Potato

Kooky Kangaroo Krunch

Stinky Sausage Stew

Ferocious Frog Freeze

Delicious Dreamy Dragon

Chocolate Chip Chimpanzee

Mushy Maggot Munch

Blue Booger Banana

New Nutty Nat Nest

Jumping Jingle Jam

Ornery Orangutan Orange

Exceptional Earwax Elixir

Slithering Sunny Snake Snack

1A. Sunshine State Standards:

Benchmark Number: LA.5.3.3.3

Benchmark Description: The student will revise by creating precision and interest by expressing ideas vividly through varied language techniques (e.g., foreshadowing, imagery, simile, metaphor, sensory language, connotation, denotation) and modifying word choices using resources and reference materials (e.g., dictionary, thesaurus); and

1B. Goal 3 Standards

Goal 4: Creative and Critical Thinkers

Lesson Plan Two: Creating your Own Poem

2. Objectives

The student will revise by creating precision and interest by expressing ideas vividly through varied language techniques (e.g., foreshadowing, imagery, simile, metaphor, sensory language, connotation, denotation) and modifying word choices using resources and reference materials (e.g., dictionary, thesaurus); by creating their own poem for Jack Prelutsky.

3. Assessment & Evaluation

Initial: Teacher will ask if anyone has ever written a poem on their own before, teacher will count hands. This will give an estimate of how many students are familiar with writing poems.

Informal: Teacher will show students two Jack Prelutsky poems on the vizcam. Teacher will read the poems; the students will then brainstorm ideas for their poems. Teacher will walk around the room to make sure the students aren’t having trouble.

Formal: Teacher will assign students to write a poem on their own that parallels Jack Prelutksy’s work.

4. Introduction to Lesson:

Teacher will read two poems by Jack Prelustky.

5. Materials

26 pieces of colored computer paper.

6. Technology Integration

I will use the Vizcam

7. Teacher Presentation or Facilitation: (includes reviews and practice)

Teacher will gain student attention by asking the students “have you ever written a funny poem, or even a poem at all?”Students responses should be yes or no. “Well today students, we are going to write our own funny and silly poem, just like Jack Prelutsky does!”Teacher will then show two Jack Prelutsky poems on the vizcam and proceed to read.After the poem reading is done, teacher will then ask the students “Okay now that you have an idea in your head about how silly and funny Mr. Prelutksy’s poems are, I want you to brainstorm ideas for your own silly, funny poem. Remember they can be as silly as you want, and no idea is wrong!Teacher will give students 15 minutes to brainstorm ideas for their poems. After the 15 minutes is up, teacher will say “Okay students, now I want you all to raise your hand and give me some ideas of what you came up with.”Students will raise their hand and give me answers, this should not take up more than 10 minutes. “Okay students, now that you are done brainstorming ideas, it’s time to write your poem! I have left the two poems by Mr. Prelutsky up on the vizcam for reference. This is only for reference as you need to come up with your own poem. I will give you 45 minutes to work on this and I will be coming around the room to check on you all to see your progress. Remember, these can be as silly as you want them to be. I would like you all to take the silliness and fun from Mr. Prelutsky’s poem, and put it in your own poem. For example, if I was writing about mice, I would probably come up with “I heard a noise in my closet, I went over to check it out. As I was reaching for the handle the door swung open, and out popped a mouse. I thought that he was cute but only for a minute because when I went to pick him up, he bit finger, and every bone in it. The mouse was very hungry, he ate everything in his path, when I came back into my room, he even ate my math.” So come up with your own silly, zany poem and I will be right here to help you if you get stuck. Begin.

After the students are done, teacher will have students share the poems and put the poems up on the board.

Differentiated Instruction:

Students are able to have a sharing partner that can help them if they have trouble.Students can use the poems on the vizcam for referenceI will give copies of the poems to students with eyesight problems. Students will have more than thirty minutes to complete this activity. If students need more time I will allot it. Students can create and express themselves through this activity.

Follow-up Reflection (completed after the lesson has been taught)

Content: What should I teach next or reteach?Students can refer back to this when we become more in depth with poetry.

Students: Who still needs support with this content?If students still need support, I will be there to help them; I will allow more time to work on this in class for the students who are having trouble. I will also set up a poetry work shop for the next class.

Poem Example:

The Ferocious Frog

I am a ferocious frog

Hopping down the road

I’m in the middle lane

Let’s hope I don’t get mowed.

Lesson Plan Three: Write a Letter to Mr. Prelutsky

1A: Sunshine State Standards:

Benchmark Number: LA.5.3.5.3

Benchmark Description: The student will share the writing with intended audience

1B: Goal 3 Standards:

Goal 4: Creative and Critical Thinkers

Objectives:

Student will share the writing by sending a letter to Mr. Jack Prelutsky

Assessment and Evaluation

Initial: Teacher will ask if anyone has ever written a letter before just to have an idea of who has and who has not.

Informal: Teacher will go through the steps of writing a letter first with the title, then the introduction, body, and finally the conclusion. Teacher will walk around the classroom to make sure students are doing this correctly.

Formal: Finished letter to Mr. Prelutsky.

Introduction to the Lesson:

Teacher will ask the question if anyone has ever written a letter before.

Materials:

26 sheets of lined notebook paper.

10 note cards with the Spanish words for Title, Introduction, Body, and Conclusion.

Technology Integration: Vizcam will be used.

Teacher Presentation or Facilitation:

First teacher will ask “How many students have ever written a letter, this can be any type of letter, to your Grandparents, Parents, Guardians, Teachers, etc.”Teacher will receive a head count“Okay class, well today we are going to learn how to write a letter, and then we are going to write a letter to Mr. Prelutsky because we have been learning all about him and his silly poetry this week!”Teacher will show an example letter on the vizcam“This is a letter that I wrote to my Dad, notice how the letter has a title, an introduction which would be the “Dear Dad” part, the body which is the paragraph below the introduction, and finally the conclusion which is the last paragraph.”Teacher will then pass around the copy of the letter to each student. “I would like you all to circle the introduction, the body, and the conclusion for me.”Teacher will walk around the classroom to make sure students are getting the hang of it and doing the assignment correctly. After about 10 minutes I will then say “now you are going to write a letter to Mr. Prelutsky. You call can say anything. Some ideas are:

what you like about his poetry, questions for him, you can ask if he has any more poetry works coming out, you can say how you feel when you read his poetry. Any of these are acceptable, or you can come up with a topic on your own. Remember the letter must have an introduction, body, and a conclusion. I have left the letter that I have written on the vizcam and you also have the letter in front of you to reference. I will give you 30 minutes to write your letter, then we will s hare them with the class. Begin”After 30 minutes students will share the letters and teacher will send them in the mail.

Differentiated Instruction:

Students may work with a partnerI have set the Spanish cards on the ELL learners desk so they can become familiar with the words introduction, body, and conclusion in their native language.Letters were placed on the desk so students can touch and visually see the letter.Students who need more time may receive it.

Content: What should I teach next or re-teach?

I should teach more in depth writing assignments after this.

Students: Who still needs support with this content?

Students who still need support may work with a partner, or I may work with them one on one.

Letter Example: yellow- intro blue-body pink-conclusion.

Dear Mr. Prelutsky,

My name is Taylor Giany, and I just love your works. I especially love your poem “A Gopher in the Garden” because I thought it was very funny and one time my Dad had a raccoon in his garden that would eat up everything! I hope you continue to make more poems and publish them on your website. Thank you for reading this letter!

Sincerely,

Taylor Giany

Culminating Activity:

Students will get into groups of 4 and write a poem together. Students will write two lines each so there will be eight lines in total. Then the students will cut the poem into puzzle pieces and trade with other groups. The other group is responsible for putting the poem back

together. Students may reference Jack Prelutsky website (www.jackprelutsky.com) ideas on their poems.

Works Cited

Scholastic Inc. 1996. My Biography. New York, NY. Scholastic Inc. Retrieved from: http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/jack_meet.htm

Prelutsky, Jack. 2006. Jack Prelutsky. Retrieved From: www.jackprelutsky.com

Poetry Foudation. 2010. Jack Prelutsky. Chicago, IL. The Poetry Foundation. Retrieved from: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=81900

Poem Hunter. 2010. The Visitor. Poem Hunter.com. Paris, France. Retrieved From: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-visitor/

FEAP Reflection

The author study was actually a lot harder than I thought it would

be. I thought I would be able to learn about a new poet and author that I

have never heard of, and throw a couple of things together. In all actuality,

this was very hard. This took me about 4 weeks of consistently working on

this to complete. In the end, I truly have a better appreciation for not only

myself for accomplishing such a monumental task, but for all of the teachers

out there who actually do plan author studies. Knowledge of subject matter,

critical thinking, and planning all come to mind when I think of the Florida

Educator Accomplished Practices.

Knowledge of subject matter is crucial when planning an author

study as extensive and as detailed as this. I had to communicate knowledge

of subject matter in a manner that enables students to learn. This means

that I had to take what I wanted the students to learn, and communicate on

their grade level. I also had to increase subject matter knowledge in order to

integrate the learning activities. Which meant that I had to know exactly

what I was talking about in order to integrate the activities that I wanted the

students to learn or know. I also had planned and collaborative lessons with

colleagues from other fields. While I didn’t collaborate my lesson, I worked

with my colleagues and obtained ideas from them on exactly what to teach

and how to teach it.

Critical thinking is crucial for teachers to do when planning an author

study. Students become disinterested easily and without the teacher

planning lessons that are hands on and engaging, the students will not be

easily swayed into doing work. I had to provide opportunities for students to

learn higher-order thinking skills. Some of the ideas I had were below grade

level or way above grade level. I wanted to gear this towards 4th-5th graders. I

had to figure out a way to either make the below grade level material higher

for the students I was targeting. I also had to identify strategies, materials,

and technologies that I will use to expand students’ thinking abilities. This

meant that I had to find activities and materials to use in my author study

that would be engaging and make students actually think about what they

were doing. I also had to use technology and other appropriate tools in the

learning environment. I had to integrate computers, internet, and other

technological tools to make sure my students were getting the most out of

the lesson.

Planning is one of the most important parts of an author study.

Without planning, the teacher has nothing to base his or her lessons off of. I

had to plan and conduct lessons with identified student performance and

outcomes. I had to know what each student individual is learning style is and

how well he or she performs. I also had to know the probability of the

outcomes for all of the students. I also had to plan activities that utilize a

variety of support and enrichment activities and materials. This meant that I

had to make sure that I am engaging students in the lessons I am teaching. I

had to demonstrate instructional flexibility and an awareness of the

teachable moment. I had to have backup lessons in case things didn’t go as

planned.

All of these combined make for a great author study. I was thoroughly

shocked when I started to actually plan out this benchmark assignment, how

much time and commitment I had to have for this. This project is one that I

will definitely keep in my records forever because this has some excellent

educational tools I can use when I become a teacher. I think that there are

more FEAPS that could go along with this project, but I felt that subject

matter, planning, and critical thinking was the most important. I am excited

to use this author study and lessons in my classroom in the future.