Shape Poems

Set a Purpose for Reading (5 minutes)

• Read the titles of the poems along with the poet’s name and the illustrator’s name.
  
• Read aloud the words “Shape Poems,” and ask students to guess what a shape poem is.
• Direct students to the bubble labeled Think and Read. Read the first sentence and discuss whether students correctly guessed what a shape poem is.
• Read the second sentence of the Think and Read, and instruct students to keep the prompt in mind as they read the poem.

Preview Text Features and Vocabulary (15 minutes)  

• Go over any vocabulary terms that may be challenging for your students.
• Invite students to describe the illustration and then predict what the poems are about based on the artwork.

• Read the poems to the class, play the audio version, or use Text-to-Speech.
• Next, ask students to take turns reading aloud each line in the poems.
• Discuss the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions. (Alternatively, assign all or part of the Learning Journey Slide Deck, which contains the questions as well as other activities from this lesson plan and a link to the poems.)

Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions (30 minutes)

• What shape is formed by the words in the poems? How do the parts of the illustration that surround each poem help you see this shape? (poetic structures, visual literacy) The words in each poem form a heart shape. In the illustration, the tails of the dog and cat form the two halves of a heart that goes around the poem “My Dog and Cat.” The poem “Pizza, Pizza, I Love You” is surrounded by a drawing of a heart-shaped pizza. These parts of the illustration help you more easily see the shape of the poems.
• What clue does the shape of “My Dog And Cat” and of “Pizza, Pizza, I Love You” give you about what the poems are about? (poetic structures, theme) The heart shapes of the poems give you a clue that these are poems about love.
• Sometimes rhyming words come at the end of lines. Sometimes rhyming words appear in the same line. Which words rhyme in the poem “My Dog and Cat”? (rhyme) The words that rhyme are bow, wow, meow, and somehow; purr and fur; and cat and that.
• What does the narrator of “My Dog and Cat” mean by the words “my dog and cat are friends somehow”? (interpreting text, main idea) The narrator means that although dogs and cats often don’t get along, the narrator’s pets are good friends.
• How do the dog and cat show their feelings for each other? (key details) The dog and cat show their feelings for each other by hugging and licking each other’s fur.
• Which words rhyme in “Pizza, Pizza, I Love You”? (rhyme) The words that rhyme are you and too; cheese and knees; and fine and Valentine.
• Explain what the narrator means by the phrase “have me begging on my knees.” (interpreting text, figurative language) The narrator means that he or she really loves eating pizza. The phrase “have me begging on my knees” is a funny way to describe how the narrator feels about this delicious food.
• How does the illustration connect both poems? (visual literacy, summarizing) The two poems are connected because the illustration shows a child happily eating pizza while a dog and cat watch. The pets look as if they would like to eat some of the pizza too.

Practicing Gratitude

The narrator in these poems reminds us all to express gratitude for the things in life that bring us pleasure, even when those things are ordinary or part of our daily lives. Ask: What is something in your daily life for which you’d like to pause and take a moment to be thankful?

Featured Skill: Poetic Structures

Distribute or digitally assign our Poetic Structures Skill Builder and have students complete it in class or for homework.