Illustration of a scared monster running away from a house
Art by Jeff Harvey
Poetry,

Surprise Party

By Eric Ode | Art by Jeff Harvey
From the October/November 2023 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will identify how the author of this poem uses figurative language to bring the poem to life.

Complexity Factors
  • Levels of Meaning
    On one level, “Surprise Party” is a lighthearted poem about a costume party. On another level, it reveals an ironic ending where a monster is afraid of kids.
  • Structure
    The poem contains four stanzas. The second and fourth lines of every stanza rhyme.
  • Language
    The language is mostly simple but contains a few words—like eerie and frightful—that may be unfamiliar to students.
  • Knowledge Demands
    No prior knowledge is needed.
Featured Skill: Figurative Language,
Other Key Skills: descriptive details, cause and effect, plot, main idea, elements of poetry, text features, author’s craft, narrative writing
Standards
  • Common Core
    RL.3.1, RL.3.2, RL.3.3, RL.3.4, RL.3.7, W.3.3, SL.3.1, SL.3.2, L.3.4, L.3.5
  • TEKS Grade 3
    1a, 1c, 3a, 3b, 4, 6a, 6c, 6g, 6i, 7b, 7c, 7f, 7g, 8c, 9b, 10a, 10c, 10d, 12a, 12b

Presentation View
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Surprise Party

The house stood dark and eerie

on a hill above the shore.

I tiptoed up and—knock, knock, knock—

I waited at the door.


Then—creak, creak, creak—it opened.

What a happy sight to see!

Each creature at the party

was a monster just like me!


We laughed and played. We sang some songs.

We danced in furry feet.

Then every guest removed a mask

as we sat down to eat.


Oh, what a frightful thing to see!

I ran straight home and hid!

How scary to discover

every monster was a kid!

THINK AND WRITE

Explore how the poet uses figurative language to bring this poem to life.

Audio ()
Activities (3)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Audio ()
Activities (3) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
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Table of Contents

1. Preparing to Read

2. Close Reading

3. SEL Focus

4. Skill Building

5. Differentiate and Customize

Struggling Readers, Multilingual Learners, Advanced Readers, Creative Writing

1. Preparing to Read

Set a Purpose for Reading

  • Read the title of the poem along with the poet’s name. Ask students to describe the illustration and predict what the poem will be about. Review the predictions after reading the poem.

  • Explain that the poem has four stanzas. A stanza is a group of lines in a poem. Explain that the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme.

 

Preview Text Features and Vocabulary 

  • Before reading, point out the words eerie (strange and mysterious) and frightful (scary) to students, and review their definitions. Go over any other vocabulary terms that may be challenging for your students. 

2. Reading and Discussing the Poem

  • Read the poem to the class, play the audio Read-Aloud, or use Text-to-Speech.

  • Next, ask students to take turns reading aloud each line in the poem.

  • Discuss the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions. 

Close-Reading Questions

  • Read the first stanza or group of lines. How do the words dark and eerie help you imagine what the house looks like? The words dark and eerie help me think that the house looks scary. (descriptive details) 
  • Read the second stanza. Why is the monster so happy to see the other party guests? The monster is happy because everyone at the party is a monster too. (key idea, cause and effect)
  • Read the third stanza. What activities did the guests do at the party? The guests at the party laughed and played. They sang songs and danced. Then they sat down to eat. (plot)
  • Read the last stanza. Why was the monster so frightened to discover that “every monster was a kid!”? The monster thought the other guests were monsters too! But they were kids dressed in costumes with masks. (main idea)
  • Which words rhyme in each stanza of the poem? In stanza 1, the words shore and door rhyme. In stanza 2, the words see and me rhyme. In stanza 3, the words feet and eat rhyme. In stanza 4, the words hid and kid rhyme. (elements of poetry)
  • How does the illustration help you understand how the monster felt as it ran home? The illustration shows how scared the monster is! Its eyes are wide open and its mouth looks like it is screaming. The monster is running away from the house. (text features)
  • Why do you think the poet decided to name the poem “Surprise Party”? I think the poet named the poem “Surprise Party” because the monster is surprised at the party. The monster thought everyone at the party was a monster. The monster was surprised to see that the other monsters were actually kids in costumes! (author’s craft)

3 Skill Building

Featured Skill: Figurative Language

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

Text-to-Speech