Nonsense Verse-Poetry Break

Introduction

Introduce children to the author Jack Prelutsky. Explain a little about his style of writing. Often you say that you don't understand things. Well this author loves to write poems that are fun to figure out. Read from Scranimals a nonsense verse picture book.

POTATOAD

On a bump beside a road
Sits a lowly POTATOAD,
Obviously unaware
Of its own existence there.

On its coarse and warty hide,
It has eyes on every side,
Eyes that fail, apparently,
To take note of what they see.

It does not move, it does not think,
It does not eat, it does not drink,
It does not hear or taste or touch...
The POTATOAD does not do much.

The day is hot, the ground is parched,
And yet it sits as if it's starched.
To pose immobile by a road
Suffices for the POTATOAD.

Prelutsky, Jack. SCRANIMALS. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2002.

Extension

Let the children browse through the assortment of Jack Prelutsky books. Allow time for children to read a poem that they enjoyed. Children can quickly find the root words and see the added letters that change the words. Put the children in small groups to make up new words and let them write poems for homework.