Bobbi Katz’s “Things to Do If You Are a Snowman”

Reminder: PoetryTagTime is the first ever electronic-only poetry anthology of new poems by top poets for children. You can purchase the book for 99 cents at Amazon and read it on your Kindle or through the downloadable Kindle platform for your computer, cell phone, etc.

Previously: X. J. Kennedy

Next up: BOBBI KATZ

Setting the Stage: Discuss the process of how to do a favorite activity (such as making a peanut butter sandwich) step by step, in sequence. Write the steps on strips of paper to move or arrange them in order, if necessary.

Poetry Performance: Bobbi Katz’s poem, “Things to Do If You Are a Snowman," is a "list" poem, perfect for individual line-around reading with 12 volunteers, if possible. Or if kids are more comfortable working with partners, that's a possible alternative (for 2 people per line, or 2 lines per pair for 6 pairs).

Just for Fun: Work together to write a “Things to Do…” poem based on the form that Katz invented over forty years ago. You can work as a group to create a "How to Make a Peanut Butter Sandwich" poem or encourage kids to work in small groups to create their own "things to do" poems. Challenge the kids to stick to her original rule to limit these poems to nine lines.

Poem Links: Here are key words that connect this poem with other poems in the PoetryTagTime collection:
Snow
Body
Night
Food
Things to do
Winter

Buy the book now, so you can share each poem along with the ideas and activities that follow here.

Next up for PoetryTagTime: Paul Janeczko


Image credit: PoetryTagTime

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.