Mrs. McKeown's Poetry
Douglas Florian

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Introduction:
Give each student a magazine or newspaper and have them cut out pictures of as many animals as they can find. Find some examples of alphabet picture books and share them with the students. Read the following poem from Douglas Florian and discuss the poem and rhyming patterns.

The Gorilla

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A gentle giant
Blessed with grace...
It's stilla
Gorilla-
Don't get in it's face.

--Douglas Florian--

from Mammalabilia (Harcourt,inc.,2000)

Extension:
As a class, brainstorm different animals from A-Z. Assign each student one animal. If there are more than 26 students, there can be more animals with the same letter of the alphabet. If there are extra, let the teacher join in.Each student can write a four line poem about their animal. Compile the poems into an alpabet book to share with a neighboring elementary school.