Perfectly Piping Poetry

An Author Study on Jack Prelutsky

By: Taylor Giany
Introduction:
I chose to study Jack Prelustky because I have studied or read any of his works

until recently. I wanted to learn more about Mr. Prelutsky and his works. Upon

reading his works, I felt like children in grades 3-5 could really appreciate,

understand, and enjoy his work. While some of the content is probably not

suitable for K-2, teachers can also use excerpts of his poems in these grades. The

poems are easy to relate to and very funny. I feel that children are more likely to

gravitate towards poems if they are funny and Mr. Prelutsky does a great job at

making the poems funny and exciting. I am excited to learn more about Mr.

Prelutsky, his works, and what really makes kids gravitate towards his poetry.

Guiding Questions:
How many poems has Jack Prelutsky written?

Are there any books that Jack Prelutsky has written?

Which poem has his first poem?

Where does he get his inspiration from?

About the Author:

Jack Prelutsky was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 8 th, 1940 and lived

in a six-story apartment house. He loved to read and his favorite books were
“Wild Animals I Have Known” by Ernest Thompson Seton. He also loves stories of

Robin Hood and King Arthur. Growing up, Mr. Pelutsky didn’t like poetry. In grade

school, he had a teacher that left him with the impression that poetry was the

literary equivalent to liver. Mr. Prelutsky always enjoyed playing with language,

but he had no idea he would become a writer. At 24 years old, he discovered

writing as a career by accident. He spent months drawing several imaginary

animals but one night he decided to write a little poem to go along with each

drawing. A friend encouraged him to show the poems to an editor. At first he as

weary but when he did, the editor Susan Hirschman, thought he had a natural

talent for writing verse. She published his first book, “A Gopher in the Garden” in

1967 and 30 years later, she’s still his publisher. In his spare time he enjoys

photography, carpentry, creating games, collages, found objects, etc. He currently

resides in Washington State with his wife of over 30 years, Carolynn.

Websites:

http://www.jackprelutsky.com
Jack Prelutsky’s website gives both children and adults a chance to view Mr.

Prelutsky’s work. There is a section for kids with all of his poems, and a section for

adults with poems that adults can read to kids about difficult or certain times in

their lives.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/jack_home.htm

This website gives children a chance to “work with Jack.” They can create their

own poetry with Mr. Prelutsky, using Mr. Prelutsky as a guide.

Annotated Bibliography of Mr. Prelutsky’s Works:

Be Glad Your Nose is On Your Face
Be glad your nose is on your face is a
funny poem about different scenarios
of your nose being on different parts of
your body. For example, your nose
could be on your feet and you would be
forced to smell your feet.

A Pizza the Size of the Sun
A pizza the size of the sun is a delightful
poem about a person who is making a
huge pizza and all the toppings he or
she would put on it. The poem has good
exaggeration within the story. For
example a pizza the size of the sun.
Gobble Gobble Gobble Gobble is a very short poem ( 4
lines to be exact). But it gives two
meanings to the same word. “When the
turkey gobble gobbles, it’s plump and
round and perky, when our family
gobbles gobbles, we’re gobbling down
the turkey.” This is an excellent way to
show students that the same word can
have different meanings.
An Extraterrestrial Alien This is a silly poem about a boy who
finds an alien in his room. He describes
the alien as only standing on half of his
forty-four toes. This could be integrated
into a math lesson. The alien is nice and
the alien wants to be friends in the end.
When the alien wants to be invited to
dinner, the little boy hopes his parents
won’t mind.
Twaddletalk Tuck Twaddletalk Tuck is an excellent poem
to show alliteration. This poem is about
all of the scenarios in which the person
talks. This person talks when he or she
cries, when he or she laughs, when she
or she is “creeping” as well.

Bleezer’s Ice Cream Ebenezer Bleezer is the owner of


The Visitor
The Creature in the Classroom
It’s Raining Pigs and Noodles
I Have a Secret Dragon
Lesson One: Make Up Your
“(Insert Last Name Here) Ice Cream”
Names.
Sunshine State Standards:
Bleezer’s Ice Cream Shoppe. He has a
variety of wacky flavors that are sure to
tie your tongue, for example Cocoa
Mocha Macaroni, Checkerberry
Cheddar Chew, and Peach Pimento
Pizza Plum. Taste a flavor from his
freezer and you will surely ask for
more!
This poem talks about someone who
has discovered a mysterious creature
living in his house. The poem goes on to
describe how the creature makes the
family feel and what the creature did to
torment the person.
The Creature in the Classroom is about
a creature that comes into the
classroom and gobbles up desks,
pencils, blackboards, and eventually
gobbles up the teacher.
Its Raining Pigs and Noodles is a funny
poem about different silly things that
are raining from the sky (not rain). For
example, pickles, bananas, brooms,
and cats. This would be a good lesson
for students to make up what they
would want to rain from the sky.
This is about a boy who has an invisible
dragon in his bathtub. His parents
can’t see it but he can. They play and
play and when it’s time to dry off, the
dragon dries him off with his wings.
This would be a good way for students
Own
to talk about their bathtub friends.
Goal 3 Standards:
Benchmark Number: LA.4.1.6.3 Goal 4: Creative and Critical Thinkers

Benchmark Description: The student

will use context clues to determine
meanings of unfamiliar word
Objective: The student will use context clues to determine meanings of
unfamiliar words by creating their own unfamiliar words using Jack
Prelutsky’s Poem “Bleezers Ice Cream.”
Assessments/Evaluation:

Initial: The teacher will ask the students if they have ever heard of any
poems by Jack Prelutsky before, just to get a headcount (if any) of the
students who are familiar with Prelutsky.

Informal: The teacher will walk around the room, examining who is having
trouble and who isn’t, while the students are reading and analyzing
“Bleezer’s Ice Cream” by Jack Prelutsky.

Formal: On a piece of paper, students will write down their own mixed up,
whacky ice cream flavors.

Introduction to the Lesson: Materials:

Teacher will read “Bleezer’s Ice Cream” 26 copies of “Bleezers Ice Cream”
by Jack Prelutsky out loud to the class.
List of names that start with each
letter of the alphabet
Technology Integration:

The Vizcam will be used to show “Bleezer’s Ice Cream.”

Teacher Presentation/Facilitation:

Teacher will gain student’s attention by saying “Today we are

going to learn about a silly, fun poet named Jack Prelutsky, how
many of you know who Jack Prelutsky is or have heard of any of
his silly poems before?”
The students will answer yes or no. The students who answer
yes will tell the class their experiences with Mr. Prelutskys work.
I will then have a student helper pass out 26 copies of “Bleezer’s
Ice Cream” to each student.
“I am going to read “Bleezer’s Ice Cream” by Jack Prelutsky
today, so follow along with your copy please and listen for some
silly names!”
I will then proceed to read the poem to the end.
“Okay class, now what I want you to do is to get out sheet of
paper. Remember in the story when Bleezer was naming off all
of his whacky ice cream flavors? Well today you will do the
same. I would like you all to give me at least two ice cream
names that are three letters long that start with each letter of
the alphabet. For example: Apple Anchovy Aruba and Beetle
Bop Blue. These ice cream names can be as whacky and as
made up as you want them to be. The words have to be real
words though, but the ice cream names do not. I have put up,
on the vizcam, names that start with each letter of the alphabet
for you to reference. This is here to help you, so if you need
help, you may use these words. I strongly encourage you to
come up with words on your own though. Remember to be
 creative when writing this because no answer is wrong. I would
also like you to refer back to the original poem so you can
generate some ideas there. Do not copy the original ice cream
names though; they have to be your own. You may work in
partners if you need some extra help. You have thirty minutes
to complete this activity. Begin.
The teacher will come around the class assisting students who
have difficulty with this task. This lesson is not necessarily based
on spelling or writing skills, but creative thinking skills. I have
put on the vizcam helpful words students can reference when
thinking of ideas for their ice cream.
After thirty minutes is up I will call the class attention to me.
“Students, I would like you to each stand up and read one or
two of your whacky ice cream names.”
Examples of Student Responses:
Whacky Wet Watermelon
Hungry Hippopotamus Hamburger
Frito Fried Fingers
Lucky Licking Llamas
Ask the students if there is any special ice cream name that they
just have to say to the class outloud
As a class, discuss what we liked about the activity and some of
the difficulties student’s came across.
Ask the students to hang up their lists around the classroom for
the whole world to see!

Differentiated Instruction:

I chose to start off by asking a question and reading the poem rather
than have students jump right in to writing and reading, especially
with a poem because most students think that poetry is boring.
I also chose to have students have a copy of the poem at their desks
 so students with difficulty seeing can read the poem at their desk.
Students with learning disabilities can refer back to the poem on their
desk to use as comparison to their own ice cream names.
Spanish speaking students are allowed to work with partners if they
choose to.
Students have the choice to express themselves through this activity
because there is no set rule to what the students can or cannot write
(within the means of appropriateness).

Content: What should I teach next Students: Who still needs support in
or re-teach?: this content?:

I would like to teach more about Mr. If students are still struggling with
Prelutsky’s works now that the this, I may want to go back and re-
students are familiarized with his teach some vocabulary prior to this
stories. lesson to the students struggling.

Bleezer’s Ice Cream Example:

Whacky Watermelon Wombat
Loopy Luscious Laffy Taffy
Perfectly Purple Potato
Kooky Kangaroo Krunch
Stinky Sausage Stew
Ferocious Frog Freeze
Delicious Dreamy Dragon
Chocolate Chip Chimpanzee
Mushy Maggot Munch
Blue Booger Banana
New Nutty Nat Nest
Jumping Jingle Jam
Ornery Orangutan Orange
Exceptional Earwax Elixir
Slithering Sunny Snake Snack
 Lesson Plan Two: Creating your Own Poem

1A. Sunshine State Standards: 1B. Goal 3 Standards

Benchmark Number: LA.5.3.3.3 Goal 4: Creative and Critical

Thinkers
Benchmark Description: The student will revise
by creating precision and interest by expressing
ideas vividly through varied language
techniques (e.g., foreshadowing, imagery,
simile, metaphor, sensory language,
connotation, denotation) and modifying word
choices using resources and reference
materials (e.g., dictionary, thesaurus); and 
2. Objectives

The student will revise by creating precision and interest by expressing ideas
vividly through varied language techniques (e.g., foreshadowing, imagery,
simile, metaphor, sensory language, connotation, denotation) and modifying
word choices using resources and reference materials (e.g., dictionary,
thesaurus); by creating their own poem for Jack Prelutsky.
3. Assessment & Evaluation

Initial: Teacher will ask if anyone has ever written a poem on their own before,
teacher will count hands. This will give an estimate of how many students are
familiar with writing poems.

Informal: Teacher will show students two Jack Prelutsky poems on the vizcam.
Teacher will read the poems; the students will then brainstorm ideas for their
poems. Teacher will walk around the room to make sure the students aren’t
having trouble.

Formal: Teacher will assign students to write a poem on their own that parallels
Jack Prelutksy’s work.
4. Introduction to Lesson: 5. Materials

Teacher will read two poems by Jack Prelustky. 26 pieces of colored computer
paper.

6. Technology Integration

I will use the Vizcam

7. Teacher Presentation or Facilitation: (includes reviews and practice)

Teacher will gain student attention by asking the students “have you ever
written a funny poem, or even a poem at all?”
Students responses should be yes or no.
“Well today students, we are going to write our own funny and silly poem,
just like Jack Prelutsky does!”
Teacher will then show two Jack Prelutsky poems on the vizcam and
proceed to read.
After the poem reading is done, teacher will then ask the students “Okay
now that you have an idea in your head about how silly and funny Mr.
Prelutksy’s poems are, I want you to brainstorm ideas for your own silly,
funny poem. Remember they can be as silly as you want, and no idea is
wrong!
Teacher will give students 15 minutes to brainstorm ideas for their poems.
After the 15 minutes is up, teacher will say “Okay students, now I want you
all to raise your hand and give me some ideas of what you came up with.”
Students will raise their hand and give me answers, this should not take up
more than 10 minutes.
“Okay students, now that you are done brainstorming ideas, it’s time to
write your poem! I have left the two poems by Mr. Prelutsky up on the
vizcam for reference. This is only for reference as you need to come up with
your own poem. I will give you 45 minutes to work on this and I will be
coming around the room to check on you all to see your progress.
Remember, these can be as silly as you want them to be. I would like you all
to take the silliness and fun from Mr. Prelutsky’s poem, and put it in your
own poem. For example, if I was writing about mice, I would probably come
up with “I heard a noise in my closet, I went over to check it out. As I was
reaching for the handle the door swung open, and out popped a mouse. I
thought that he was cute but only for a minute because when I went to pick
him up, he bit finger, and every bone in it. The mouse was very hungry, he
ate everything in his path, when I came back into my room, he even ate my
math.” So come up with your own silly, zany poem and I will be right here to
help you if you get stuck. Begin.
After the students are done, teacher will have students share the poems and
Differentiated Instruction:

Students are able to have a sharing partner that can help them if they
have trouble.
Students can use the poems on the vizcam for reference
I will give copies of the poems to students with eyesight problems.
Students will have more than thirty minutes to complete this activity.
If students need more time I will allot it.
Students can create and express themselves through this activity.
 Follow-up Reflection (completed after the lesson has been taught)
Content: What should I teach next or
reteach?
Students can refer back to this when we
become more in depth with poetry.
Students: Who still needs
support with this content?
If students still need support, I
will be there to help them; I
will allow more time to work
on this in class for the
students who are having
trouble. I will also set up a
poetry work shop for the next
class.
Poem Example:
The Ferocious Frog

I am a ferocious frog
Hopping down the road
I’m in the middle lane
Let’s hope I don’t get mowed.
 Lesson Plan Three: Write a
Letter to Mr. Prelutsky
1A: Sunshine State Standards: 1B: Goal 3 Standards:

Benchmark Number: LA.5.3.5.3 Goal 4: Creative and Critical Thinkers

Benchmark Description: The

student will share the writing
with intended audience

Objectives:

Student will share the writing by sending a letter to Mr. Jack Prelutsky

Assessment and Evaluation

Initial: Teacher will ask if anyone has ever written a letter before just to
have an idea of who has and who has not.

Informal: Teacher will go through the steps of writing a letter first with
the title, then the introduction, body, and finally the conclusion. Teacher
will walk around the classroom to make sure students are doing this
correctly.

Formal: Finished letter to Mr. Prelutsky.

Introduction to the Lesson: Materials:

Teacher will ask the question if 26 sheets of lined notebook paper.

anyone has ever written a letter
10 note cards with the Spanish words
before.
for Title, Introduction, Body, and
Conclusion.
Technology Integration: Vizcam will be used.

Teacher Presentation or Facilitation:

First teacher will ask “How many students have ever written a
letter, this can be any type of letter, to your Grandparents,
Parents, Guardians, Teachers, etc.”
Teacher will receive a head count
“Okay class, well today we are going to learn how to write a letter,
and then we are going to write a letter to Mr. Prelutsky because
we have been learning all about him and his silly poetry this
week!”
Teacher will show an example letter on the vizcam
“This is a letter that I wrote to my Dad, notice how the letter has a
title, an introduction which would be the “Dear Dad” part, the
body which is the paragraph below the introduction, and finally
the conclusion which is the last paragraph.”
Teacher will then pass around the copy of the letter to each
student.
“I would like you all to circle the introduction, the body, and the
conclusion for me.”
Teacher will walk around the classroom to make sure students are
getting the hang of it and doing the assignment correctly.
After about 10 minutes I will then say “now you are going to write
a letter to Mr. Prelutsky. You call can say anything. Some ideas are:
 what you like about his poetry, questions for him, you can ask if he
has any more poetry works coming out, you can say how you feel
when you read his poetry. Any of these are acceptable, or you can
come up with a topic on your own. Remember the letter must have
an introduction, body, and a conclusion. I have left the letter that I
have written on the vizcam and you also have the letter in front of
you to reference. I will give you 30 minutes to write your letter,
then we will s hare them with the class. Begin”
After 30 minutes students will share the letters and teacher will
send them in the mail.
Differentiated Instruction:

Students may work with a partner

I have set the Spanish cards on the ELL learners desk so they can
become familiar with the words introduction, body, and conclusion
in their native language.
Letters were placed on the desk so students can touch and visually
see the letter.
Students who need more time may receive it.
Content: What should I Students: Who still needs support with
teach next or re-teach? this content?

I should teach more in depth Students who still need support may work
writing assignments after with a partner, or I may work with them
this. one on one.
Letter Example: yellow- intro blue-body pink-
conclusion.

Dear Mr. Prelutsky,

My name is Taylor Giany, and I just love your works. I

especially love your poem “A Gopher in the Garden”
because I thought it was very funny and one time my Dad
had a raccoon in his garden that would eat up
everything! I hope you continue to make more poems
and publish them on your website. Thank you for reading
this letter!
Sincerely,
Taylor Giany

Culminating Activity:
Students will get into groups of 4 and write a poem together. Students
will write two lines each so there will be eight lines in total. Then the
students will cut the poem into puzzle pieces and trade with other
groups. The other group is responsible for putting the poem back
together. Students may reference Jack Prelutsky website
(www.jackprelutsky.com) ideas on their poems.

Works Cited
Scholastic Inc. 1996. My Biography. New York, NY. Scholastic Inc. Retrieved from:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/jack_meet.htm

Prelutsky, Jack. 2006. Jack Prelutsky. Retrieved From: www.jackprelutsky.com

Poetry Foudation. 2010. Jack Prelutsky. Chicago, IL. The Poetry Foundation.
Retrieved from: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=81900

Poem Hunter. 2010. The Visitor. Poem Hunter.com. Paris, France. Retrieved From:
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-visitor/
 FEAP Reflection

The author study was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be. I thought I

would be able to learn about a new poet and author that I have never heard of, and throw a

couple of things together. In all actuality, this was very hard. This took me about 4 weeks of

consistently working on this to complete. In the end, I truly have a better appreciation for not

only myself for accomplishing such a monumental task, but for all of the teachers out there who

actually do plan author studies. Knowledge of subject matter, critical thinking, and planning all

come to mind when I think of the Florida Educator Accomplished Practices.

Knowledge of subject matter is crucial when planning an author study as extensive and

as detailed as this. I had to communicate knowledge of subject matter in a manner that enables

students to learn. This means that I had to take what I wanted the students to learn, and

communicate on their grade level. I also had to increase subject matter knowledge in order to

integrate the learning activities. Which meant that I had to know exactly what I was talking

about in order to integrate the activities that I wanted the students to learn or know. I also had

planned and collaborative lessons with colleagues from other fields. While I didn’t collaborate

my lesson, I worked with my colleagues and obtained ideas from them on exactly what to teach

and how to teach it.

Critical thinking is crucial for teachers to do when planning an author study. Students

become disinterested easily and without the teacher planning lessons that are hands on and

engaging, the students will not be easily swayed into doing work. I had to provide opportunities

for students to learn higher-order thinking skills. Some of the ideas I had were below grade level

or way above grade level. I wanted to gear this towards 4th-5th graders. I had to figure out a way
to either make the below grade level material higher for the students I was targeting. I also had to

identify strategies, materials, and technologies that I will use to expand students’ thinking

abilities. This meant that I had to find activities and materials to use in my author study that

would be engaging and make students actually think about what they were doing. I also had to

use technology and other appropriate tools in the learning environment. I had to integrate

computers, internet, and other technological tools to make sure my students were getting the

most out of the lesson.

Planning is one of the most important parts of an author study. Without planning, the

teacher has nothing to base his or her lessons off of. I had to plan and conduct lessons with

identified student performance and outcomes. I had to know what each student individual is

learning style is and how well he or she performs. I also had to know the probability of the

outcomes for all of the students. I also had to plan activities that utilize a variety of support and

enrichment activities and materials. This meant that I had to make sure that I am engaging

students in the lessons I am teaching. I had to demonstrate instructional flexibility and an

awareness of the teachable moment. I had to have backup lessons in case things didn’t go as

planned.

All of these combined make for a great author study. I was thoroughly shocked when I

started to actually plan out this benchmark assignment, how much time and commitment I had to

have for this. This project is one that I will definitely keep in my records forever because this has

some excellent educational tools I can use when I become a teacher. I think that there are more

FEAPS that could go along with this project, but I felt that subject matter, planning, and critical

thinking was the most important. I am excited to use this author study and lessons in my

classroom in the future.