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Animalabilia

Create animal poetry with clever illustrations.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Heavy Paper

Steps

  • Step 1

    Introduce students to the poetry and watercolor paintings by Douglas Florian (found in such books as "Insectlopedia" and "Bow Bow Meow Meow). Note that he often uses creative spellings in his poetry, for example: "Just when you think you know the boa/There's moa and moa and moa and moa."

  • Step 2

    Ask the students to choose an animal they wish to paint and write poetry about. They can start by making a practice sketch. Then have them paint their animal using watercolors.

  • Step 3

    While their art is drying, prompt the students to write down some words they associate with their animal and then to come up with some rhymes for those words. Encourage them to be creative with their spelling and rhyming, just as Florian is.

  • Step 4

    Have students compose a poem or two about their animals using their list of words. Challenge them to depict the lines of poetry in an imaginative way. For instance, the words in Florian's poem about a camel form two humps.

Standards

ARTS: Combine ideas to generate an innovative idea for artmaking/composing and presentation/performance.

ARTS: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

ARTS: Describe what an image or performance represents

LA: Add drawings or other visual displays to written text to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

LA: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

Adaptations

Douglas Florian says he discovered the poetry of Ogden Nash when he was in 5th grade and that Nash became one of his greatest influences. Have the class read some poems by Nash (such as "Song of the Open Road" or "The Duck"). Can they spot similarities in Florian's work? Can they note some differences?

Florian often used the Goache painting technique, which is similar to watercolor, but with more of an opaque feel. Introduce students to some examples of this style, such as Picasso's "Man with Arms Crossed" or Pissaro's "Two Women in a Garden." Ask them to talk about the technique and the feelings it evokes. Would it portray the same mood if it were done using oils or a different technique?