This month both book clubs read Arther & The Poetry Contest. This simple chapter book is about the contest that Arthur and his friends start with a friend to decide who writes the best poetry – and the loser will have to join the poetry club for a whole year. A cartoon version of Jack Prelutzsky officiates the contest.
Poetry might not sound like much fun, but when you’re willing to be silly with it, it’s fantastic – and these kids were definitely willing to be silly.
The kids brought their favorite poetry to share – if they had any – and then we talked about a few different kinds of poetry. I read a few examples of each type, and then the kids wrote their own.
Some of them really got into this part. They illustrated and rhymed, and the girls even stood on the couch to read, while the rest of them sat in the ‘audience’ section of the floor and applauded after each poem.
The boys cared less about illustrating and more about being flat-out gross. I think they definitely win an award for this – but they worked hard at rhyming and were really creative, too. Everyone found something to write about and wrote a poem.
Then we made pudding. In the story the poetry contest entrants eat pudding as a snack, and so we made our own two ways – first from a boxed mix and then from scratch. Everyone wanted in on the whisking!
We decided that pudding was most exciting with toppings, so everyone brought his own and shared. Gummy bears and marshmallows make for very popular pudding toppings!
Then, of course, we sampled our work. The girls preferred to mix the homemade vanilla and boxed chocolate together …
While the boys mostly wanted to eat chocolate. Either way, I saw some awesome pudding creations.
And some pretty rockin’ poetry, too.
Are your kids fans of poetry?
