Exploding Gravy: Poems to Make You Laugh

Exploding Gravy: Poems to Make You Laugh

By: X.J. Kennedy

Illustrated by: Joy Allen

Published by: Little, Brown and Company

Poetry Collection

 

X.J. Kennedy's poems have appeared in many different poetry anthologies and textbooks for years and have also been highligted on the Today Show and Good Morning America. So it is not a surprise that the winner of the Award for Excellence in Children's Poetry strikes again. In Exploding Gravy, X.J. Kennedy writes hilarious poems about crazy families and silly monsters. There are poems about shoelaces, and cabbage slaw, woolly mammoths and electric eels, and of course, Exploding Gravy!





Reading Level:
     Grade Level Equivalent: 4.2

Suggested Delivery:
     Read Aloud, Individual Read

Electronic Resources:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/x-j-kennedy
This is a biography on the author, X.J. Kennedy.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/poetry/index.htm
This site gives teachers some resources for teaching poetry. The Scholastic site specifically is referring to April as National Poetry Month, but the ideas from this site could be used any time of year.

Key Vocabulary:
imagery, rhyme, rhythm, simile, hyperbole, metaphor

Comprehension Strategies:

Before Reading:
Talk to students about what they think poetry is. Most students will probably say that is has to rhyme and the topics are serious. Explain to them that this is not always the case and that the poet X.J. Kennedy write funny poems, that don't always rhyme. Use the biography website to give students some background on the poet before reading.

During Reading:
As there are many different poems in the book, choose one or two to read aloud to the class. Many poems would be fitting to different times of year or could be linked to differen lessons. Have students listen carefully to the poem read aloud and have them try to picture the poem in their minds. X.J. Kennedy's poems have great imagery.

After Reading:
Have students draw a picture of what they imagined the poem to look like. Students can then share their pictures with the class. Using a venn diagram, students can compare and contrast each others drawings and put the different components into the sections of the venn diagram.

Writing Activity:
X.J. Kennedy's poems have great imagery, so students can write their own poems, making an image in their reader's head. Have students choose out of a bag a random object that they have to write a poem about. Before students begin writing, create a poem template that they will fill in to describe their object. In the poem, however, students will not reveal what their object was because the other students in the class will have to try to guess it using the imagery.

Kennedy, X. J., and Joy Allen. Exploding gravy: poems to
make you laugh. Boston: Little, Brown, 2002. Print.