Poetry Break: "The Mosquito's Song" by Peggy B. Leavitt

Introduction
Show students a picture of a mosquito or the illustration that accompanies this poem in Dirty Laundry Pile. Talk about mosquito "bites" and what really happens when a mosquito bites. Then, because this poem is a concrete poem, have copies of it for the children, a big poster of it, an overhead transparency, or place the book on an opaque projector.

The Mosquito's Song
 
I sing.        You slap.
I mean        no harm.
There is no cause
for your alarm.
A little drop 
is all I ask.
It really is
a simple task.
So please
hold still
at this 
juncture,
while I
make 
a tiny
P
U
N
C
T
U
R
E
!
 

[from Dirty Laundry Pile: Poems in Different Voices [Harper Collins Publishers, 2001)]

Extension

Talk about the form with students. They will recognize that the shape of the poem reflects a mosquito and its "needle-nose." Those that don't know what "puncture" means probably can guess just from the shape of that part of the poem!

Have other concrete poems out for students to browse through on their own. Invite them to write about an object/animal of their own choosing and put their writing in the form of what they are writing about. (Have paper, pencils, crayons, and markers available for them to craft and illustrate their concrete poems.) Display the poems around the library or classroom.