Flora and Ulysses

It has been great timing...needless to say, but I have been reading Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo to my class for read aloud. I SHOULD say...I have been reading the Newbery Award Winning Book...Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo instead!  We just so happened to be right in the middle of this book when the awards were announced recently. 

I have to be honest...when I first glanced at the book and flipped through it, I thought, "Oh this will be too easy for my class." Boy, was I wrong! The vocabulary in this book is rich! I mean, we have learned words like malfeasance, cynic, indomitable, obfuscate, surreptitious, slanderous, capacious, manifestations, appellation...the list goes on! You get the idea! Lots of great vocabulary discussion and lots of words added to our "word collector." 

Today as we finished Chapter 50, I asked the students to write in their reading journals. Flora's mother had just finished reading Ulysses' poem that started with the word "jelly" and ended with the phrase, "I promise to always turn back toward you." The class was amazed by this squirrel's poetry! So, I asked them to write a quick poem about the book. I had no idea what I would get...but here is a sample...

Super hero, inspiring poems, 

Broken tail, vacuum cleaner, 

Very big teddy bear,

Jelly donuts, horse-hair sofa

I am still very HUNGRY!!!!

-Danny 

I have lost all my hair,

And don't you dare,

Touch my food!

-Jonathan

The squirrel has come,

to vanquish the darkness.

He will turn the darkness,

into brightness. He feels

pride, and thirst for battle.

He is also very hungry.

-James

ULYSSES' HUNGER

Dinner please

having cheese

There's a roar

He is still hungry

He eats jelly

And his belly

still roars

He is a hungry squirrel.

-Tia

I must say...I was really impressed with this impromptu writing. Sometimes impromptu results in the best lessons! Love this book! A definite MUST-READ!