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Field Trip Book of the Week: “To the Fun Feline Upstairs, Beautiful Bobby & Other Poems for a Belly-Aching Bobcat”

In this Field Trip Book of the Week, we’d like to highlight one of our favorite field trip lessons: the Well-Wishing & Poetry-Writing field trip! Students from grades 2 through 5 join us on this field trip to write poems in an attempt to make our publisher’s pet feel better. In this field trip, Ms. Milailovic’s fourth-grade class from Geothe International Charter School wrote poems to Bobcat Bobby, Mr. Barnacle’s pet who suffered from a severe case of the belly-aches.

Students first work together to discover some new poetry concepts: onomatopoeia and alliteration, and practice them by writing a list poem as a whole group composed of things that would make Bobby the bobcat feel better. After, in small groups, students write odes to items found in our Time Travel Marts. Finally, students write narrative poems in the form of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Read on for a list poem and odes, written by some very smart, very poetic second-graders.

A huge thanks to the volunteers who made this field trip possible: Manny Luis, Jaime Fox, Patrick Diaz, Lucy Hernandez, Sam Miller, Caren Nader, Katie DuVal, and, of course, Mr. Barnacle (a.k.a. volunteer Fred Clark).

02-26 WW&PW Cover

 

To The Fun Feline Upstairs, Beautiful Bobby
Written by Ms. Milailovic’s Fourth-Grade Class

Dear Beautiful Bobby,
This is a letter, to help you feel better.
Here are some things to help you get well soon:
We’ll give you a dish of fish!
We’ll get you a girlfriend, so you can purr with them!
King Kitty likes to swim for special seafood.
You get into a fishy frenzy when you’re as hungry as a bear,
Your tummy rumbles when it’s empty in there.
Bobby the bobcat likes blueberry pancakes,
We will make you tasty tuna seafood popsicles!
Why chase the light, when you can have flight?
This fantastic feline loves to jump around in the wild and climb the walls.
Spotted skin, into a jelly jar, short tail, that is what you are!
You can chase the rats, but not the bats (‘cause they can fly!).
Hide in a box, an adventure awaits, young Bobby!
We’ll take you to the jungle, but be careful not to stumble!
Boom, Bash, Hiss, Purr, these are the sounds that your stomach makes!
Don’t play with a baseball bat, or else you might go
KERSPLAT!
We hope you get well, and farewell!

Ode to Mammoth Meat
Written by Gabriel, Florentina, Ryan, Kevin, Daniel, Lucy, and Sam

Oh, Mammoth Chunks
How rich you are in essential proteins.
You have a wealth of calcium and iron
How much bold flavor you have,
If you would like to eat mammoth (and it’s hair)
but don’t forget to chew your food.
It’s 2886 calories per can
If you want to eat more, it’s easy to find at the Time Travel Store (on the first floor!)
826LA will give you an all-you-can-eat Mammoth Buffet
You can live on it for weeks and not feel weak!

Awesome Ode to a Horseshoe
Written by Lina, Milena, Darius, Annika, Constantin, and Jaime

Oh horseshoe, oh horseshoe
You can give me so much luck, yet you can do exactly the opposite.
You can cast misfortune when hanging upside down.
You feel rough, like cobblestone, and are as heavy as metal.
You are big, so big you could be a robot head!
You smell like my hands after I play on the monkey bars!
I imagine you taste like coins, or the blood from when I bite my lip.
You make a loud GONG like a door-knocker
Upon the foot of a horse you touch the ground, and all that is around.

Ode to a Centurion Helmet
Written by Sean, Kaela, Julien, William, Setareh, Patrick, and Katie

You make me fell macho, and a little pain, when I wear you on my head
I feel like a gladiator in a battle, and protected like a prince.
Fun fluff on your crescent head, it’s red as fire
Your flar feels rough on top and smooth on the side
You are not tiny, and I like you because you are silver, gold, red, and shiny.
Foes will fear me when I wear you!
I feel awesome, and I’ll point at my helmet and roar, “Look at this!”
I defy death, and enemies will run away just looking at you!
Foes Beware!
You help me sleep and dust my house!
You are the perfect multitasking tool!

Ode to Cameron, That Vintage Thing
Written by Benjamin, Shane, Julius, Penny, Lina, Emma, Manny, and Caren

I can take photos with you, to save our memories and
Take a lot of selfies (@#Bobbythebobcat)
You have spectacularly rounded edges,
A big red button like a tomato.
Your photos are like a sneeze with peas,
You are as gray as an elephant which is why I think you are elegant.
Your vintage value makes me pursue you,
Your remind me of 1682.

Students participate in field trips like these up to four times a week at both of our centers in Los Angeles, and carry the experience of being a published author with them for ages to come. If you are interested in volunteering for one of these fun and exciting field trips, you can find more information on our volunteer page. If you are a LAUSD teacher and would like to bring your students in for a field trip, you can find more information here.

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