Illustration of a kid holding a glove and baseball

Mike Deas

I Hope You Can Help Me

Enjoy a humorous poem about asking for help.

By Kenn Nesbitt

From the September 2023 Issue

Learning Objective: Get exposure to rhyme and poetry, and compare a poem with other kinds of texts.

Guided Reading Level: J

DRA Level: 16-18

Featured Skill: Rhythm and Meaning,

Topic: English Language Arts,

I hope you can help me,

since I’m all alone,

and some things are too hard

to do on my own.

Please help me play checkers.

Please help me play ball.

Please help me play cards.

I need help with them all.

And here’s one more thing

that I can’t do alone:

Please help clean my room.

It’s too hard on my own.

Activities (2)

Answer Key (1)

Activities (2)

Download All Quizzes and Activities

Answer Key (1)

Implementation

Small group; whole group; independent reading

Pairings and Text Connections

In this issue, these texts all go with the helper theme.

“Wag Your Tails for Helper Dogs,” p. 4

“Will a Dog Change My Life?,” p. 6

“Pine School Pals: Rescuing Ribbit!,” page 13

“Lost in the Hallway,” p. 24

“I Hope You Can Help Me,” p. 32

Reading fluency (30 minutes)

You can read the poem to the class first to model fluency and familiarize students with the language.

You can also click the Read-Aloud button at the top of the digital issue to hear it read aloud by a professional voice actor.

After-Reading Skills Practice (15 minutes)

Make a Word Ladder: Phonics

This printable gives students practice with the ea and ee spellings for the long e sound.

After-Reading Text Comparisons (15 minutes)

Helper Chart: Students can compare and contrast all the helper-themed texts with this chart.

Text-to-Speech

I Hope You Can Help Me

More About the Article

Implementation

Small group; whole group; independent reading

Pairings and Text Connections

In this issue, these texts all go with the helper theme.

“Wag Your Tails for Helper Dogs,” p. 4

“Will a Dog Change My Life?,” p. 6

“Pine School Pals: Rescuing Ribbit!,” page 13

“Lost in the Hallway,” p. 24

“I Hope You Can Help Me,” p. 32

Suggested Reading Focus

Reading fluency (30 minutes)

You can read the poem to the class first to model fluency and familiarize students with the language.

You can also click the Read-Aloud button at the top of the digital issue to hear it read aloud by a professional voice actor.

After-Reading Skills Practice (15 minutes)

Make a Word Ladder: Phonics

This printable gives students practice with the ea and ee spellings for the long e sound.

After-Reading Text Comparisons (15 minutes)

Helper Chart: Students can compare and contrast all the helper-themed texts with this chart.

Help/Support

Help/Support

Subscriber Information

I Hope You Can Help Me

More About the Article

Implementation

Small group; whole group; independent reading

Pairings and Text Connections

In this issue, these texts all go with the helper theme. “Wag Your Tails for Helper Dogs,” p. 4 “Will a Dog Change My Life?,” p. 6 “Pine School Pals: Rescuing Ribbit!,” page 13 “Lost in the Hallway,” p. 24 “I Hope You Can Help Me,” p. 32

Suggested Reading Focus

Reading fluency (30 minutes) You can read the poem to the class first to model fluency and familiarize students with the language. You can also click the Read-Aloud button at the top of the digital issue to hear it read aloud by a professional voice actor.

After-Reading Skills Practice (15 minutes)

Make a Word Ladder: Phonics This printable gives students practice with the ea and ee spellings for the long e sound.

After-Reading Text Comparisons (15 minutes)

Helper Chart: Students can compare and contrast all the helper-themed texts with this chart.

Help/Support

Help/Support

Subscriber Information

Connect with Us

In this issue, these texts all go with the helper theme.

“Wag Your Tails for Helper Dogs,” p. 4

“Will a Dog Change My Life?,” p. 6

“Pine School Pals: Rescuing Ribbit!,” page 13

“Lost in the Hallway,” p. 24

“I Hope You Can Help Me,” p. 32

Reading fluency (30 minutes)

You can read the poem to the class first to model fluency and familiarize students with the language.

You can also click the Read-Aloud button at the top of the digital issue to hear it read aloud by a professional voice actor.

Make a Word Ladder: Phonics

This printable gives students practice with the ea and ee spellings for the long e sound.