My Teacher Calls Me Sweetie Cakes

Types of poetry

• Reading and discussing “My Teacher Calls Me Sweetie Cakes” along with the other funny/humor-themed texts in the magazine (the nonfiction article, “What is Dav Pilkey’s Superpower?,” the paired texts, “What’s in a Joke?/How to Tell a Joke,” and the mini graphic, “A Laugh From Old Mrs. Wilson”) should give kids insight into what makes certain things funny.
• Through the above genres, students will discuss: Why do we like to laugh? Why do different people find different things funny? How do jokes work?
• This poem also stands on its own. It’s not only super fun, but it also gives kids great experience reading and thinking about poems as a literary form. 

Watch a Video (5 minutes)

Watch “The Big Question: What Makes Something Funny?” (This video also goes with other stories in this month’s Storyworks 2.)

• Before your students watch, ask them to think about this: “What makes something funny?”
• Watch the video.
• After watching, ask the question again. Write students’ ideas on chart paper. 

Discuss What Makes a List Poem (15 minutes)

• “My Teacher Calls Me Sweetie Cakes” is a type of poem called a list poem.
• Kenn Nesbitt, who wrote “My Teacher Calls Me Sweetie Cakes”—and is a former U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate—says, “Many famous poets, including authors such as Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, and even Dr. Seuss have written funny list poems. A list poem usually consists of three parts, a beginning, an ending, and a long list of things in the middle.”
• In this poem, you’ll see that the poet introduces the idea at the beginning of the poem, then gives a list of different affectionate names in the middle, and then ends the poem.
• Tell kids that after they read, they will write their own. (See our “Write a List Poem” activity at the end of this lesson plan.)

• You can read the poem to the class first to model fluency and get kids familiar 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.
• Then call on volunteers to read every two lines of the poem aloud (which works whether you’re doing class in person or in a live video format).

• Ask kids, “What do you think the poem is about? (a kid whose teacher embarrasses him with cutesy pet names because she’s his mom)
• Point out that the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhymes. Ask, “What are some words that rhyme in this poem?” (funny and honey, pie and butterfly, and another and mother).

Enrich the Learning: Paired Text Opportunities (time amount varies)

Making text-to-text connections builds knowledge and comprehension. We layer Storyworks 2 with many ways for your students to make connections.

Pairable Texts “What is Dav Pilkey’s Superpower?” (pages 6-11), the mini graphic, “A Laugh From Old Mrs. Wilson” (pages 14-17), and “What’s in a Joke?/ How to Tell a Joke” (pages 18-21).

• These stories also relate to the “funny” theme. They answer similar questions like: What makes something funny? How can different people find different things humorous?
  
• Kids can compare the humor in these stories using our “Funny Chart” online printable. How are the stories alike, and how are they different? 
  

ELA Focus: Write a List Poem (40 minutes)

• We are so excited about this poetry-writing activity! We worked with the poet Kenn Nesbitt (who wrote “My Teacher Calls Me Sweetie Cakes) to create it.
  
• Kids can do this activity individually (for higher-level kids), in small groups, or as a whole class. Any way you do it is really fun.
  
• We created step-by-step scaffolded skills sheets that kids can use to write their own list poems. The “Write Your Own List Poem” skills sheets guide kids through the process. If you do this as a whole class, just do every step together.
  
• Resources: Kenn has compiled rhyming words on the following website that kids can use to find rhyming pairs.
  
• General rhyming words: https://www.poetry4kids.com/lessons/ rhyming-lists/
  
• Rhyming foods: https://www.poetry4kids.com/lessons/list-ofrhyming-foods/
• Rhyming animals: https://www.poetry4kids.com/lessons/list-ofrhyming-animals/

1. Film a Poetry Performance: Have students use a program like Flipgrid to film themselves reading the poem for them to share with you or the whole class.

2. Share Student Work: During a virtual class session, call on volunteers to present their poems to the class. They can also share their writing on a learning management system, such as Seesaw, to see what their classmates are doing and feel connected.