When No One is Looking {An Entertaining Poem for Kids}

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just need to take a break from expository, narrative, and opinion writing and introduce poetry to my students to capitalize on their creativity.  While poetry is a great way for students to express that creativity, sometimes students need a gentle nudge to get started.  That’s why I love using different poetry forms with my students.  Today I’m here to share with you a very entertaining poem template that my students love: When No One is Looking.

“Can a dog twirl a baton?”

“Would a dog order a pizza?”

“Did you know dogs also like to cross the monkey bars?”

“Have you heard that dogs love to ride bikes with their friends?”

These are just some of the questions I ask when I’m getting my students started.  Yes, they look at me like I have lost my mind, but the sillier the statements, the more engaged and ready your students will be to write!  I project the template up on the screen and students write the poems in their journals.

After some revisions and editing, I type the poems for my students onto a single piece of paper.  Then I give them a second sheet of paper to illustrate their poem.  Finally, we mount the pages and combine everything into one entertaining class book!  Here are some completed poems:

Another benefit to this project is your students can really go wild with the subject of their poem.  Most students will start with pets like dogs, cats, or fish.  Some students branch a little further out and write about wolves, cobras, or dolphins.  But, I should warn you that your most creative students will come up with some out-of-the-box ideas like fuzzies, germs, and even molecules!

I’ve honestly tried looking to see where this idea came from since I’ve been using it longer than most blogs and Pinterest have existed.  The closest reference I can find online is a book called “What Cows Do When No One is Looking” by Bruce Thompson, but I cannot find this book in print.

However, I found (and now own) this book:

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