Sock Monster

poem by Beverley McWilliams , illustrated by Cheryl Orsini

Outcomes

Learning intention:

I am learning to consider a unique point of view so I can create imaginative poems.  

Success criteria:

  • I can identify the point of view a poem is presented from.  
  • I can generate ideas for creative explanations for everyday occurrences.  
  • I can include my ideas in a poem.  

 

Essential knowledge

View the video on Point of View from The School Magazine. Ensure students understand that point of view means whose eyes information is viewed from.  

 

Read Sock Monster or listen to the audio version. Discuss the following questions:  

  • What does the narrator think is happening to their socks? (A monster is stealing them) 
  • How does the narrator feel about the sock monster stealing the socks? (That it is annoying) 
  • What do people usually think happens to their socks when they go missing? (They have got lost somewhere during the laundry process) 
  • How does the point of view, that the monster is to blame, impact the reading of this poem? (It provides and interesting and unique point of view) 
  • Is the idea of a sock stealing monster real or fictional? (Fictional) 

 

Emphasise that the poem features a unique point of view about the socks going missing and that this is a fictional idea. Flick through the magazine and look at the stories, for example Wullus on page 4 and 5 or The Wrong Spoon, pages 14 to 20. The goal here is to consider the length of the stories rather than to actually read them. Emphasise how much longer the stories are than the poem Sock Monster. Discuss the purpose of poetry (to capture an idea in a short and concise way). Inform students that they will be composing their own poems to express a unique point of view.  

Discuss everyday occurrences around the home that could be interpreted as strange. For example, toast getting burnt, losing the car keys, alarms going off without anyone remembering that they set them. Discuss fictional explanations for these events, for example a monster is making them happen, aliens are hiding in the home or goblins work in groups to ensure people face challenges around the home.  

Inform students that first you will be composing an example of a poem together. Select the topic, the keys going missing.  

Discuss real reasons why keys could go missing, for example, places they may have been dropped, the fact they may have slipped out of a pocket and fallen behind the couch cushions. Discuss more exciting explanations for why the keys might go missing, for example, the dog may hide them so their owners cannot leave, the couch may eat keys for breakfast, or the keys may hide due to being too exhausted from overuse. Discuss vocabulary that might be used in a poem about these ideas and note this on the board. For example:  

  • Keys 
  • Lost 
  • Hide 
  • Sneak 
  • Tired 
  • Overworked  

Note: The book, The Day the Crayons Quit may be a good resource for identifying the points of view of inanimate objects.  

Refer back to Sock Monster and identify the rhyming pattern (ABCB with the second and fourth lines rhyming). Discuss rhyming words for the vocabulary identified. An online rhyming dictionary or a thesaurus might be useful for this. For example:  

  • Keys: bees, trees, knees 
  • Lost: cost 
  • Hide: ride 
  • Sneak: beak 
  • Tired: hired, wired 
  • Overworked: irked, smirked 

Use these ideas to collaboratively compose a poem about keys going missing. For example:  

Those poor tired keys were overworked,  

So they had an idea, sat and smirked, 

They’d sneak away, run and hide,  

Then no longer they’d be forced to ride.  

 

Their poor owner searched and hunted,  

They huffed and puffed, moaned and grunted,  

Eventually they threw up their hands and quit,  

The keys gleefully rubbed their mitts.  

 

Place students in pairs and instruct them to compose their own poems by completing the following steps:  

  • Identify an everyday occurrence around the home 
  • Consider reasons why this may occur 
  • Identify creative explanations 
  • List vocabulary  
  • Identify rhyming words 
  • Use these to compose a brief poem 

 

Assessment as/of learning:  

Place students with another group. Instruct them to read their poems to each other. Instruct the students to use the two stars and a wish strategy to provide each other with feedback.  

Effective Feedback from the NSW Department of Education has more information on different types of feedback.