Illustration of dog and cat playing in the snow with their tails forming a heart
Art by Peter Francis
Poetry Kit,

My Dog and Cat

This poem is in the shape of a heart. Can you find 10 more hearts in the picture?

By Kenn Nesbitt
From the February 2025 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will understand the purpose of shape poems.

Common Core Standards
  • RF.1.3 Decoding RL.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text RL.1.10 Read poetry SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative discussions with peers and adults SL.1.2 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read-aloud
TEKS Standards
  • English Language Arts
    (9) Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts—genres. The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts. The student is expected to: (B) discuss rhyme, rhythm, repetition, and alliteration in a variety of poems.

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Bow wow wow. Meow, meow.

My dog and cat are friends somehow.

My dog says, “Woof!” My cat says, “Purr.”

They hug and lick each other’s fur.

I’m glad I have a dog and cat.

I love them both,

and that is

that.

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Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
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Answer Key (1)

More About the Article

English Language Arts Focus 

Poetry: Craft and Structure

Photographs & Labels

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Implementation

  • Whole group

Pairings and Text Connections

  • In this issue: “Alike and Different: Bark or Meow?”
  • From the Storyworks 1 archive: “Poetry Kit: Brand-New Ball" (March/April 2023)
  • Suggested books: Cat and Dog by Jonathan Bentley

Before-Reading Resources

  • Video: Hearts Are All Around (5 minutes) A knowledge-building video about where you can find hearts

Suggested Reading Focus

Craft and structure (20 minutes)

  • Have students look at the way the poem is shaped in the illustration. What do they notice? (It is a heart!) Say that this is a shape poem. A shape poem is a poem that is written in the shape of what it is about.
  • Read the poem through, modeling fluency. Have students follow along in their magazines. When you’re done reading, ask students what the poem is about. Why do they think it is heart-shaped?
  • To close, have students find and circle 10 more hearts in the picture.

After-Reading Skills Practice

  • Skills: Main idea/key details; writing and drawing (15 minutes each)

Text-to-Speech