1. COUSIN
By Brooke A. Shormaker

2. Poem Objectives

3. Cousin for sale, cousin for sale, A whiny, bratty cousin for sale.
She wets the bed,
And she always copies whatever I said.
She’ll follow you and bother you,
And she’ll want to do whatever you do.
She’ll wake you up in the middle of the night,
And start a stupid pillow fight.

4. Cousin for sale, cousin for sale, A stupid, clumsy cousin for sale.
She spills her milk, eats like a hog,
She always scared my little pet dog.
She falls off her bike, and cries and cries,
Until you just want to die.
You will regret it if you don’t let her follow you around,
At least if you get her ice cream she won’t make a sound.
If you are tired, she’ll want to play store,
If you say you don’t want to, she’ll just cry for more.

5. Cousin for sale, cousin for sale, A selfish, childish cousin for sale.
When she wants to do something, you can’t say no,
If you try to leave, she won’t let you go.
She’ll want to put your hair in little pink bows.
She’ll only wear ugly pink clothes.
She won’t eat the vegetables that you cook,
She won’t go to bed without you reading her a book.

6. Cousin for sale, cousin for sale, A messy, disgusting cousin for sale.
She wets her pants, oh no, what a mess,
She just got hot chocolate on her dress.
Shell pick up worms, then give you a hug,
She wants a cookie, she just picked up a bug.
She drools when she is asleep,
What a mess on her new stuffed sheep.
You can’t get through breakfast without
something on the floor,
She makes a messy handprint on the window
by the door.

7. Cousin for sale, cousin for sale, A loud, obnoxious cousin for sale.
When Barney comes on she screams with delight,
If she doesn’t get her way, she will pick a fight.
When she saw E.T. she screamed and cried,
She really thought E.T. was going to die.
So, if you don’t want to hear a little girl holler,
Then buying this kid, I wouldn’t bother!

8. Objectives
B1-Details-To list specific details or recall facts related to the text or generate a list about a specific topic or character.
B2-Classifications-To categorize different aspects of the text or identify categories from a list of topics or details
B3-Generalizations-To make general statements about the reading or an idea in the reading and use data to support statements.
C1. Literary Elements--To identify and explain specific story elements like characters, setting, or poetic-device.
C2. Inference--To use textual clues to read between the lines and make judgements about specific textual events, ideas, or character analysis.
C3. Theme/Concept--To identify a major idea or theme common throughout the text.

9. Creating, Innovating, Imagining
Habits of Mind
Finding Humor
Thinking Flexibly
Creating, Innovating, Imagining

10. Rigor
Discussion with
High Level Questions

11. Answer 2 of the 3 questions:
B1-Create a character analysis map showing 5-8 personality traits of the cousin for sale.
C2-What feelings do you think the author has about her cousin? Why? Use words and phrases from the poem to support your thoughts.
B3-Decide on 3 character traits for the cousin and write 3 generalizations about the cousin. Be descriptive! Share your statements with a partner. Do they agree with you? Why or Why Not?

12. Relevance
Creative Synthesis

13. Complete 2 of the 3 activities
Write a new poem from the young cousin' s point of view. In place of " When she saw E.T., she screamed and cried" use "When I saw E.T. I was so scared". The poem should be 16 lines.
Pretend to be the illustrator of the poem. Use your illustrations to tell the poem. Create 5-8 picture board slides. You could use: PowerPoint, Pixie 2, Comic Life, poster paper/ markers.
3. Write a descriptive paragraph of 6-8 sentences telling your thoughts on the theme of the poem. Share experiences you may have had with a friend, or family member.