Anne Williams

Cinnamon Bancroft
What Mama Says

Objective: To explore what characters say and how that demonstrates

their traits.

Materials: Mama Says: A Book of Love for Mothers and Sons by Rob D.
Walker
What my mom says from Mother Poems words and pictures by Hope Anita
Smith

Procedures:
1. Remind students how the things people say and do reveal a lot about
who they are and what’s important to them.
2. Read aloud Mama Says. Debrief reading. Turn and talk about things
students’ mothers say.
3. Provide text-only version of the poem (see attached). Model
rereading, noting patterns, examples, etc. and scribing margin notes.
4. Students work in pairs to reread poem and note observations.
5. Regroup and share observations with the whole group.
These next steps might occur on the following day.
6. Read second poem, What my mom says. Repeat above steps.
7. Compare observations from both poems. Note similarities and
differences.
Taking it to writing
8. Brainstorm list of people, besides mothers, who play an important role
in students’ lives and what kinds of things they say.
9. Lift lines from the poems as examples. Model personal examples,
creating an anchor chart.
10. Students create own brainstormed list on a T-chart: who and what
person says.
11. Students select one person from their list. Partner-share what kinds
of things that person says. Students add to their lists any additional
ideas that surface through partner shares.
12. Using the models as needed, students begin writing their own poems.

Sharing: Students select one line from their poems to share with the
entire group.
 Anne Williams
Cinnamon Bancroft
What my mom says by Hope Anita Smith

When I lose things,

My mom says,
“You’d lose your head if it wasn’t attached to your neck.”
When I ask,
“Why?”
my mom says,
“Because I said so.”
When I want to do something grown-up,
My mom says,
“You’re too young.”
When I try to get the last word,
My mom says,
“You’re cruisin’!”
When I don’t listen,
My mom says,
“It just goes in one ear and out the other.”
When I ask for a bigger allowance,
My mom says,
“Money doesn’t grow on trees.”
But most of the time
My mom just says,
“I love you.”