Poetry Writing Lesson Plan

 

Title: If I Were  . . . Poetry

 

Grade Level:  Third

 

Content Knowledge:    Skill:  The students will be able to both write and read                                                       poetry.

                                   

                                          Content:  The students will know what poetry is and what                                              makes it unique.

 

Rationale:  

As the students learn about poetry, their knowledge of literature will be strengthened. Additionally, as the students learn about poetry they will learn more about language overall. They will understand that poetry is a creative form of communication. Furthermore, learning how read and write poems will supply the students with a means to express themselves. 

 

 

Standards: These are put out by the various disciplines.

            PA Standards
            Common Core

 

 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.3.4.B
Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.

 

 

Goal: What students should understand/be working towards understanding. Big idea include.

 

 

By the end of this lesson, the students will be able to read and write poems.

 

Big Ideas:

-Poetry

-Reading

-Writing

-Expression

-Creativity

 

           

Essential Question: 

How can we use poems to express our thoughts and feelings?

 

What makes poetry a unique form of communication?

 

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Objectives:

1.  Objectives will include 4 distinct components:

Audience, Behavior, Condition and Degree.

 

 

Given a Think-Aloud, visuals, and practice, the students will write a poem and read it aloud to the class, without error.

 

 

Vocabulary:

Include any vocabulary that may be new to students, need pre-taught, or taught during lesson, etc.

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Poetry – a type of literature revolving around the expression of feelings and ideas by means of distinctive style and   rhythm

 

Rhythm – a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound

 

Stanza – a group of lines forming the basic recurring metrical unit in a poem

 

Verse – a single line of poetry

 

 

Formative Assessment: 

1. These should explain how you are measuring the objectives and should MATCH the objectives specifically. Do not merely repeat what the objective is. Mix these within the lesson.

 

Throughout the lesson, the teacher will circulate around the room to monitor and guide the students. As the teacher does this, she will listen to the conversations the students are having with one another. In particular, the teacher will be checking to see if the students are able to use the vocabulary terms associated with poetry correctly. If the students are struggling, the teacher will rephrase the information in a new way, answer any questions, and offer one-on-one assistance as needed.

 

The students’ ability to both write and read a poem will also be used as a formative assessment. If the students are struggling to either read or write a poem, the teacher will prompt the students and offer guidance. Additionally, the teacher provide the students with more examples. The teacher will also perform a Think-Aloud on how to write and read poems.

 

 

Procedures/Events of Instruction:

1. Attention Getter & Advanced Organizer (_5_ minutes)

   1. This could be showing a model, asking a question, having a problem on the board, reading an interesting newspaper article, etc.  Needs to be detailed. How will you get students to care?!

   2. Inform students of objectives

 

 

To ensure the students are in a ready position, the teacher will use the cue: “Macaroni and Cheese – Everybody Freeze”.

 

 

Anticipatory Set: The teacher will ask the students, “Have you ever imagined what your life would belike if you were not you? What if you were a squirrel? What if you were a moose? What if you were a teacher? What if you were a flower?”. After pausing for a moment to give the students a chance to think about these questions, the teacher will proceed, “Please share your feelings about this with the person sitting next to you.”

Student Objective: “Today you are going to have the chance to really think about this as we write special poems called If I Were poems. We will also be reading our poems aloud as we share them.”

 

 

 

1. Stimulate recall of prior knowledge (_5_ minutes). If you’re asking questions, list the questions. If you’re reviewing, state what you will say/show/share. Do NOT just say “review from yesterday.”

 

 

The teacher will say, “Yesterday we talked about Color Poems. If I Were Poems are another type of formula poems.”

 

Building Background: The teacher will say, “I want you to think about your five senses: seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. In a little bit, you are going to pick the topic of your poem. That is, the person, place, or thing that you are going to write as if you were. I want you to brainstorm how your five senses would play into your new life as this new person, place, or thing. For example, if I were a spider, my sight would be much different. So would my ability to taste, etc.” The teacher will give the students a couple of minutes to brainstorm.

 

1. Presentation of Content (_15_ minutes)

   1.  This is how the content is being presented.

 

 

I Do: The teacher will perform a Think-Aloud of how to write and read poetry. The teacher will begin by choosing a topic. The teacher will say, “My topic is the Sun. So my poem is going to be titled: If I Were the Sun. In relation to the senses, I am going to have to creative and think outside the box”. The teacher will write the poem on the board for the students to view.

 

If I were the Sun, I would see people all over the world going about their day.

If I were the Sun, I would live life in every color but gray.

If I were the Sun, I would feel warm all the time.

If I were the Sun, I would refreshing like a lime.

If I were the Sun, I would taste pink sunsets and cotton candy clouds.

If I were the Sun, I would shine down on all of the crowds.

If I were the Sun, I would hear the birds singing.

If I were the Sun, I would see the flowers springing.

If I were the Sun, I would smell the tops of the trees.

If I were the Sun, I would hug all the bees.

If I were the Sun, it would be great fun.

 

While the teacher performed this Think-Aloud, she would express her thoughts aloud by saying things such as, “Hmm, I know not all poems have to rhyme, but I think I want to challenge myself to make this one rhyme. I need to think of a word that rhymes with day. How about hooray? Gray? If I were the Sun, hmmm, what would it be like to be way up high in the sky? I wonder what the view would be like? I could probably see everything from up so high,”, etc.

 

 

 

1. Student involvement (_10_ minutes)

 

 

 

We Do: The teacher will project different visuals to the students in the hopes that the students will be inspired to choose  topics for their poems. The visuals will include an image of a cheetah, a flower, a raincloud, the ocean, a teacher, a horse, an insect, and a rainforest. The teacher will emphasize that the students may choose a topic that is not related to the visuals because the visuals are just a means of inspiration. While the students are choosing their topics and viewing the visuals, the teacher will encourage the students to think back to their five senses.

 

1. Practice & Feedback (_30_ minutes)

 

 

I Do: The teacher will assist the students in writing their poems. As the students write their poems, the teacher will encourage them to look back at the example poem presented at the beginning of the lesson. The teacher will also remind the students that their poems do not necassicrly have to rhyme. Above all, the teacher will remind the students that poems are a means of communication and expression. Creativity is highly advised.

 

After the students write their poems, the teacher will instruct them to read their poems aloud. The teacher will remind the students to think back to how she read the If I were the Sun poem at the beginning of the lesson (expression, animation, appropriate pacing, etc.). The students will have the opportunity to vote on whether they would rather share their poems as a whole-class or in small groups.

*Due to time, this sharing portion of the lesson may likely occurring on a following day(s) after the initial lesson.

 

 

 

1. Review/Closure(_5_ minutes)

 

In closure, the teacher will ask the students to share with the person sitting next to them whether they liked or disliked the experience of both reading and writing an If I Were Poem. After the students share, the teacher will call on volunteers to share their opinions with the whole-class. The teacher will consider this feedback when planning future lessons.

 

 

1. Preview of Next Lesson(_2_ minutes)

 

The teacher will say, “Today, we learned about If I Were Poems. Tomorrow, we will continue learning about poetry as we explore Wish Poems”.

 

 

*Note: Presentation, involvement, and practice/feedback can all be combined, but all three components ought to be visible in your lesson plans.

 

Materials and Aids:  All the materials, books, worksheets, etc. that you will need to make this lesson work. Be specific.

 

 

-If I Were example poem for Think-Aloud

-Visuals of a cheetah, a flower, a raincloud, the ocean, a teacher, a horse, an insect, and a rainforest

 

 

Adaptations: What changes will you make in instruction, content, and/or grouping so that all students’ needs are met

 

The teacher will repeat the instructions as many times as needed.

The teacher will provide the students with a multitude of examples of If I Were poems.

The teacher will supply frequent, positive, specific feedback to the students.

The teacher will allow the students to work in pairs or small groups, if helpful.

The teacher will create a checklist for the students.

The teacher will allow for an adequate amount of wait-time.

The teacher will guide the students in choosing a topic, if needed.

The teacher will not force any student who is feeling uncomfortable to read his or her poem aloud to peers.

The students may sit next to a peer tutor.

The students may engage in repeated practice, color coding, and highlighting as needed.

The students may be exposed to If I Were poems prior to this lesson.

 

 

Enrichments: How could you make this lesson more in depth, novel, accelerated, or complex for higher achieving students

 

The students may will be challenged to create a poem containing a certain number of lines or a specific rhyme scheme.

The students may draw a visual to accompany their poem.

The students may compare and contrast Color Poems to If I Were Poems.

The students may share their poems in a small group but leave out the topic of their poem when reading. For example, in relation to the Sun poem, the student would read: “I were blank, I would see people all over the world going about their day”, etc. After the poem is read, the listeners will be challenged to guess what the topic of the poem is.

 

Appendix:

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Visuals to Inspire the Students:

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