Lesson Plan
Impersonating Great Poets Using “Science Verse” by Jon Scieszka by NNWP
Subject
English Language Arts (2005), English Language Arts (NYS P-12 Common Core)
Grade Levels
Intermediate, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade
Description
After comparing several of Jon Scieszka's poems from Science Verse with the original poems that inspired them, students will plan their own poetry parodies. Students will choose a poem, and write some or all of it in the left-hand column of the graphic organizer provided below. On the right-hand side of the graphic organizer, they will attempt to match--syllable by syllable--the original poem's rhythm as they write their own poetry.
Website(s)
The Northern Nevada Writing Project
The National Writing Project
Six-Trait Overview
The focus trait in this writing assignment is sentence fluency; fitting original words into an original poem's rhythm scheme is a great way to experiment with sentences that flow. The support trait in this assignment is idea development; encourage your students to explore poem topics in unique ways.
Author
Northern Nevada Writing Project
Materials
- Overhead transparencies of pages 1 and 2 of the Science Verse Handouts and Overheads document
- Copies of page 3 of the Science Verse Handouts and Overheads document (One per student)
- Science Verse by Jon Scieszka
Science_Verse_Handouts and Overhead.pdfScience Verse Pre-Writing Sheet.doc
Step-by-Step Procedure
- Enjoy Scieszka's Science Verse as a read-aloud over several days with your students. Start by sharing those poems that your students will definitely know are impersonations of other poetry they've heard: The "It's raining, It's Pouring" and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" parodies will be easy for your students to spot. Ask them, "How does the author make sure his new poem sounds so much like the original poem?
- Before sharing Scieszka's parody of "The Jabberwocky" or "The Raven," share the original poems that inspired each parody with your students. You don't have to analyze the original poems too much, just explain that they are famous poems--well-known by many adults--and the author is going to impersonate these just as he did "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."
- After sharing the original and its impersonation, ask your students, "How does the author make sure his new poem sounds so much like the original poem?"
- In small groups, have your students read and respond to any or all of the student models that come with this lesson. They can be found on the second page of the three page document called Science Verse Handouts and Overhead. The groups will certainly talk about the sentence fluency , since that's the focus of this lesson, but you might prompt your students to talk about each model's idea development as well.
- Tell students they will be writing their own impersonations of famous poems today. The three-page document, Science Verse handouts and overhead, contains tools to help your students ready for this task. Print and show as overheads the first two pages of the document. The first overhead shows two famous poems, one by Emily Dickinson, the other by Gwendolyn Brooks. Read these poems together as a class.
- The second overhead is a student sample (written on this lesson's graphic organizer) that shows a student impersonating both poems from the first overhead. Show this second page on the overhead. Laugh at student-writer Joey's humorous use of the original poem as his inspiration. Talk about how Joey included lots of good details about his topic--teeth--as he wrote his parody.
- Distribute copies of the Science Verse Pre-Writing handout to students. The chart at the bottom of the page provides choices on the that may inspire your students to choose a poem to make a parody of, but you can certainly inspire them to choose a poem that you may already know. Students may also want to visit the website Poetry Treasure Chest at http://jollyroger.com/classicalpoetry/ .
- Distribute the blank graphic organizer for students to plan their own impersonation. (This can be found on page 3 of the attached document.) Instead of giving students free reign to use any poem, you might select one poem for the whole class to impersonate, and allow them to all write about any topic they have interest in. You can also let students write these impersonations with partners or with small groups.
Extension of Lesson
To promote response and revision to rough draft writing, attach WritingFix's Revision and Response Post-Its to your students' drafts. Make sure the students rank their use of the trait-specific skills on the Post-Its, which means they'll only have one "1" and one "5." Have them commit to ideas for revision based on their Post-It rankings. For more ideas on WritingFix's Revision & Response Post-Its, visit: http://www.writingfix.com/Classroom_Tools/Post_Its.htm
You may also want to use the following Post-It Notes:
Sentence Fluency available at:
http://www.writingfix.com/PDFs/6_Traits/Trait_Post_Its_sentence_fluency.pdf
Idea Development available at:
http://www.writingfix.com/PDFs/6_Traits/Trait_Post_Its_Idea_Development.pdf
After students apply their revision ideas to their drafts and re-write neatly, require them to find an editor. If you've established a "Community of Editors" among your students, have each student exchange his/her paper with multiple peers. With yellow high-lighters in hand, each peer reads for and highlights suspected errors for just one item from the Editing Post-it available at: http://www.writingfix.com/PDFs/6_Traits/Trait_Post_Its_Conventions.pdf
Content Provider
The Northern Nevada Writing Project: WritingFix
Interested in publishing student work online?
WritingFix invites student writers to post final drafts of their original at WritingFix's Community of Student Writers at: http://writingfix1.edublogs.org/2008/02/12/using-90th-streets-advice-prompt/
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