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Lesson Plan

Writing Poetry: Looking at the World Through the Eyes of a Poet


Subject

English Language Arts (NYS P-12 Common Core)

Grade Levels

Elementary, 2nd Grade


Description

This lesson introduces second grade students to free verse poetry and gives them the opportunity to listen to, write and share this type of poetry. The students will listen to, discuss, write and share poetry. They will learn to look at their world (the classroom, gym, playground, garden, house, kitchen, etc.) through the eyes of a poet and learn to describe their world as a poet would.

Objectives:

  1. Students will be able to listen to and identify a free verse poem.
  2. Students will be able to identify the topic of a free verse poem.
  3. Students will be able to identify descriptive and/or exact words used in simple free verse poems.
  4. Students will be able to write a free verse poem with some assistance.
  5. Students will be able to illustrate their poem.
  6. Students will share their poems with their peers.

Poetry Collections

Poetry collections that contain examples of this type of poetry:

  • Animal Poems by Valerie Worth
  • All the Small Poems and Fourteen More by Valerie Worth
  • Peacock and Other Poems by Valerie Worth
  • A City Is by Norman Rosten

Examples of everyday poems

See attached.

Teacher Resources

See attached.

Materials

For the Teacher:

  • a collection of poems (see examples of everyday poems)
  • chart paper or whiteboard

For Students:

  • poetry notebook or paper
  • pen or pencil

Step-by-Step Procedure

  1. Students will listen to poems written about everyday objects that they have seen at home, in school or outside. Students should be encouraged to view everyday objects as a poet would. A scientist considers the object's physical characteristics while a poet looks beyond that to other possibilities and feelings. Examples: clouds are swimming in oceans of sky; a pencil case is a bed for pens, pencils, and markers, etc. Read at least three to four simple poems to the students before discussing the characteristics of these poems. Gather your students on your reading rug or center. Have three or four poems written on large chart paper so you can reread the poems and refer back to the poems as needed.
  2. Students and teacher will discuss some of the poetic characteristics they noticed that the poet used. For example: figurative language, personification, simile, metaphor, rhythm, repetition, etc. Second grade students typically do not have to know the name of these characteristics, but can point out what they see in a grade and age appropriate manner. For example in the poem "Strawberry," the poet says the strawberry smiles at her with tiny sharp teeth. The poet is saying that the strawberry is acting like a person. The teacher points out that we know that this can't happen but the poet says that is what it reminds her of. In the poem "A Rug" the poet says a rug is like a magic carpet. The teacher should encourage the students to share their observations and ideas and point out examples in the poems shared on the charts. The teacher should ask the students to look around the room and find an object that reminds them of something else or acts or does something a person or animal might do. Call on students to share their ideas and suggest that when it is time they could write a poem about it.
  3. The teacher models the writing of a short poem thinking out loud so the students can understand his or her thought process. For example the teacher would say as she is writing on chart paper "Your desk reminds me of a cave. I am going to write about your desk." Then begin to write and think out loud something like this:
    MY DESK
    My desk is like a cave
    dark and cramped.
    Maybe there is a bear
    in there
    eating my pencils and hiding my homework?
    Be quiet! Don't wake him up!
    As a group talk about the poem how it compares a desk and a cave; how are they alike, different?, what else can be in there?, etc. Let the students give and suggest some new ideas. Point out the line breaks and how writing a poem is different from writing a story or report. How the look of a poem is unique. You can let words that are important have their own line or repeat a word a few times for emphasis. The teacher or class does not have to edit or revise the poem for publication at this time or ever. It is a work in progress and can be used as a model when the teacher wants to make a point at a later time.
  4. Students pick an everyday object in the classroom like their desk, notebook, the fan, pencil, rug etc. and try their hand at writing a short free verse poem. The teacher can make suggestions but I find it more productive if the students choose their own topic. At this point most students already have one or two ideas that they want to write about. If a student is having difficulty the teach may conference with him and give some suggestions orally. I find it best not to write topics down because it locks some students in and they feel that they have to choose the teachers idea over their own. Give your students an opportunity to think. At times I may stop the lesson for the day and let the students go home and think about what they are going to write about. They come back with ideas but I caution them to wait until they are back in school to do their writing. Note: encourage your students not to use rhyme in these poems because it takes away from the meaning and voice in their poems at this age level.
  5. Teacher walks around the room discussing the poems the students are writing, encouraging the students, making suggestions, and reading some poems aloud as a model for other students. When they have completed a poem ask them to share it with a friend and begin writing another. Most students write three or four poems a session. They then can choose which poem they want to edit, revise (if necessary) illustrate and publish.
  6. Students should be encouraged to write a few poems and share them with other students and the whole class.
  7. On another day, the poems can be revised and edited by the students. Sometimes the poems are written and revised using computer programs like Kidspiration or Max Write. This can be completed as a preparation for publishing where the poems can be illustrated and shared with other students, teachers, and parents. Some teachers put together a poetry collection for the class to share, others invite parents into the class for a poetry presentation.

Duration

This lesson usually takes two to three 30-40 minute periods. It can be used as a part of a poetry unit or a unit on creative writing. This lesson is usually divided into three or four sections. Ideally these sessions should take place on the same day but can be spread over two or three consecutive days as needed. I find it most helpful for the students to revise, edit and illustrate their work on a separate day devoted to these activities.

Assessment

There are no formal assessments for these poems. The teacher should observe the following characteristics in the finished published poems: a title, a topic idea (this poem is about...) descriptive words, figurative language, personification, simile, metaphor, rhythm, repetition, line breaks, personal feelings or voice, illustrations appropriate to the poem and use of conventional spelling. During student-teacher conferences, the teacher should note the characteristics the student has used and encourage him to include others in his other poems. Not all poems have all characteristics and the poetic feel of the poem is important to success of the poem as a whole. Most children have a natural poetic sense if they have listened to and/or read a lot of poetry.

Alternate activity

If you have a class set of digital cameras available, take your class on a poetry walk. Allow at least one or two additional 40-minute sessions for this activity. Each student will need a digital camera, a clipboard, paper and pencil.

  1. Pre-teach your class the instructions on how to use the camera and explain any special instruction if necessary. For example, our students can only take four pictures because of printing restrictions.
  2. The students are asked to take a picture of something they would like to write a poem about. Remind them to look though the camera with their poet eyes.
  3. I tell them where we will take our walk and prepare them for some of the things they might see and/or take a picture of. I arrange to have a special area teacher (reading teacher, ESL or resource room teacher) join us.
  4. I bring my own camera, extra pencils, paper, and batteries. The walk takes about 30 minutes. We include the playground, the friendship garden and ball fields around the school.
  5. If a student sees something to write about and has taken his/her 4 pictures he/she writes notes about their ideas so they can write the poem the next day,
  6. When we return to the school the cameras are given to the computer aides who print the pictures and have them ready for the next writing lesson.
  7. When the students have their printed pictures, they choose one and write their poem. They can use their picture to illustrate the poem or draw their own picture. Some may choose to do both. These poems can be added to the class collection of poems.


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