Focus Lesson Planning Sheet



Focus Lesson Planning Sheet

|Focus Lesson Topic |Listening for Line Breaks |

| |(Adapted from Calkins and Parsons, 2003) |

|Materials |Poem written on chart paper with and without line breaks (See Poetry: Powerful Thoughts in Tiny |

| |Packages by Calkins and Parsons, 2003, p. 13 for example. Similar poems can be found in All the |

| |Small Poems and Fourteen More by Valerie Worth.) |

| | |

| |Short poem (student or teacher created) for guided practice. (See Poetry: Powerful Thoughts in Tiny |

| |Packages by Calkins and Parsons, 2003, pp. 15-16 for example.) Teacher may wish to write each word |

| |of the poem on individual cards. |

|Connection |Yesterday we learned how to see the world with poets’ eyes. You know that to write a good poem you |

| |need to use your poet’s eyes to see ordinary things in a new way. Today I will teach you another |

| |ingredient that you need for a good poem. |

|Explicit Instruction |To write a good poem, you need to have music. I don’t mean singing or playing musical instruments. |

| |The music of a poem comes from the words and how those words are put onto the paper. Good poets try |

| |to write the words of their poems so that the reader will read the poems with music. |

| | |

| |One way to give your poem music is to divide the words into lines that go down the paper. Let me |

| |show you what I mean with the poem called “Aquarium” by Valerie Worth. I’ve written it in two |

| |different ways. One way does not give the poem music, but the other does. |

| | |

| |[Read aloud the poem without line breaks. Read the poem in a flat tone with little expression to |

| |show how this way lacks music.] |

| | |

| |When I see the poem written this way, the way the words are arranged on the page tell me to read it |

| |just like I am talking. There really isn’t much music in the poem when it is written like this. Now|

| |listen to the same poem when I read it the way Valerie Worth really wrote it. |

| | |

| |[Read aloud the poem with line breaks.] |

| | |

| |When I read the poem with line breaks, it really sounds like music! When Valerie Worth divided the |

| |poem into short lines, she told me to read the poem in a certain way. Since this poem is called |

| |“Aquarium” I think she wants me to read the first four lines almost like a fish is swimming down the |

| |page, flicking and slipping back and forth like fish do. Did you hear my voice change when I got to |

| |the second part of the poem? When Valerie Worth wrote about the snail, I think she wants the music |

| |of her poem to become slow like a snail that sticks at the bottom of an aquarium. |

|Guided Practice |Let’s try writing a poem with line breaks together. Let me read the poem to you without any line |

| |breaks. [Display poem written without line breaks. To do this, use individual word cards to “write”|

| |the poem like prose by placing word cards in a pocket chart or taped to chart paper.] |

| | |

| |Turn and talk to a partner. How could we arrange the words in this poem to bring some music to the |

| |words? |

| | |

| |[Invite one student to move word cards to show one way to bring music to the poem.] |

|Send Off [for Independent |I want you to always remember that poets use line breaks to turn the words of the poem into music. |

|Practice] |Today as you are writing remember to use your poets’ eyes to see the world. When you have an idea, |

| |start writing a poem with line breaks. I can wait to hear the music that you bring to you poetry! |

|Group Share |Allow a few students to share their poems and explain how they used line breaks to bring music to |

| |their poetry. |

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download