Poetry Unit Lesson Plan



Poetry Unit Lesson Plan

Day 2

Free Verse

I. Lesson Objectives

SWBAT identify and explain the term “free verse poetry.”

SWBAT respond orally to a free verse poem.

SWBAT write an original free verse poem.

II. Lesson Assessment

The teacher will assess students’ understanding during class by observing their participation during group discussion. Free verse poems, begun in class and finished for homework, will serve as a written assessment.

III. Standards

EL.08.LI.07 Infer the main idea when it is not explicitly stated, and support with evidence from the text.

EL.08.LI.10 Evaluate how well literary elements contribute to the overall effectiveness of a selection.

EL.08.WR.13 Use descriptive language that clarifies and enhances ideas by establishing tone and mood through figurative language, sensory images, and comparisons.

IV. Time

One fifty-minute class period

V. Materials

Whiteboard and markers

Projector and laptop

Copies of poems “i carry your heart” and “Where I’m From”

“Understanding Poetry” handout

Paper and pencils

Student laptops

VI. Beginning of Lesson

1. Using a projector, show students a poem that is slightly out of focus so they cannot read it. Ask if they can identify the kind of poem it is by merely looking at it. Bring the poem slowly into focus. Students will supply answer “Free verse” (if not, teacher will give hints and then tell name).

2. Ask students to define free verse. Come up with a class definition. Write the definition on the white board.

Middle of Lesson

3. Distribute copies of the poem “i carry your heart” by e.e. cummings. Explain the significance of the poem for the teacher (“I have loved e.e. cummings’ work since I was a teenager and first reading poetry on my own. I just love the simple style and slightly obscure meanings. Also I think the style is a bit peculiar, which appeals to me. This is a poem I chose to have read at my wedding last summer because I thought it was romantic but also a bit unusual.”)

4. Ask students to read silently and annotate the poem.

5. Guide students in a discussion of the poem. (“What do you think this poem means? What words stick out for you? What are the best lines in the poem? What is surprising here?”)

6. Ask students why rereading a poem can be useful. (“Why can it be helpful to reread a poem? What kinds of things might you notice in the second reading? Do you think you can understand a poem completely the first time through? Why not? What is special or different about poetry from other forms of literature?”)

7. Using the projector, show video clip of my sister reading the poem at the wedding. Explain that I am showing this because her reading was so different than the way I heard it in my own head, but I loved the joy and excitement she showed in reading it. She is an actress and very dramatic.

8. Ask students to take notes on the poem using the “Understanding Poetry” handout.

9. After 5 minutes, ask students to explain what they learned or noticed during their re-reading of the text.

End of Lesson

10. Explain to students that they will now have time to begin free writing their first poem of the unit. This poem may be one they choose to include in their anthologies. Students will have the option of working with the poem “Where I’m From” and writing a similar poem, or writing a free verse poem on a topic of their choice. This choice provides scaffolding for students who need it and allows more experienced poetry writers a greater range of options.

11. Ask students to share their free writing (if they want).

12. Ask students to finish their poems for homework, and tell them they will have the option of sharing their poems the following day.

13. Thank students and dismiss.

IX. Lesson Reflection

Today already I felt much more comfortable in front of the classroom. I no longer felt so awkward when talking about the poems we went over in class and was able to engage more easily in a productive discussion. The kids participated well and were eager to share their ideas. Some of the students were quieter than others, but more girls volunteered their ideas today and I didn’t have to rely on too much cold-calling (though I still had to do it to get a word out of Student 2).

I changed two things from my original lesson plan. The first was that I did a much shorter and simpler opening activity. That is because the term “free verse” came up in class yesterday (Student 1 brought up the term unprompted), so we discussed it a bit. Doing a more elaborate opening activity seemed like overkill after yesterday’s discussion. Also, I was unable to use my video in the class. Apparently my sister took it off the internet recently so at the last minute I had to change my plan. Instead of having my sister read it, I described how I used the poem in the wedding and how dramatic her reading was. Then I asked a student to read it. It was a shame not to be able to use the video component which was quite lovely. I was disappointed, but because the students have never seen the video they don’t know what they missed. Oh well, life goes on. If I can get a copy emailed to me I may show it later this week if there are ever a few spare minutes.

The kids seemed to have no trouble getting into a free write. I wonder what they

will turn in tomorrow? I asked them to share but only got one response – maybe they will get over their shyness during the course of the unit. I don’t plan to force anyone to share their poetry, but I would like everyone to at least get a chance to read a line or two out loud and be praised for it.

[pic]

Where I'm From

George Ella Lyon

I am from clothespins,

from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.

I am from the dirt under the back porch.

(Black, glistening,

it tasted like beets.)

I am from the forsythia bush

the Dutch elm

whose long-gone limbs I remember

as if they were my own.

I'm from fudge and eyeglasses,

          from Imogene and Alafair.

I'm from the know-it-alls

          and the pass-it-ons,

from Perk up! and Pipe down!

I'm from He restoreth my soul

          with a cottonball lamb

          and ten verses I can say myself.

I'm from Artemus and Billie's Branch,

fried corn and strong coffee.

From the finger my grandfather lost

          to the auger,

the eye my father shut to keep his sight.

Under my bed was a dress box

spilling old pictures,

a sift of lost faces

to drift beneath my dreams.

I am from those moments--

snapped before I budded --

leaf-fall from the family tree.

[pic]

i carry your heart with me

e. e. cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

                                                      i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

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