Poetry Assignment RE5130



Poetry Assignment RE5130

Margaret Greene

Learning Context:

I teach an exceptional children’s resource class. The students are in second, third and fourth grades. The class size ranges from six to nine students. They are beginning a thematic unit on the tropical rainforest in the resource class. This plan will take place a week or two into the study after students have been introduced to many rainforest animals through fiction and nonfiction books and watched the National Geographic Rainforest video.

Plan:

➢ We will review characteristics of “I” Poems by revisiting Atlantic by Brian Karas. Heartland by Diane Siebert, and Water Dance by Thomas Locker.

➢ I will make copies of selected pages from all three.

➢ We will look at specific words and talk about how they sound and how they make us feel. We will act out words they don’t clearly understand, such as spiraling. We will draw pictures of words they can’t act out.

➢ The students will work in groups to choose words, which paint pictures, describe smells, sounds and textures and convey actions.

➢ We will write words on specific charts by deciding whether they express sights, sounds, smells, textures or actions.

Mini-Lesson:

➢ After reading several books together about rainforest animals, I will share with them my I Poem about the rainforest. Then I will let them help me select an animal and we will make a list of facts we know about the animal. We will then research any additional information we think we might need and add it to our list. I will use the list and the “I poem” formula to model writing an I Poem, thinking aloud and using input from the students. We will use a Thesaurus to change any boring words.

➢ The class will choose another animal and we will do the necessary research and make individual lists and I will invite them to write their own “I poem” about the animal. We will share our poems with the class and discuss the interesting words and phrases students have used. Again we will use a thesaurus to look up better word choices.

➢ I will then ask students to choose their own animal and we will research the animal by searching books, looking for information on the Internet and using any other resources they might choose. They will each make lists of significant and interesting details about their animal.

➢ I will provide the following invitation and rubric to students.

➢ After students write their poems, I will conference with the students individually and we will compare their poem to the rubric and they will make necessary revisions.

➢ Student will edit drafts for spelling and mechanics during another conferencing session.

➢ I will invite students to illustrate final draft of poem and we will display in a class book. Copies will be made for each student.

You are invited to

become a part of the

Tropical Rainforest .

You will pretend to

be one of your

favorite animals as

you write an I Poem.

What if your favorite rainforest animal could talk? What would he say? What would he want the rest of the world to know?

Now is your chance to speak for him.

Think about the videos we have watched and the books we have read. Use one or two books and look up your animal on the Internet. Make a list of the interesting things you would want us to know if you were that animal. What makes him unique and different from the other animals? Use this information to write an I Poem.

You may use the formula on the chart in the front of the room or you may use one of the other “I Poem” models such as Water Dance by Thomas Locker or Atlantic by Brian Karas.

Rubric

Rainforest I Poems

Mrs. Greene’s Class

| | | | |

| |Yes |No |Possible Points |

| | | | |

|Is your poem about a tropical rainforest animal? | | |25 |

| | | | |

|Did you write in the form of an “I Poem”? | | |25 |

| | | | |

|Does your poem describe your animal using interesting words that | | |25 |

|help us to see, hear and feel? | | | |

| | | | |

|Does your poem have factual interesting information that makes your | | |25 |

|animal different from the other animals? | | | |

RE 5130

Margaret Greene

Description of I Poem Activity

I did this activity with eight third and fourth grade students diagnosed as learning disabled. They are scheduled to be in my room for 45 to 60 minutes a day. We began our study of “I “ Poems by reading aloud Atlantic by Brian Karas and Water Dance by Thomas Locker. It took us several days to read and discuss the books. The students especially loved the word use and pictures in Water Dance. They enjoyed the discussion of the geography and science, which took place as we read both books. I started Heartland, by Diane Sherbet but they didn’t connect with the book and we dropped it.

We had already been talking about the rainforest and reading related books. I read my “I” poem to them about the rainforest. Then I shared with them the research I had done on the okapi. We made a list if facts we had learned about the okapi and then we began to write the “I” Poem together. They were involved in the writing and were happy to use the on line thesaurus to find words which were more interesting and more descriptive.

Everyone was involved.

They were ready to think about writing their own I poems when invited to do so. They were impressed with the invitation. We began by choosing and animal they wanted to learn more about. The books we had read together about the rainforest had given everyone ideas. We began our research by going to the library computer lab and looking the animals up on the Internet. This required four adults because most students had no idea how to start the quest. They also could not read most of the information and needed a teacher to read it with them. They took the information and filled out a fact sheet I had prepared. Most discovered they didn’t have enough information so we planned another trip to the computer lab. This time everyone got the rest of the information they needed.

We began with the first stanza and I wasn’t certain whether we would continue with the final two. I decided to see how the first stanza went. Each worked on his or her stanza alone with me advising. Then they divided into pairs and helped each other. I then conferenced with each student. It was difficult for several to transfer information from the fact sheet to the poem.

I found myself not focusing on word choice nearly as much as just getting responses that made some kind of sense.

After most had an acceptable first stanza, I asked them whether they wanted to do the next two stanzas. They voted to continue. This might have been a mistake because they had a harder time trying to decide what to write than they did with the first stanza. However they seemed to continue to enjoy the process.

After each had completed their poems to their own satisfaction, I typed the poems and they reread and decided to edit further. It was easier for them to see problems with their poems and make changes after they were typed. Then they enjoyed illustrating their poems. Most took great care to illustrate their poems well.

I gave them the questions and read each question aloud with the group. I told them I needed their answers for my class and also to help me decide whether to do this with another group. I told them I wanted their input to know what things I might do differently next time. I was pleased to see they enjoyed the process of creating the I Poem. I will copy their pictures and we will put the original and their poem on the wall in the hall. I will send a copy home with them as they can’t wait to share their work with their parents.

Next I plan to pair them up and have them make some minor modifications to create I Poems for two voices. I think they will enjoy this.

I think maybe the macaw and the cock of the rock for one pair. Then maybe I will put the gorilla and the kinkajou together. The boa and the frog might make a good pair. I’m not certain what to do with the tarantula. The young man who is doing the jaguar has been out sick for a week and a half. It will take him quite a while to finish his I poem. I plan to discuss this with the kids. They may want to divide up very differently and I think they should have their say. After they complete their modifications for the poems for two voices, we will practice reading them aloud and then read them to their regular classrooms.

RE 5130 Example for Students

Margaret Greene

I Poem for Two Voices

Okapi and Giraffe

Stanza One

I am shy and elusive.

I am tall and fast.

And we are cousins. And we are cousins.

I live deep in the rainforest.

Whereas I live in the open grasslands.

I wonder if I can find delicious

fruit.

I wonder if I can reach the tender top

leaves.

I hear the threatening growl of

A jaguar.

I hear the roar of a lion.

I see shadows of humans and

jaguars.

I see a distant herd of elephants.

I want freedom from my

fearsome enemies.

Yet I want freedom from my

fearsome enemies.

I am shy and elusive.

I am tall and fast.

Similarly we are afraid of Similarly we are afraid of great

great cats. cats.

Stanza Two

I always blend into the shadows

when frightened.

On the other hand, I always run

swiftly away from danger.

I pretend I don’t exist so humans

And jaguars won’t see me.

While I pretend my feet have wings.

I feel terrified of unknown sounds.

Yet I feel terrified of enemies spied

from a distance.

I touch my ears with my sticky

tongue.

While I reach out my neck and touch

the tops of trees.

I worry about sneaky slinking

jaguars.

While I worry about ferocious prides

of lions.

I cry when humans capture me. I cry when humans capture me.

I excel at disappearing.

While I excel at running.

I am shy and elusive.

And I am tall and fast.

And we both have cloven hooves. And we both have cloven hooves.

Stanza Three

I understand that the forest is

getting smaller.

While I understand the grasslands

are shrinking.

I say nothing is better than

sweet juicy figs.

Yet I say nothing is better than

tender new leaves.

I am as striped behind as a zebra.

Whereas I am as spotted as a

leopard.

I dream of roaming free without

fear.

But I dream of running free without

. fear.

I try to protect my child by hiding.

While I try to protect my child by

running.

I hope to keep him safe forever. I hope to keep him safe forever.

I was once a baby hiding behind

my mother in the deepest shadows.

Whereas I was once a baby

running alongside my mama.

I am shy and elusive.

I am tall and fast.

And most importantly we are And most importantly we are cousins. cousins.

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