Poetry is one form of authentic writing because it allows the writer to express his/her thoughts creatively and in verse. During the latter part of the school year, my students study poetry in order to enhance and/or develop their skills when writing poetry. The unit is designed to cover the meaning of poetry, elements of poetry, alliteration and onomatopoeia, similes and metaphors, ballads, chants, sonnets, limericks, cinquains, haiku's, acrostics, and famous poets. After the student's have covered all needed information, the class begins the start of the end by participating in a seminar focused on a particular poem/poet (I used "Dream Variation" by Langston Hughes). At the end of the unit, the student's produce a "book of poetry" which consists of five poems (typically limerick, cinquain, haiku, acrostic, and one of their choice). Once the books have been completed, they are shared in the form of a "coffehouse." There is also an unit test available if one would like to check for understanding in this form.
The definition for poetry is the art of expressing ones thoughts in verse. The elements of poetry discussed in this unit is meter and rhythm.
This part of the unit is taught on the first day and is used as an introduction to the unit. About half of the class time is spent discussing the meaning of poetry, why people read poetry, and how poetry appeals to our senses(Imagery is also discussed). When teaching this part, I typically use the discussion time to get a feel for how much the students know and understand about poetry before we begin the unit. The second half of class is used to provide examples of poetry while asking comprehension questions after reading the samples to see how well the students are able to analyze a piece of poetry. We also view examples of poetry to identify different meter and rhythm.
At the conclusion of class, students
would be instructed to complete a sample of Alliteration by taking the
first letter of their names (first and last) and constructing an alliterative
sentence. They would also need to write two sentences using Onomatopoeia.
These assignments would be used as entrance slips to the next class.
One may also opt to allow students to share their work on a voluntary basis.
Back
to top
This is often taught as a review because the student's learned the meaning and definition previously. I enjoy this part because students are able to have some fun with the excercises. The definitions are reviewed (Similie-figure of speech which points out the likeness between two different objects using like or as as connecting words; Metaphor-figure of speech like the simile, but so strong that the connector word is dropped). After the review of the definition, the class discusses examples using open-floor discussion. The students then complete an activity involving similes where they answer questions surrounding their personality. The students are required to complete the activity before leaving class, and must bring back five examples of metaphors in order to be admitted to the next class.
The bulk of my teaching seems to be spent here because this is where the students tend to have the most difficulty. The first thing, of course, is to define what a ballad is (poem that tells a story and is sometimes like a song). We read together several examples and discuss the meaning of the ballad, rhythm, stanzas, and imagery used in each example. You may choose to ask more comprehensive questions at your discretion of the text. After ballads, we would then discuss chants and their heritage, and I would use the same techinique with teaching this as I did with ballads.
Sonnets would follow and this section
would involve a greater discussion probably because the students would
need to understand how to differentiate a sonnet from other poems
of poetry. Sonnets are poems having fourteen lines and definite meter
and rhyme. The first eight lines of an Italian sonnet express the
theme and the last six lines comment on the theme, making a total of fourteen
lines. You might want to discuss some famous poets who used sonnets
like Dante, Petrarch, and Shakespeare. One might include that the
sonnet was borrowed from Italy and was later named the English Sonnet by
Shakespeare. The English sonnet has three four-line stanzas, followed
by a two-line stanza called a couplet (discuss couplets and triplets
here and have students practice writing some), the lines of which rhyme.
After the discussion and provide students with samples and discuss the
samples. You might want to prepare some questions for the students
to answer at the end as an assignment to check for understanding.
Back
to top
The limerick is a humorous, nonsense verse consisting of a triplet and couplet, which results in the person creating a five line poem. Often, limericks begins with "There once was" or "There was a" and ends with the name of a person. Lines 1, 2, 5 are the triplet and rhyme; lines 3, 4 form a rhyming couplet.
The cinquain is described as the following: the first line consists of one word, the second line of two words describing the first line, the third line shows an action with three words, the fourth line has four words that convey a feeling, and the the fifth line is word that refers back to the first line.
These two forms are typically taught by describing the process, reviewing some examples, completing activities in class, and having the students write samples of each. The activities are simple and consists of the students completing sample starters.
A Haiku is composed of three lines totaling seventeen syllables. Line 1: 5 syllables, Line 2: 7 syllables, Line 3: 5 syllables.
Acrostic poems differ from other poetry in that the first letter of each line spells a word which can be read vertically. The rhyme scheme and number of lines may vary in acrostic poems because it is more of a descriptive poem in which one describes the word being spelled.
These two forms of poetry happen to be my personal favorites. I enjoy teaching these types because they are fun, the students become more energetic, it gives the class an opportunity to be creative, and it allows the students a time to share with each other. These are often taught with the same format as the previous forms. At the end of class, the students are required to produce one Haiku and one Acrostic poem as homework and this works as an entrance slip to the next class.
After the students have studied the gist of poetry, the class focuses on famous poets as the start to the end of their unit. We look at different poets and their work; particularly American poets, and discuss the pieces through class discussion. Selections vary from class to class, and from teacher to teacher-based on individual preferences, although we do study Langston Hughes each year. This study prepares the students for participation in a seminar.
Here is a list of links that might be of interest to explore. They cover daily poetry, lesson plans, and writing ideas. Hope you enjoy!
http://www.geocities.com/cponykid/pages/lessons2.html
http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/5165/index1.html
http://www.gigglepoetry.com/contests.html
http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/spotlight.htm
This is an awesome website with
a full unit available with all sorts of links within itself.
http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/14oct99/teach4.html