Description
What our Poetry lesson plan includes
Lesson Objectives and Overview: Poetry introduces young students to the world of poetry with an overview of different types of poetry and their histories. At the end of the lesson, students will be able to define and recognize poetry, as well as write and read a poem to an audience. This lesson is for students in 3rd grade and 4th grade.
Classroom Procedure
Every lesson plan provides you with a classroom procedure page that outlines a step-by-step guide to follow. You do not have to follow the guide exactly. The guide helps you organize the lesson and details when to hand out worksheets. It also lists information in the yellow box that you might find useful. You will find the lesson objectives, state standards, and number of class sessions the lesson should take to complete in this area. In addition, it describes the supplies you will need as well as what and how you need to prepare beforehand. The supplies you will need for this lesson include colored pencils, scratch paper, internet access, construction paper, and the handouts. To prepare for this lesson ahead of time, you can gather the supplies, copy the handouts, find a short story and poem for the lesson opening, and set a time for Poetry Reading Day.
Options for Lesson
Included with this lesson is an “Options for Lesson” section that lists a number of suggestions for activities to add to the lesson or substitutions for the ones already in the lesson. One optional addition is to have students create invitations for your Poetry Reading Day and give them to their friends or family members. Students can also read a short poem from a book or the internet in addition to their original poems. You can also add additional types of poems for the students to write for the practice worksheet and can visit the site linked in the lesson to show students their options for additional types of poems to try writing.
Teacher Notes
The teacher notes page includes a paragraph with additional guidelines and things to think about as you begin to plan your lesson. It notes that this lesson only includes a small amount of the available information about poetry and the different kinds of poems, and that it’s a good idea to explore and include additional resources. This page also includes lines that you can use to add your own notes as you’re preparing for this lesson.
POETRY LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES
Poetry
The Poetry lesson plan includes three content pages. The lesson begins by asking students if they’ve ever heard the phrase “you’re a poet and don’t know it” before. This phrase rhymes, but not all poetry rhymes. There are many forms of poetry that don’t rhyme. Poetry is a form of writing that expresses feelings and ideas using different styles and rhythms. The rhythm of a poem creates the feeling that you get when someone reads the poem. Poems are made up of words that express those feelings or ideas.
Poets write poetry. If you write a poem, you are a poet. Just like there are authors of books who write books their whole lives, there are poets who write poetry for their whole lives. One example of a famous poet is Shel Silverstein, who wrote children’s books. The lesson includes an excerpt from one of his poems. One way to learn to write poetry is to read it! All poems, whether they are famous or not, express feelings and ideas in a special and unique way.
To write poetry, you follow many of the same rules as you do when writing anything else. However, some forms or formats of poetry have special rules. Some poems, for example, have no capital letters or punctuation, and that’s fine! The lesson includes an excerpt from a poem by E. E. Cummings as an example of this.
Some poems are very long and some are very short. There are four main things to think about when you want to write poetry. The lesson includes an example poem that takes you through all of these steps and stages.
First, you should brainstorm some ideas. What do you want to write about? Think about if you have specific feelings about anything that you’d like to express. Are there ideas that you like? Sometimes, coming up with a subject to write poetry about can be one of the hardest parts!
Next, you should write down what you want to say in plain, normal sentences. From there, you can take out extraneous words and add some new words in. You can also begin trying to rhyme at this point, if you want your poem to rhyme.
Next, think about comparisons, personification, and other creative writing tools that you can use. You can be a part of the poem, make yourself the object of the poem, or try to feel the emotions that the poem is trying to express. Using your imagination here is vital!
Lastly, make note of the changes from the first version to the final version. Writing poetry takes time. Not all poetry has to be great! It you are happy with it, that’s enough and that’s what makes it a great poem.
The lesson then suggests some potential titles for the example poem that they include. When you write a poem, you also get to come up with a title! Some poems don’t have titles at all. It’s up to you to decide what you want to do with your own poetry.
The more you learn about poetry, the more equipped you will be to write your own poems. The skills you learn from writing poetry will help you be a better overall writer as well!
The lesson closes with a list of quick poetry tips. They include: let the poem lead you; rhyme or don’t rhyme; use lively verbs; use interesting words; write what you like; write freely, it can change; don’t start writing it like it is a poem, just write; experiment with the words; it can be fun or serious, happy o sad, short or long; take breaks, have fun; and do your best!
POETRY LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS
The Poetry lesson plan includes two worksheets: an activity worksheet and a practice worksheet. You can refer to the guide on the classroom procedure page to determine when to hand out each worksheet.
WRITE A POEM ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
The activity worksheet asks students to write an original poem for Poetry Reading Day. They can choose the type and subject of their poem, but the teacher must approve both. Students should be creative and original. They will brainstorm ideas and write a rough draft of the poem, which the teacher will review. Once approved, they will copy the final draft of their poem on a piece of construction paper, being as neat as they can be. They will also include drawings or images. They will also practice reading their poem aloud. The students will read their poems out loud at the class Poetry Reading Day. Students will invite family members to attend.
Students are also provided with a list of some questions to help them brainstorm ideas for their poem. These questions include “What are some things you like to do or are interested in?” and “Are there things you like to write about?”. They can also discuss potential topic ideas with a friend.
Students may work in pairs for this activity under special circumstances, but each student should write their own poem.
POETRY PRACTICE WORKSHEET
For the practice worksheet, students will write three different kinds of poems: an acrostic poem, a color poem, and an I Wish poem. Each type includes specific instructions for how to write that kind of poem.
Worksheet Answer Keys
This lesson plan does not include any answer keys, as students will write original poems for both, and their poems will vary.
