Lesson Plan 2, Phase 1: Write Up/Time and Action

Lesson Plan - Blog Phase 2

I. RATIONALE:

My reason for dedicating my entire three lessons to the concept of poetry is mostly due to my personal love for it (and inherent lack of it found in education in the present day), as well as the professional, research based rationale as follows:

“Poetry enables teachers to teach their students how to write, read, and understand any text. Poetry can give students a healthy outlet for surging emotions. Reading original poetry aloud in class can foster trust and empathy in the classroom community, while also emphasizing speaking and listening skills that are often neglected in high school literature classes.

Students who don’t like writing essays may like poetry, with its dearth of fixed rules and its kinship with rap. For these students, poetry can become a gateway to other forms of writing. It can help teach skills that come in handy with other kinds of writing—like precise, economical diction, for example. When Carl Sandburg writes, “The fog comes/on little cat feet,” in just six words, he endows a natural phenomenon with character, a pace, and a spirit. All forms of writing benefits from the powerful and concise phrases found in poems.”

Sources:

Conjuring the Spirit: Victorian Poetry, Culture, and Technology

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/vp/summary/v041/41.4linley.html

and

Why Teaching Poetry is So Important

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/04/why-teaching-poetry-is-so-important/360346/

I based this lesson off of the specific  Arizona College and Career Ready Standards. This lessons covers standards from the subjects of Technology. This particularly relevant standard is listed below.

II. OVERVIEW

Grade Level: 3rd Grade

Subject(s): Writing/English

Topic of Study: Poetry Unit

Time Allotment: Elaboration/Exploration, 30 Minutes

Standards: Writing standards Strand 3: Writing Applications. Concept 1: Expressive

Expressive writing includes personal narratives, stories, poetry, songs, and dramatic pieces. Writing may be based on real or imagined events.

PO 2. Write in a variety of expressive forms (e.g., poetry, skit) that may employ:

• figurative language
• rhythm
• dialogue
• characterization
• plot
• appropriate format

Objectives:

• Students will be able to identify the major different types/formats of Poetry appropriate to their age and expand on the first lesson’s topics. With review, we will activate their prior knowledge.

• SBWAT Be able to read the poetry they previously researched aloud and briefly identify rhyming words/patterns to recite it properly aloud.

• Students will look in depth at the structure of the wording and phonics of poetry, and practice using online tools to begin creating their own.
  
• Students will gain a generalized idea/introduction to poetry and at least a simple definition of what it is to lead them into the final week’s one hour lesson, in which they write a poem themselves, share with the group, and then play a large wrap-up game to re-instill their knowledge they’ve gained and allow me to assess.
  But for now, this second part following up with the introduction to poetry in the first round, and my second lesson will pull them more in depth to the structure of poems/ rhyming/etc.

Reflection: Assessing Prior Knowledge and Planning Instruction Students, prior to this lesson, just like before, will need to know how to read, and hold conversation with the teacher. It helps if they have experience in listening and speaking english, and have heard poetry or rhyming words before. Prior knowledge and experience be assessed verbally through reflecting on what happened during the last lesson. Students will HAVE to have participated in my first introductory lesson in order to follow along with and understand this second section. I will use this information in the planning process to help me determine the level that my students are at, and adjust how the rest of my two lessons of this three part unit will go. This will allow me to see what students will need more work on, paired with the data I receive from the closing activity. The content should be taught at this grade level because along with it being a specific standard, the students at age 8 and 9 will be old enough to grasp the abstract concepts that poetry embodies, and allows them to be creative in their own way. The objectives that I have for the lesson DO align with the standards because poetry is a direct standard for third graders in creative writing, along with other things! The lesson be taught in the course of the school year near the beginning, towards mid semester. This is because poetry is a big concept that can be learned at the start of the school year, and carry them through the rest of it-- while implementing other creative writing tools along the way, so by the end they will have a collection of their multiple types of works combining with technology, other forms of creative writing, and other positive skills which can build off of.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

Procedure:

-Open up with activating prior knowledge and talking about what they remember about types of poetry from before. Do you remember what the first type of poetry is? Hint it had to do with religion! Hymnals! Do you recall what you did last time?

-Have students open links found at the bottom of the page leading them to their past work. Read these aloud again, practicing the techniques they learned last time. Pace themselves, take deep breath before, and think about which words need emphasis.

• “Today, we are going to start diving into creating our own poetry, instead of just reading other people’s poetry!”
• Modeling: I will read them a poem that I wrote myself in high school-- to show them how to properly pace themselves and let them pick up on the rhyming pattern.

To Teach is to Learn

By: Amber Malinski

The first day I came to your class to teach,

I wasn't sure what to expect

But it only took moments for me to realize

It was a time that I'd never forget.

What I once never recognized

I would come to live through you each day

I took the narrow minded world in my hands

and saw it a much different way.

I wish they could see you've got feelings too

--their words hurt, and those stares make you sad

So I made it my goal to make you all see

Being different is a good thing, not bad!

Your needs may be special compared to the rest

but 'Disability' is just a mean word,

It's up to you to decide how your future goes

let your smiles and voices be heard!

Sure Life is difficult, and nothing comes free

but look at what hard work can do

And if others tell you, “no” or “you cant”,

Please, let that inspire you--

--to reach for the stars, and shoot for the moon

Be happy, and don't give up your plan!

Every day that you're alive is success

Prove them wrong, and show them you can!

So, people can tell you what they think,

but you can do all that you dream

and I say you're perfect just how you are,

You're capable of more than you seem.

I knew that I'd leave your class with a change,

but I feel as if I've started over new

and as you move on, stay strong, and grow up--

I Wish the best to every one of you

Though my time here seems short, I thank you so much

For becoming my friends, and host

You tell me I've taught you so very much

But I was the one who learned most.

• Discuss what they thought about it or liked about my poem! Do they think it's applicable to them as future teachers? How did it make them feel? What type of poem would they say each is?

• Talk about the types of words which constitute a poem (See poem generator at thinkzone) have them click through a few times to randomly generate poem pieces of their own design-- to get a feel of what it’s like to create a poem since they will be making one later on. Screenshot their favorite “silly/nonsense” generation. (10-15 mins)
  
• Talk through what each of these words in the columns have in common and use context clues to determine what each “type” of word means along with coming up with examples of each.
  Define:
  Concrete Nouns
  Abstract Nouns
  Transitive Verbs
  Intransitive Verbs
  Adjectives
  Adverbs
  Interjections
• After exploration, move onto second link and have each student play with the poem generator-- and guide them through creating an example of their favorite form of poetry. This is also what they will them screenshot later on and send to me, along with first link.

Technology Integration:

Teacher will be guiding students through the process of using online tools such as  (http://thinkzone.wlonk.com/PoemGen/PoemGen.htm)  

and

(http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/poetry_engine.htm#)

to view the different types of poetry and online generators to later create their own. Youtube videos will also be implemented to have students hear the difference between the patterns of rhyming and non-rhyming poetry.

Differentiated Instruction: Describe how you will differentiate the instruction for each of the following:

• Gifted- Allow students on top of what’s given to perform their own independent study and put together a “poetry journal”, a collection with table of contents with their favorite types of the poetry we covered, and then some! Allow them to share with teacher and class their findings.

• ELL - Simplify the types of poetry used to avoid confusion with big words. Keep level of poem close to grade level and avoid complicated patterns such as olde English, anything Shakespeare, etc.

• Cognitive delay- Students will be able to work in pairs discussing the types of poetry. Will break into think-pair-share groups with the person next to them and walk each other through their thought process.

Reflection: Designing Instruction (InTask Standards 7 and 8): Why are you using the instructional methods you have described? I'm using these particular instructional methods to help students be more hands on with poetry than in my last lesson. While the first time around was an introduction and students only got a brief taste of the structural layout of what makes different types of poetry work, this time they are allowed to explore on their own with my guidance! This is my attempt at scaffolding, in hopes that by the ending one hour lesson, they will be able to travel off on their own and produce their own poetry from scratch. But this middle lesson in the three lesson poetry unit I've designed offers them a way to create their own with generators and integrate different types of technology to help them become more independent. How do the instructional methods align with what you know about best practices (think about your methods classes)? As I mentioned before, what I'm practicing directly here is scaffolding and guided practice for my students. This follows just about every successful format for lesson plan writing that I've talked about in my methods classes so far and allows me as the teacher to get a grasp of where my student are with the material before I allow them to branch off entirely on their own. I start off providing a lot of support, then slowly back away allowing them to take control themselves-- scaffolding! How are you engaging students in creative and higher order thinking? I've engaged my students in creative/higher order thinking by not only asking their opinions about the poetry pieces that were read (my poem) but WHY they think it made them feel the way that it did. My words, and the words of other poems, have made them feel emotions, but why do they think that is? This gets them engaged in thinking about the emotion and purpose behind what is being written, which will hopefully then reflect into their own writing! Every word should have a purpose.

IV. ASSESSMENT

Procedure:

-Day Two Assessment: I will collect screenshots of their favorite generated poems! (Have students play with the tool and determine their favorite one, then teach them how to take their own screenshot and paste it into an email to send to me for digital artifact evidence) Additionally, I will collect screenshots in the same manner for what they come up with within their poetry idea engine finds.

- I also will determine whether the students have success in meeting the standards and objectives of the lesson through non-traditional means. There will be no pencil and paper quizzes--  but at the tail end of the entire 3 part lesson series, our big assessment will include learning to create and use iMovie, and have them write their own types of poetry as a class, and then independently with some prompt ideas to film in recitation.

• The artifacts which will be assessed in hard copy within the branches of this second lesson once the students write and generate a poem of their own. Informal assessment for this will mainly fall on if the students are participating, actively engaged, and are making attempts to identify and guess the forms of poetry presented and utilizing the tools I provided them. As an instructor, this should be easy to monitor to see if they understand what is going on.

• Opener: Have students re-read the poetry/hymnals from the last lesson to activate their prior knowledge and practice applying the reading techniques they heard in my examples and video examples to read it more accurately.

Instruments:

Rubric (to be used later on when writing poetry themselves): http://csrms.pasco.k12.fl.us/wp-content/uploads/csrms/2013/04/Poetry-Rubric.png

Reflection: Planning Assessment (InTask Standard # 6): How does the assessment align with the standards and objectives of this lesson? My assessment, I feel, aligns a lot better with my standards and objectives for this lesson than my last one. In my first lesson, I only had a little bit of research as my digital artifact for each student regarding their hymnals and what they found would be a good example of ancient forms of poetry. This time around, my screenshots and links were of actual poetry formation they created themselves through the generator, which helped promote technology integration and personal creativity much stronger. How does the assessment demonstrate that the students have been successful in learning the content? My assessment has demonstrated that the students are successful in the content this time around because they accurately identified all of the columns in the poem generator: Concrete Nouns, Abstract Nouns, Transitive Verbs, Intransitive Verbs Adjectives, Adverbs, and Interjections along with examples. Then they integrated them successfully into a cohesive poem piece that they enjoyed. How does the assessment demonstrate student engagement in higher order thinking? How does the assessment demonstrate that individual student needs were met?

IIV. MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

This diagram will prove useful when breaking down the structure of poetry and determining the difference between these and narrative pieces which we are all familiar with.

-Only necessary materials will be their computer, everything will be completed via software or online programs (although if they wish, students may take notes or jot down ideas for their poems on lined paper.)

-Necessary links:

• Poem Generator 1: (http://thinkzone.wlonk.com/PoemGen/PoemGen.htm)

• Poem Generator 2: (http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/poetry_engine.htm#)

Links to prior Work (Hymnals):

Renee’s Link: http://www.songandpraise.org/here-comes-the-bride-wedding-march.htm

Kiersten’s Link: http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/n/n143.html

Pat’s Link: http://www.allmusic.com/album/cool-hymns-for-kids-mw0001024934

Reflection: How does your lesson meet each of the ISTE NETs Standards? How does your lesson meet Standard 1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity ? How does your lesson meet Standard 2: Provide Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments? How does your lesson meet Standard 3: Model Digital-Age Work & Learning? How does your lesson Meet all four elements of Standard 4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility by: advocating, modeling, and teaching safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources. addressing the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources. promoting and modeling digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information. developing and modeling cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital-age communication and collaboration tools.