Poetry Project

Poetry Project

Author(s):
Tiffany Crabtree and Melissa Maxwell
(resource of Jody Platt, 5th grade teacher at Towne Meadow Elementary School)

Grade Level:
4th grade

Timeframe:
Students will be given 2 weeks or 10 class days to complete this assignment. Each day, students will have about 50 minutes to read, create, and complete this assignment. This project is to be completed within class and will not require students to complete as homework. Overall, students will be given about 8 hours of class time during these 2 weeks.

Lesson Description or Explanation
Poetry Project: Students will be given the opportunity to read, document, and create poetry from various poets. Students will be given a poetry packet that they will reference to and document the poems that they read throughout the 2 weeks. They will be exposed to various types and genres of poems by teacher instruction and through their own exploration of books provided to them. These books will contain forms of poetry and will be provided by either the school library and/or the teacher’s collection. After reading and documenting at least 20 poems, students will be asked to pick their 5 favorite poems, type responses about these poems, and write their own poems in different styles. They will be asked to write 3 poems in their choice of poem type. This work will be asked to be neatly presented in a PowerPoint presentation. The presentation will allow for other students to view other poems and their classmate’s poems that they created.

Indiana Curricular Standards
Standard 4.5.2: Write responses that: demonstrate an understanding of a literary work and support judgments through references to both the text and prior knowledge.

Standard 4.7.14: Recite brief poems (two or three stanzas long), soliloquies (sections of plays in which characters speak out loud to themselves), or dramatic dialogues, clearly stating words and using appropriate timing, volume, and phrasing.

ISTE Standards
Standard 2: Students practice responsible use of technology systems, information, and software.
Standard 3: Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.

Assessments
Formative/Summative
Poetry Project:
Formative assessment: The poetry packet will provide the students a way to document the poems they read along with the information of where they read this poem (the book, author, page number, etc.) Students will be observed during the 2 weeks in how they interact with the other students and how they conduct themselves when using books, resources, and technology devices in the classroom. In a sense, the poetry packet that the students complete will be a journal that they use and an observation tool for the teacher to view that the students complete. This will primarily be a completion grade.

Summative assessment: The PowerPoint projects will provide assessment of documented poems that are the student’s favorite, their responses to those poems, their vocabulary and word choice in the poems they create themselves, and the overall organization and appearance of PowerPoint. Students will be encouraged to use pictures and fonts that reflect their individual preferences. Furthermore, students will present their PowerPoint presentations to the class, in which the teacher will be able to view all of the requirements and the students’ creativity. Please see the below rubric.

Prior Knowledge
Curricular Knowledge or Skills:
In previous classes, students will be introduced to the concepts of poems. For instance, we will discuss what similes and metaphors are. Descriptive language and the use of voice in their writing will continually be encouraged. In relation, previous works of writing can be the form of pre-assessment to determine the student’s ability to use voice and descriptive language that relate to poetry such as similes and metaphors. We will read poems aloud and in small groups, discussing our responses and examining what the meaning of the poem is.

The class library will have books containing poems and allow students to read many forms of poetry. At the end of each day, the teacher usually reads aloud before students get on the bus; to allow for exposure to poetry, the teacher will read books that contain poems or instead of reading a book, various poems can be read.

Technology Knowledge:
Before this project, students will have many opportunities to use computers in the computer lab or use lab top computers.

Students will be exposed to Microsoft Word by typing and publishing in their previous works of writing throughout the school year.

In regards to the Microsoft PowerPoint program, students should be familiar with creating slideshows due to previous activities with this program. In the beginning of the school year and throughout, students will have an opportunity each week to work at a computer creating their own class picture album in the form of a PowerPoint slideshow. The teacher will use a digital camera throughout the week and capture images of students working in class, completing various activities, and engaging in fun moments at school with teachers and other classmates. After the teacher has captured the images, he/she will upload those images to a class folder and save those images to allow all students to access these pictures. Also, students will be encouraged to add captions to these photos. In addition, scheduled weekly sessions in the computer lab would be ideal because it would give students more knowledge of this application. Ideally, the teacher will be able to explain the Microsoft PowerPoint program and be present during each computer lab session to answer questions while students learn and explore when creating their slideshow.

Technology
Internet Resources: The Giggle Poetry website- http://www.gigglepoetry.com/
This website is primarily for children who are interested in reading different types of poems, especially funny poems.

Hardware: Laptop computers for students to use or computer lab

Software: Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word

Procedure
Prior to this unit, students will have the opportunity to review editing, revising, and the other writing steps during centers that will assist them in their process of creating poems. Students will give examples of various poem types to read and the opportunity to practice writing poems.

Day One:
Students will gather in a community circle, where prior knowledge of poetry and poems will be documented on a KWL chart.
The teacher will read, Oh! The Places You’ll Go (1990) by Dr. Seuss.
After reading the book aloud, the class will discuss the traits of poems. Connections to the read aloud book can help facilitate discussion.
The teacher will distribute poetry packet and briefly explain the contents and answer any initial questions.

Day Two:
Students will gather in community circle with poetry packets. Teacher and students will discuss the process of choosing books to read and then, documenting poems of their choice (author, title of poem, book, page number, personal rating of poem). Also, the topic of how to document the 20 poems they read and how a community of students interacts when reading (quiet voices, being considerate of others when choosing books, sharing, and showing positive attitudes towards each other and the resources).
Students will have time to choose, read, and document poems. For much of this project, students will be encouraged to work independently but also ask questions.

Day Three:
Students will have time to choose, read, and document poems. Today, the goal is to document 10 or more poems.

Day Four:
Students will have time to choose, read, and document poems. Today, the goal today is to document the 5 remaining poems; students should have all 20 poems documented by the end of class. Also, computer laptops will be available for students to use to research poems online with the provided website. If all 20 poems are documented, students can begin typing responses and planning PowerPoint presentation.

Day Five:
Students will be given time to review their poetry packet that contains their 20 poems and choose their 5 favorite poems. They should use their rating of each poem to assist them in their selection.
In community circle, the teacher will explain that responses can be in forms of explaining the author’s message in your own words, make a connection, write a question, share emotions that you felt while reading the poem, etc. Students will be encouraged to communicate other responses and ask questions during class discussion. Their responses do not have a required length but will be encouraged to be about a paragraph.
After community circle, students will be given computer laptops or be taken to the computer lab where they will type their responses to their 5 favorite poems.
These responses will be saved in a Microsoft Word document and then, can be transferred to their PowerPoint slideshow.

Day Six (First day of the Second Week):
In community circle, the teacher will refer to the remaining pages in their poetry packet to explain the different forms of poems and give examples. Students will have an opportunity to view these examples in their packets and ask questions.
Students will be given the remainder of class time to write their own poems. They need to write at least 3 poems; the can choose which forms they prefer. Their poems can be written on pieces of paper and then typed onto a slide in their slideshow.

Day Seven:
In community circle, the teacher will have a lap top and explain how the students can COPY AND PASTE their responses from a Microsoft Word document to a slide in their PowerPoint presentations. The teacher will explain that their slideshows should contain their 5 responses and their 3 poems that they created. If they would like, they may add more slides.
Students will be given time to complete their responses and begin planning their PowerPoint presentation slideshow.
The teacher will circulate around the classroom assisting students who are working with laptops and need help with developing their presentations.
Students will also have the opportunity to finish writing their own poems.

Day Eight:
In community circle, the teacher will clarify the expectations for their PowerPoint slideshows. Students will have an opportunity to view the rubric for their slideshow- Please see below. Students should create a slideshow with the following:
First slide: name, date, and creativity that reflects the student
Second slide- Sixth slide: their 5 responses (COPY AND PASTE)
Seventh slide- Ninth slide: the 3 poems they created
Any additional slides
The remainder of class time will be filled with editing, writing, and organizing their poetry project.

Day Nine:
Today’s agenda will allow students to have almost a complete hour of finishing their poetry projects; more editing, writing, and organizing.

Day Ten:
Today is the presentation day. Their presentations will be encouraged to be about 2 to 3 minutes in length to allow for other classmates to present as well.
The teacher will ask for volunteers to present first; then, she will draw names to choose students to present.

Differentiated Instruction
ESL
For ESL students, poetry packets will be provided in Spanish. Information and expectations of the poetry project will be presented in many forms including the use of previous examples of students’ work, the organizer in the poetry packet for documentation, and many illustrations for students to visually understand. Any books that contain poems written in Spanish or a poet of Spanish decent will also be provided.

Teachers will be able to use the following website as a tool to translate the poetry packet and any directions: http://translation2.paralink.com/

Challenge/Extend
For those students who are completing the project quickly, they will be encouraged to complete an additional aspect of the project.

First, they will have the choice to read more poems and explore books.

The additional aspect of this project will allow students to analyze the poems they have read and to compare/ contrast certain poems and poets. Students will be encouraged to develop a chart that compare/contrast 2 poems.

In addition, students may research a poet’s life history which may give some insight in how that poet developed and wrote poetry.

Special Needs
In order to modify this lesson for students with special needs, many variations can be provided. For instance, a student who is deaf may benefit from a poetry packet that has picture cards that will communicate what is expected. Also, provided information in Braille may assist students in understanding the project. Teachers may need to familiarize themselves with the Microsoft program called the On-screen Keyboard which gives accessibility to type using a pointing device or joystick if using a traditional keyboard is not possible.

The final poetry project can be adapted for those who may not be able to use or have extreme difficulty using a computer. For example, students can produce a complete oral presentation in which they recite their favorite poetry and responses to the class. Perhaps students would like to perform a piece of poetry in a dramatic performance, such as a dance, song, or theatre like act.

Furthermore, the time period of this project may be adapted for longer portions or the expectations could be shortened. Instead of completing 5 poem responses and creating 3 poems, students may be asked to respond to 2 or 3 poems and create only 1 poem themselves. Students could be allowed to complete this project during other instructional time or work with a peer buddy to create a project together.

Tiffany Crabtree and Melissa Maxwell

Rubric for Poetry Project

Poetry packet: based on completion (20 points)

PowerPoint Presentation:
-First slide: name, date, creativity (5 points)
-Second slide- Sixth slide: five responses to their five favorite poems read (25 points)
-Seventh slide-Ninth slide: 3 poems created (15 points)
-Vocabulary: descriptive language, word choice, similes, metaphors are used in poems created (10 points)
-Overall appearance: each slide is neat and organized; images are colorful (10 points)
-Effort/Attitude: Does this project show a significant amount of work? Do your poems express who you are and what you are interested in? Throughout this project, were you actively engaged and considerate of others and resources provided? (15 points)

Total: 100 points