Poetry and Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse, Ellington Was Not A Street and The Spider and the Fly.

Lesson Plan: Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse, Ellington Was Not A Street and The Spider and the Fly.

Teacher: English teacher

Subject Area: Poetry

Grade: Fourth

California State Standard:

Students deliver brief recitations and oral presentations about familiar experiences or interests that are organized around a coherent thesis statement. Student speaking demonstrates a command of standard American English and the organizational and delivery strategies outlined in Listening and Speaking Standard 1.0.

Using the speaking strategies of grade four outlined in Listening and Speaking Standard 1.0, students:

2.4 Recite brief poems (i.e., two or three stanzas), soliloquies, or dramatic dialogues, using clear diction, tempo, volume, and phrasing.

Name of lesson: Writing poetry

Overview:

Students learn to express themselves through poetry

Students learn how to write their own poetry

Students learn about different types of poems

Description:

In small groups, students focus on an assigned piece of poetry (Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse, Ellington Was Not A Street or The Spider and the Fly) and write a collaborative poem to present to the class. Following the recitation, one student shows the illustrations to the class and explains a couple of key ideas. Then each student tells the class what they liked most about the assigned book/poem.

Time needed for lesson:

90 minutes

Procedure:

Lesson one

Teacher reads Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse, Ellington Was Not A Street and The Spider and the Fly to the class. Then divides the classes into small groups and assigning the group one of these books. The group discusses the book and the particular poem.

Lesson two

The students write a collaborative poem. Themes can be assigned (fairytale, memoir, or cautionary) or students can to choose from a theme.

Lesson three

Groups add illustrations to the poems.

Lesson four

In the assigned small groups, students recite and show their poems to the class. Illustrations are explained. Each student in the group tells the class what each he/she liked the most about the book/poem and which was his/her favorite poem of the three. Students are invited to ask questions to the group.

Alternative lesson:

Independent poems (students write their own poems)

Materials:

Simple art materials

Printouts of the full-length poems for each student OR

Project the three poems on board OR

Write the three poems on the board

Plain paper

Closure:

Teacher congratulates the class for becoming poets and for being brave enough to present their original works.

Student Evauluation:

Student writes a poem

Student recites the poem

Extension of lesson: Students keep a poetry journal for a week and continue to write in it nightly.

Field trip: Students go outside to observe the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations of nature. Then after the experience, the students write a poem about nature or the environment.