Music Without the Melody

By Jennifer Chandler

The key to teaching a successful poetry unit is to make the learning experience relevant to the students. Although using well-written lyrics as examples of poetry is a good idea, this does not necessarily insinuate teaching the lyrics to a pop song. Allowing students to explore elements of poetry within structures of their comfort level affords an enriching academic experience. The following poetry unit is developmentally appropriate for elementary through high school students while infusing traditional methodology with fresh, motivating strategies.

OBJECTIVE
Students will:

Identify the elements of a poem: form, rhyme scheme, author’s purpose, speaker, and mood of the poem
Identify author’s purpose in writing a poem
Establish a personal strategy for analyzing poetry
Evaluate poetry to form an opinion of personal preference of poetic style
Identify the theme of a set of poems

LESSONS FOR THIS UNIT
Lesson 1: Stanza Shopping
Lesson 2: Classify by Topic

REPRODUCIBLES
Become a Telescope (PDF)

CULMINATING ACTIVITY

Students will complete a poetry portfolio to demonstrate acquired learning objectives during the unit. This portfolio may include the writing activity from Lesson Two and other critiques of poems, including some student-chosen poetry.

SUPPORTING BOOKS

Books for Teaching Poetry

Teacher Store

The Teacher Store

Stepping Sideways Into Poetry Writing: Practical Lessons

A practicing poet who works in schools shares poetry lessons that ease teachers and students into writing poetry. The fun, friendly exercises include writing riddle poems, fractured fairy tale poems, vegetable-and-me poems, and many others. Each lesson includes a model poem, a warm-up activity, and knock- out ideas for performance and publishing. Line breaks, white space, dramatic monologue, writing from the heart-it's all covered. 144 pages.

$19.99
Professional Book | Grades 3-6

Stepping Sideways Into Poetry Writing: Practical Lessons

Grades 3-6 $19.99

Teacher Store

The Teacher Store

Graphic Organizers for Teaching Poetry Writing

by Betsy Franco

Simplify and take the guesswork out of teaching poetry with these graphic organizers and step-by-step lessons. Model poems and lessons help students learn about the characteristics and structures of poetry forms such as haiku, limericks, and acrostics. Motivating graphic organizers, tailored to each poetry form, guide them in planning, and then writing their own poems. Includes ideas for building fluency and comprehension, extension activities, and a concise summary of recent best-practice rese

$13.99
Professional Book | Grades 1-3

Graphic Organizers for Teaching Poetry Writing

Grades 1-3 $13.99

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