Unit Activities
Because I designed this unit to be a yearlong endeavor, it is imperative that it becomes a part of the school routine as soon as possible. I plan to introduce "Poetry Days" during the first week of school and explain that this is something we will do all year long, twice a month, on Thursdays and Fridays.
In order to avoid being redundant in sharing the unit activities, there are a few things that will be part of the procedure for each lesson. First, all lessons will begin by gathering the children on the carpet, most often in a circle. During Read-Aloud activities, I will always be in a chair to enable a clear view of the pages or the "sweep and return" when I am reading from large print reproductions of poems. At the conclusion of most activities, the work of the children will be displayed either in the hall or the Poet's Corner. Once per quarter, I will give each child an opportunity to choose items from their work products to be filed in his or her writing portfolio. Finally, even if not explicitly referred to, all lessons will end with everyone gathering again on the carpet for a time of debriefing and sharing of either work products or personal reflections.
September Couplets
September is the month for introducing "Poetry Days." The introduction will be followed by nursery rhymes and phonemic activities, both of which may serve as informal readiness indicators, depending upon your needs.
Introduction and Nursery Rhymes, Day I - I will introduce the concept of "Poetry Days" along with its two lesson, twice a month structure. We will talk about what a poem is, and how it is different from a regular book or story. I will explain that the kinds of poems will we listen to, talk about, and write may include rhyme, interesting sounds, and nonsense. I will clarify any questions students might have about what we will be doing on "Poetry Days." I will then start things off by reciting a few nursery rhymes, in English and Spanish, and asking if anyone would like to share nursery rhymes they might know. After a time of sharing and discussion, I'll end this lesson by asking students to think about nursery rhymes they might like to learn and recite.
Nursery Rhymes, Day II - I'll begin Part II by reviewing the previous lesson. We will share some of our favorite nursery rhymes, then narrow those down to three or four choices. The children will choose a nursery rhyme to memorize and recite. We will break into small groups, each with an adult or fifth grade helper, to aid in memorizing the rhymes. At the end of class, children will be given the opportunity to recite part or all of their chosen nursery rhyme.
Mouths & Mirrors, Day I - This is a phonemic segmentation exercise where children will practice separating words into their individual sounds while looking in a mirror to observe the shapes and movements of mouth, lips, and tongue. On Day I, we will begin with volunteers reciting the nursery rhyme they learned a few weeks ago. I will then explain the importance of the sound of the words being correct. As a large group, we will practice segmenting words orally, phoneme by phoneme. After practicing this, I will pass out small mirrors. We will go through the alphabet, letter by letter, practicing proper sound formation while watching the movements of our mouths in the mirrors.
Mouths & Mirrors, Day II - We will practice phoneme segmentation using the mirrors in small groups. The children in each group will choose a single word for a "word poem." Each child will pronounce a phoneme for their chosen word - one sound for each child in the group. I'll take a picture of each child making his or her sound. I'll print the photos and place them in order on some colored paper. We'll post them in the hall to challenge passersby to figure out the words by "reading lips." Under each photo will be a flap with the letter for the sound underneath, so the "lip readers" can check their answers.
October Couplets
October is the month for mystery and "scary" poems. The first couplet explores sensory poems with first attempts at onomatopoeia through word play, invented spelling, some hands-on investigation followed by creating visual poems. The second couplet examines the nonsense, sense, sound, and rhyme of Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky."
Mystery Boxes, Day I - I will prepare several small, sealed boxes with a variety of objects in them, i.e. jingle bells, seashells, rice, feathers, stones, paperclips, buttons, etc. I will invite the children to manipulate the boxes any way they like - shaking them, turning them, anything they can think of to affect the sound coming from inside the box. The children will create a word for the sounds they hear, either on their own or with the aid of a helper. Invented spelling for the "noise" words will be encouraged. I will gather the children as a large group to share their new words. I'll list the words, and in a think-aloud, we will create a group poem using the sound words that were generated.
Mystery Boxes, Day II - In the next lesson, I will ask the children to predict what is inside each box. One by one, we will open the boxes. After all the boxes are open and the items have been revealed, the children will choose a sheet of colored paper and arrange the objects from the boxes to make a "visual" poem. I will photograph the visual poems and print them for sharing. As the children share their visual poems, I will ask each child to title their poem and answer this question, "If your poem had words, what would it say?" Their response will be posted with the visual poem.
Jabberwocky, Day I - I will gather the class to discuss Halloween and why we like it. I will explain that there are a lot of "scary" poems we can listen to at Halloween, but my favorite is "Jabberwocky." At this point, I will read the poem - with no illustrations. After reading, I will ask "What is the poem about?" After several responses, I will ask, "How can you tell? The poem has a lot of made-up, nonsense words in it." I will read it again, placing emphasis on the nonsense words and the "monstrous" parts. Then, we will discuss several of the nonsense words and assign our best guess at the meaning of some of the words by context and the way the words sounded.
By this point, if the students haven't figured out that the Jabberwock is a monster, I'll steer the discussion in that direction. We'll talk about "monsters" a bit, assuring the class that monsters come from the imagination and are not real. I will ask the students to imagine what the Jabberwock looks like. I will list their responses on the board or chart paper. I will explain that many people over the years have also imagined what the Jabberwock looks like. Then using an LCD projector, I'll show 10 to 15 artists' images of the Jabberwock found on the internet, as well as hard copy illustrations from various books. Then, I will read the Christopher Myers version of "Jabberwocky" to illustrate how creative people can use their imaginations to make something unique.
Jabberwocky, Day II - I'll begin Day II by reciting "Jabberwocky" and reviewing the previous lesson. Emphasis will be placed on how we derived meaning from the sound of the nonsense words. During the discussion of nonsense words, I will explain that some words that started as nonsense in" Jabberwocky," such as chortle actually have become real words that we can practice using. After discussing nonsense words and why the poet might have chosen to use them instead of known words, I will direct attention again to images of the Jabberwock. I will show the same images and add additional ones. Note: When teaching this to younger grades, be selective about the images you show. You may start with a few "scary" ones, but show some of the more benign depictions at the end of the viewing. Discuss why there are so many different images of the Jabberwock. Follow up by distributing drawing paper and asking each child to make a drawing with their vision of the Jabberwock. Circulate during the creative process - conference and share. At the end of class, debrief and share the drawings as a large group.
November Couplets
In November, we'll concentrate on autumn and Thanksgiving. The first couplet will feature the use of rhyme in descriptive autumn poems. The second couplet will survey poems of thankfulness.
Autumn, Day I - This activity begins by emptying a bag of fall leaves in the center of the children's circle on the carpet. I will ask each child to select a leaf and share what they like about fall. When the children finish, I'll explain that though I love the colorful leaves and other things they mentioned, I love fall poems most of all. I will collect the leaves, and then share some fall poems. After each reading, we'll discuss the use of rhyme and word families in the poems. I'll end the lesson by asking everyone to think about poems, as we will talk more about them in the next lesson.
Autumn, Day II - After reviewing the poems from the previous day, students will practice identifying rhyming words in the poems in small groups. This lesson will culminate with students choosing a pair of rhyming words from one of the poems and extending it into a word family. Word families are groups of words, different only by the beginning sounds, such as bat, fat, hat, mat, slat, chat, and that. They will use both written and recorded means of creating the word family. Some students may elect to extend this activity by using audio or video recording to create a short poem or a line or two of rhyme.
Thankfulness, Day I - I will begin by asking, "Who knows what holiday is coming very soon?" I will have prepared a graphic organizer on a sheet of poster board using a simple drawing of a turkey with Thanksgiving written on its belly and space for writing on the tail feathers. This will be covered with a sheet of craft paper. After we determine the answer to the question, I will uncover the organizer. As we discuss Thanksgiving, I will write the ideas about Thanksgiving on the tail feathers. I will lead the discussion to the idea of being thankful. Then I'll share and discuss poems of thanks with the class. At last, I'll read "For Word" by Benjamin Zephaniah. After discussing it, I'll explain that in the next lesson, we will use this poem as a model for our own poems of thankfulness.
Thankfulness, Day II - Reviewing "For Words," we will create a think-aloud/write-aloud poem following the pattern of Zephaniah's poem. After modeling the format, students will create similar poems with three lines beginning with "Thank you for ....," followed by three lines beginning with "Thanks for...," and ending with the line, "Thank you very, very much." Some students may be able to extend the poem; some may only do a few lines. Struggling and Emergent readers may be permitted to draw pictures to finish sentences, if necessary. The lesson will conclude with sharing and debriefing.
December Couplet
December is a busy month with many holiday and winter activities. Due to winter vacation beginning mid-month, there will be only one couplet of lessons in December.
Happy Holidays, Day I — The December lessons will be less skill-driven and more about appreciation and performance. I will expose my students to a wide variety of Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas poems. We will make our first foray into repeated and choral readings. My aim will be to teach this couplet the first week of December.
Happy Holidays, Day II - After the children listen to a variety of holiday poems, I will arrange choral readings for the children to practice daily. Our goal will be to perform them at the December PTA Program. During this lesson, we will practice choral reading and assign parts where necessary. We may also choose to write something original to perform. I will arrange for videotaping of the performance so the students will have to the fun of watching it later.
January Couplets
January is going to be twisted and turned by the end of the winter vacation, the Martin Luther King holiday, and the end of the semester. Due to the short month, we will have only one couplet of lessons capitalizing on twist and turns by tackling tongue twisters.
Twists and Turns, Day I - This lesson will play with alliteration, which will be known to my students as tongue-twister words. I will share some one-line tongue twisters with them first, followed by more complex tongue twister poems. We will discuss how using words that begin with the same sound can make poems fun. I'll share some particularly easy lines first for students to practice and enjoy. I will wrap up this lesson by letting students know that we will be writing some "tongue twister" lines in the next lesson.
Twists and Turns, Day II - I'll begin by reviewing the elements of a "tongue-twister" and explaining they are a way to play with words. We'll move into groups and generate lists of words for the tongue-twisters they'll write. With helpers, groups will collaborate on their tongue twisters. During debriefing, each group will share its creations.
February Couplets
February poems will feature those written by African American poets in conjunction with the observance of Black History Month. Along with the poets themselves, blues and jazz poems will be highlighted.
Famous Poets, Day I - I'll begin by asking who knows what is special about February. After concluding that it is Black History month, I will explain that there are many famous African American poets. Using the CD from the book Hip-Hop Speaks to Children, I'll play poems read by the poets themselves, i.e. Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, James Berry, Nikki Giovanni, and others. We'll finish by sharing impressions about the poems.
Famous Poets, Day II - I'll begin by reviewing the names of the poets along with the poems we listened to in the previous lesson. I will then play Langston Hughes' "Dream Boogie" and "Dream Variations," followed by an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. We'll share thoughts and feelings about the three pieces. Students will return to their seats to write their own dream themed poems.
Jazz and Blues, Day I - I'll begin by clapping a rhythm as the class comes to the carpet, but intentionally not speaking. If students ask questions, I'll nod toward my clapping hands. Before long, the class will join in clapping the rhythm. I'll ask if anyone knows what we call repeating a sound like this? (Rhythm, beat, pattern) I'll ask where we find a beat or rhythm like this? (Music or poems) I'll explain that today we will learn about a kind of poem sometimes set to music called jazz. I'll show the book "Jazz Baby" by Lisa Wheeler and allow time for predictions about what it's about, then begin a rhythmic read-aloud. As I read, I will encourage the students to join in repeating the predictable parts of the book/poem. We'll talk more about what jazz is, and I will share excerpts of the CD from "Jazz" by Walter Dean Myers. We will finish by completing a think-aloud/write-aloud poem using elements of jazz.
Jazz and Blues, Day II - We will take a few minutes to recall what we learned about jazz in the last lesson. I will play some music from the Blues Journey CD and ask if this is jazz..Then, I will define the concept of blues and read some blues poems with the blues music still playing in the background. Using a Venn diagram, we will compare and contrast the two different styles of music/poems. Then, with instrumental blues still playing in the background, students will write a poem about what gives them the blues.
March Couplets
March poems will begin with the annual recognition of Dr. Seuss's birthday. We will listen to and emulate his unique brand of poetry. Due to the sheer volume of the work of Dr. Seuss, both sets of couplets will be dedicated to his writing.
Dr. Seuss, Day I - Prior to the lesson, I will gather as many Dr. Seuss books from the library as I need for each child in the class to have one available to them. I will randomly pull a book from the stack and read it aloud. After finishing, we will go through the stack, looking at and discussing the different books. Upon returning to their seats, the class will color and cut out "Cat in the Hat" style hats they will wear during these lessons.
Dr. Seuss, Day II - I will ask what Dr. Seuss books and poetry have in common. By this point in the year, everyone should know that Dr. Seuss books are good examples of nonsense and rhyming poetry. We will break into pairs and I will give each a pair of books to read aloud to each other, identifying the rhymes and nonsense as they find it.
Dr. Seuss, Day III - Working in collaborative groups, students will work together to find as many rhyming and nonsense words as they in a Dr, Seuss book of their choice. They'll record their finds in list form on a large, prepared a "scroll" made from craft paper. At the end of the lesson, we'll gather to share the results of our group word hunt.
Dr. Seuss, Day III - Students will vote for their favorite Dr. Seuss book. I will read the winner to them, asking the children to listen for the rhyming words, then signaling "thumbs up" for each pair they hear. After finishing, I'll distribute the books again and have the students work individually or in pairs on making a Dr. Seuss style poem.
April Couplets
April poems will celebrate nature and Earth Day. We will take our lessons outside, enjoying the spring weather and using nature as an inspiration for creating free verse. Due to Spring Break, there will be only one couplet for April.
Earth Days, Day I - We will move class outside, sitting on blankets under the trees. I will ask students to look around them and see what the Earth provides for us. I will ask how it makes them feel. I will read aloud the picture/poetry book, S is for Saving the Planet. I'll finish this lesson explaining that this day is about appreciating the springtime, nature, and thinking about ways we can save our good Earth.
Earth Days, Day II - Returning to our outdoor "classroom" with notebooks, pencils, and crayons, we will use this opportunity to write a poetic tribute to the Earth. In the free spirit of nature, I will encourage the students to use free verse, which I will simply explain as poems that don't have to rhyme. They may also choose to do something similar to what was modeled in the previous lesson by the S is for Saving the Planet book. I will encourage the students to draw a picture from nature to go with their poem.
May Couplets
Cinco de Mayo, noted Mexican and Mexican American poets will be explored in our first couplet. May is also traditionally the month when students begin to struggle with peer relationships. As the end of school looms, some students tire of their classmates. In an effort to counter that annual challenge, poems about friendship and writing poems for each other, will be the focus of our second couplet.
Cinco de Mayo, Day I - I'll begin the class by asking if anyone knows anything about a holiday called Cinco de Mayo. I'll explain that Cinco de Mayo is a holiday similar to our independence day, not because the Mexicans got freedom from France on that day, but because they won an important battle that showed the patriotism of the Mexican people. To honor that patriotism, we will listen to poems of Mexican American poets such as Sandra Cisneros and Ana Castillo, as well as the Mexican poet, Octavio Paz.
Cinco de Mayo, Day II - I'll begin by reading the poem, "The Street" by Octavio Paz and explaining that he was a unique writer because he broke a lot of the traditional "rules" of poetry. He sometimes would write half essay, half poem, and sometimes his writing had words from as many as four different languages. Using their notebooks and workbooks from Spanish class, I'll ask for some Spanish words we could use in poems. I will list the responses in both Spanish and English on the board. As a large group, we will create a write-aloud/think-aloud mixed Spanish/English poem. After completing the group poem, I will encourage the children to write mixed language poems on their own.
Friendship, Day I - I will begin by reading several friendship poems. We will discuss why people would write poems about friendship and why having friends is important. We will brainstorm a list of traits we value in a friend. We will also brainstorm a list of traits that do not make a good friend. Everyone will then return to their seats. Each child will trace his or her hand on construction paper. Using the hand outlines, the students will create a shape poem using words and phrases from the lists of traits we value in a friend. We will use these to create a bulletin board called "Extend a Hand in Friendship."
Friendship, Day II - I will review the previous lesson and read a few more poems about friends. After reviewing what it takes to be a good friend, each child will make name poems for everyone in the room. I model the creation of a name/sound poem. I'll put my name on the board, leaving a big space between Ms. and Banning. I'll ask if anyone can think of a nice word, beginning with the same sound as Ms. that describes me and another word beginning with the same sound as Banning that also describes me. Good example: Ms. Mellow Blue-eyed Banning. Bad Example: Ms. Mean Boring Banning. I'll explain that I can laugh at my bad example because I know it is kind of a joke, but bad examples could hurt someone's feelings, so we don't want to see any. I'll remind the class that when we make name/sound poems to please be kind and remember all the things we learned about friendship. When finished, we will distribute the poems, to their namesake, as tokens of friendship.
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