Kristin and Cheryl L's plan

Names: Kristin Schlamp and Cheryl Law
Title and Grade Level: Free Verse Poetry, Grade 3

Purpose: Our main purpose for this planning sequence is to engage children in reading and writing poetry while emphasizing the free verse form. Our second purpose is to ensure that students have a positive, enjoyable experience with poetry. We have found that poetry is often viewed from a negative perspective and believe this needs to change!

Rationale: Poetry is a genre that effectively addresses many outcomes from the LA Program of Studies, as students are engaged with manipulating language, sounds, rhythm and ideas while writing. As this sequence will be used as an introduction to poetry, we chose to emphasize the free-verse form. The free-verse poem is accessible to all students as it lacks rigid structure and rules; the possibilities for writing are wide open.

Overview:
Activity 1: Familiarity with Text Type: The teacher will conduct a whole-class discussion in which students will compare and contrast 3 poems of varying forms. Students should notice point such as: some poems rhyme while others don’t, some poems are silly while others are serious etc. Working in pairs, students will find a poem that they think is interesting to share with the class, along with an explanation for their selection. As students share, the teacher will create a chart titled “What We Know About Poetry.”

Activity 2: Familiarize students with Free Verse Poetry: Working in groups of 3-4, students will read, then compare and contrast a variety of free verse poems. Students will share their thoughts in a whole-class discussion, and the teacher will create a chart titled “What We Know About Free Verse Poems”. This will help students recognize what makes a free verse poem unique, and that the options when writing this type of poem are endless!

Activity 3: Capture Ideas: The teacher should conduct a short discussion about where authors may get ideas for writing poetry. Complete the coloured-paper activity, as conducted in EDEL 408, using the following topics: favourite things, favourite places, experiences or feelings. Students will have started to develop writing territories during previous lessons, so these ideas can be added.

Activities 4 & 5: Planning and Drafting a Free Verse Poem: The teacher and students will discuss ways in which a poem could be planned. Ideas include: completing a concept web, making a list of ideas, drawing a picture, or just begin writing. As a group, the teacher and students will create a concept map with ideas for a poem, and will then write a first draft. Students will then plan and draft their own free verse poems. *Please note: it is important to emphasize that students may use any planning method they are comfortable with. For example, some students’ writing will be stifled by being forced to create a concept map.

Activity 6: Revision: The teacher will model revision by using a think-aloud approach and the poem written by the class. The teacher will then conduct a writing conference, using the whole class as the “conference partner”. Students will then revise their poems individually, and participate in a writing conference to elicit feedback from peers for further revision.
Activity 7: Proofreading: The teacher will model proofreading using the class poem, and will then write a final draft. Students will proofread their own poem, a friend’s poem, and will write their final draft.

Activity 8: Publishing: The teacher will show the students a few publishing techniques used in various poetry collections while explaining that illustrations are purposeful and add to the depth of the poetry. Students will be provided with a variety of art materials and may illustrate/publish their poem in whatever format they feel is appropriate, but must be able to justify their choice.

Resources with Annotation:

(1990). Learner’s Voices: The Book Voyage (M. Banaszkiewicz, Ed.). Ottawa: The Movement for Canadian Literacy.
The authors of this book share their messages about the world through their own personal experience. This book contains stories and poems. The book contains entries from authors in each province and territory.

Alberta Learning. (2000). Program of studies: English language arts (K-9). Alberta: Alberta Learning.

Bagert, B. (2007). Shout!: Little poems that roar. New York: Scholastic, Inc.
A colourful and wonderfully illustrated book of noisy poems.

Barton, R. & Booth, D. (2004). Poetry goes to school: From Mother Goose to Shel Silverstein. Markham, ON: Pembroke Publishers.
This book discusses the importance of poetry and what poetry writing looks like in the classroom. The book explores different poetic forms and discusses rhyme, voice, painting images with words, and discussing the stories in poems.

Bearne, E., Wolstencroft, H. (2007). Visual approaches to teaching writing:
Multimodal literacy 5-11 (1st ed.). London: Paul Chapman Publishing.
This textbook addresses how to teach writing from a multimodal approach.

Burkhardt, R. M. (2006). Using poetry in the classroom: Engaging students in learning. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
This book was written by Ross Burkhardt who was a middle school teacher. This book answers questions about teaching poetry.

Cole, J. (1984). A new treasure of children’s poetry: Old favorites and new discoveries. New York: Doubleday.
Joanna Cole has selected over two hundred poems. She has arranged them in sequences. A nice collection to add to a poetry corner.

Davis, J. & Hill, S. (2003). The no-nonsense guide to teaching writing: Strategies, structures and solutions. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
This book discusses teaching writing: goals, tools, structure and organization, writing workshops, helping students become writers, revision, poetry, feature articles, and picture books.

English Language Arts Council. (2008). Alberta Voices, 7(1).
Alberta Voices is published by the ATA for the English Language Arts Council (ELAC). It is a professional news journal for English language arts teachers in Alberta.

English Language Arts Council. (2007). Celebrating Words, 7(1).
Celebrating Words is a supplement to Alberta Voices. It is an annual collection of writing written by Alberta students.

Esbensen, B. J. (1996). Echoes for the eye: Poems to celebrate patterns in nature. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
This book is a collection of free verse poems written about patterns in nature. The poems are illustrated and could be used as examples for how students could illustrate their poems.

Flint, A. (2008). Literate lives: Teaching reading & writing in elementary classrooms. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
A very informative book on teaching reading and writing to elementary students. A good text for learning more about children, reading and writing.

Goldberg, Bonn. (1996). Room to write: Daily invitations to a writer’s life. New York: GP Putnam’s Sons.
This was a handout we received in EDEL 408 when we discussed pantoums.

Grauer, K. (2005). Starting with art: Relating children’s visual and written expression. In K. Grauer & R. Irwin (Eds.), Starting with… (pp. 111 – 117). Toronto: Canadian Society for Education through Art.
This is the textbook from EDEL 302. Chapter 14 discusses the connections between art and language arts and the importance of integrating the two subjects.

Greenfield, E. (2006). The Friendly four. New York: HaperCollins Publishers.
This is a story written in free-verse poems about four children who meet and spend a summer playing and discovering. A nice story to read to your students.

Hemphill, S. (2005). Things left unsaid: A novel in poems. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.
This is a novel written in free verse poems about the complexities of friendship. It tells the tale of a girl who is dealing with her mother, school, friendship and forming her own identity.

Ireson, B. The small ghostie. In Poems go clang!: A collection of noisy verse (pp. 18-19). Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.
This collection of poems are illustrated by Debi Gliori. All poems in this book use words that make sounds. This book would be useful for discussing the concept of onomatopoeia.

Janeczko, P.B. (Ed.). Hey, you! Poems to skyscrapers, mosquitoes, and other fun things (1st ed.). New York: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
This is a collection of poems written to a variety of “things” such as a bee, a wall, the moon and an astronaut. It also contains very unique illustrations that help bring the poems to life. Children and adults could enjoy this collection.

Lee, D. (2000). Bubblegum delicious. Toronto, ON: Key Porter Books.
This collection contains clever and humorous poetry for children written by Dennis Lee accompanied by silly yet beautiful illustrations by David McPhail.

Lee, D. (1991). The ice cream store (1st ed.). Toronto, ON: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Another collection of Dennis Lee’s humorous poetry for children, accompanied by illustrations by David McPhail.

Lesynski, L. (2006). “I did it because…”: How a poem happens. Toronto: Annick Press.
Loris Lesynski teams up with illustrator Michael Martchenko to present a collection of poems. In amongst the poems are pages that provide useful tips on feeling the beat, sounds and wordplay, picking a topic, and where ideas come from. A great book to read to students in the classroom.

Major, K. (2003). Ann and seamus. Toronto, ON: Douglas & McIntyre.
Ann and Seamus is a poetic retelling of a true story about a young girl from Newfoundland named Ann. Ann helps save the lives of 160 Irish immigrants by showing great courage in the face of a raging ocean storm.

Morley, S. A. (1978). Studying poetry. North Billerica, MA: Curriculum Associates, Inc.
This book is useful for defining literary terminology (i.e. alliteration) and giving examples of how to use techniques in writing poetry (i.e. painting a picture with words, tercet). This book also gives examples of different forms of poems and defines each form (i.e. Haiku, Free-Verse)

Osborn, E.M. (Ed.). (1972). My book of Canadian poems: An anthology of poetry for children. Victoria, BC: Marlowe House Ltd.
This 36 page anthology contains a varied collection of poems. Teachers may find some poems quite useful, although others will be considered inappropriate for today’s classroom. (ie. One particular poem makes remarks that are now considered racist and stereotypical, yet would have been acceptable at the time of writing.) Teachers should exercise caution with this collection.

Perry, A. Y. (1997). Poetry across the curriculum: An action guide for elementary teachers. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
This book discusses the steps in conducting poetry lessons and how to use poetry in other curricular areas.

Prelutsky, J. (2000). It’s raining pigs & noodles. New York: Greenwillow Books.
This is a collection of poems by Jack Prelutsky. He writes silly poems that children love to read. He plays with language and usually writes about humorous topics.

Prelutsky, J. (2008). My dog may be a genius. New York: Greenwillow Books.
This is a collection of more than 100 silly poems. The poems are of multiple forms and illustrated.

Routman, R. (2000). Kids’ poems: Teaching third & fourth graders to love writing poetry. New York: Scholastic.
This book, written by teacher Regie Routman, outlines an instructional plan for poetry writing, discusses the merits of free verse poetry, and provides examples of minilessons. Throughout the book there are examples of poems written by students.

Ruurs, M. (2001). The power of poems: Teaching the joy of writing poetry. Gainesville, FL: Maupin House Inc.
This teacher resource seeks to assist teachers with teaching poetry in the classroom. The majority of activities are designed for grades three to eight, but could be modified for other grades if needed. This book addresses the aspects of content and craft when writing poetry, and very closely follows the Multimodal Planning Sequence. An extensive list of resources for teachers is also included.

Silverstein, S. (1996). Falling up. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
This book is a quirky collection of poetry for children, written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. It is sure to be a hit in the elementary classroom!

Tiedt, I.M. (2002). Tiger lilies, toadstools and thunderbolts: Engaging K-8 students with poetry. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
This teacher resource provides background knowledge and a variety of activity suggestions for teaching poetry to students in Kindergarten to Grade 8. There is an extensive resource list as well as reproducible lesson plans. The author addresses a variety of poetic forms, as well as ideas for cross-curricular connections.

Tompkins, G. (1994). Teaching writing: Balancing process and product. New York: Merrill.
We received a writing conferences handout in class taken from this book. This book by Gail Tompkins is very informative for teaching writing. It discusses the writing process, assessment, and teaching specific forms (i.e. letters, expository writing, narrative writing, descriptive writing, poetry, persuasive writing). It also has special features, which are helpful in addressing the problems of struggling writers. It is a great book for gaining more information for teaching children to write.

Webb, K. (Ed.). (1979). I like this poem. London, England: Puffin Books.
This book provides a varied collection of poems selected by children ages five to fifteen.

Wilson, L. (1994). Write me a poem: Reading, writing and performing poetry (1st ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Write me a poem is a teacher resource that provides suggestions of how to teach reading, writing and performing poetry in the elementary classroom. The author addresses various forms including free verse, rhyming poems, poems for two voices and noisy poems. Many examples of poems written by children are included.