An Overview of My Poetry Unit By Jacqueline Tourtellotte shadows Poetry is the art of substantiating shadows. ~Edmund Burke

The students will spend several weeks studying a variety of poems with a specific focus on alliteration, onomatopoeia, personification, and simile. They will hear, read, and discuss examples of poetry utilizing these elements in textbooks, handouts, and online. After learning each element, students will create one poem demonstrating each poetic style for a total of four poems. At the end of the unit, each student will work with a partner to create a multimedia presentation in which they discuss their original interpretations of a chosen poem.

By the end of this unit, students will hopefully:  Gain an understanding and appreciation of poetry.  Recognize that words are helpful for exploring ideas and expressing understanding.  Be able to define simile, onomatopoeia, personification, and alliteration and give examples of each.  Build students reading, writing, and listening skills by having them read, write, and listen to poetry.  Learn to value observations, experiences, opinions, and ideas as sources for authentic writing

READING: 1.1 Analyze idioms, analogies, metaphors, and similes to infer the literal and figurative meanings of phrases. 2.3 Find similarities and differences between texts in the treatment, scope, or organization of ideas. 3.1Determine and articulate the relationship between the purposes and different forms of poetry (e.g., ballad, lyric, couplet, epic, elegy, ode, sonnet). 3.6 Identify significant literary devices (e.g., metaphor, symbolism, dialect, irony) that define a writer’s style and use those elements to interpret the work. WRITING: 2.2 Write responses to literature: a. Exhibit careful reading and insight in their interpretations. b. Connect the student’s own responses to the writer’s techniques and to specific textual references. c. Draw supported inferences about the effects of a literary work on its audience. d. Support judgments through references to the text, other works, other authors, or to personal knowledge. LISTENING AND SPEAKING: 2.5 Recite poems (of four to six stanzas), sections of speeches, or dramatic soliloquies, using voice modulation, tone, and gestures expressively to enhance the meaning.

Why is Self-Expression Important?

 Why Do You Think People Write Poetry?  How does word choice affect the meanings of words?  What role does poetry play in your life today?  Who are some famous poets you have heard of? Do you like them? Why or why not?  What is: Personification, Alliteration, Simile, Onomatopoeia?

Throughout this unit, I will be using several approaches to assess student learning including:  Gauging Student Needs by determining students’ prior knowledge of poetry and poetic devices and the beginning of the unit. (see embedded document for detail)  Encouraging Self-Direction and Collaboration by having students work in pairs to present original interpretation of a poem.  Monitoring Progress by giving a quiz matching new terms to their definitions.  Checking for Understanding by questioning students about concepts throughout lesson.  Having students Demonstrate Understanding by creating original poems to illustrate the terms they have learned.

In this Unit, I have also included a project in which students work in pairs to create a multimedia presentation of a poem they have analyzed. Projects such as these have many benefits and offer a way to learn that can be much more versatile than a simple lecture. Research has shown that there are three primary ways in which people learn. They can either be: Visual Learners- meaning they like pictures, charts, and graphs as ways of explaining new material. Auditory Learners- meaning that they do best by hearing new information. Kinesthetic Learners- meaning they do best with “hands-on” activities. Projects allow for all three types of learning by giving students an active role in their education. For example, a hands-on project is not only fun, but it helps kinesthetic learners. A group project combines auditory learning with visual learning through the creation and presentation of visual aids combined with public speaking.

Not only do projects allow for multiple learning styles, they also help: -reinforce what is learned in class -build social skills promote working well with others. -gain knowledge of technology -develop independence -keep students stimulated by adding variety and creativity to a lesson Project-Based education is also easily adapted to meet the state standards in reading, writing, written and oral language conventions, and listening and speaking.

This Poetry Unit contributes to student learning in many ways. It covers a wide area of the content standards by requiring reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills rather than just one or two. Poetry also allows for the opportunity to introduce students to abstract, higher-level thinking and read beyond the literal while encouraging creativity through the construction of original poems. Finally, this unit includes a project which offers the added benefits of a chance to work with others and build social skills while learning. While students may or may not continue to write poetry after this unit, ultimately it is a lesson in the importance of words as a way to effectively communicate thoughts and ideas.