Concrete Poetry in a First Grade Classroom Suzanne Noyes August 2, 2012 Workshop in Children's Literature

Goals of the Concrete Poetry Unit To introduce students to concrete poetry – At the end of the unit students will be able to: Indentify concrete poetry Understand elements of concrete poetry Create concrete poems

What is a concrete poem? A concrete poem is a poem that forms a picture of the topic or follows the contours of a shape that is suggested by the topic.

Books Used in the Concrete Poetry Unit

Lesson 1 – Small Groups Poetry Pass Each group will get copies of different types of poems. At their table the students can discuss what they notice about the poems. Once they have had some time to discuss their ideas we will generate a class list of their observations.

Poetry Pass Sampling

Lesson 1 – Whole Class Read the story Connor and Clara Build a Concrete Poem by Meghan Atwood. Have a class discussion about what Connor and Clara did in order to create their poems.

Lesson 2 – Whole Class Brainstorming activity – I will have a bag of everyday objects. – I will pull out an object and have students identify words that describe the object. – The ideas will be jotted down on chart paper to show how the brainstorming process works.

Lesson 2 - Technology Once the class has been exposed to brainstorming words to describe objects, we will use the ReadWriteThink website to practice their skills.ReadWriteThink We will do this as a class several times and then they will each get their own laptop to practice on their own.

Lesson 3 – Whole Class I will show students the different formats that concrete poems come in. I will show them ones where the words describe the picture and other ones where the words are printed across the page to show movement. I will read them the story Meow Ruff by Joyce Sidman to illustrate this point further. The students will practice doing this on dry erase boards. I will give them a word and they can illustrate that word either in shape or movement. Students will be called on to share their idea.

Lesson 4-5 – Small Groups In reading groups, the students will be given several books to look at. They will pick a poem that they find interesting. They will share this poem with the reading group and we will have a discussion about the elements of that poem. Once all of the students have shared, they will generate a list of ideas they might want to write a concrete poem about. The next day during reading groups the students will be introduced to the brainstorming sheet. As a group we will fill out a brainstorming graphic organizer based on a mutually agreed upon topic. – There will be two different brainstorming graphic organizers available. One where they will just write words to describe the shape they chose and one where they will write down phrases to describe the shape. I will let the students choose which one they would like to do. Once they have completed their brainstorming sheet, the students will be given a blank piece of paper to start creating their shape poem.

Brainstorming Graphic Organizers

Culminating Activity At the end of the unit, students will create their own concrete poem. They will be encouraged to use paper, markers, cutouts, and other types of mediums to create their final product. Once the final products are complete they will be hung around the room. As an added bonus, I will scan them into the computer and post them on my website for parents to see. When students finish they can choose to create another concrete poem or have access to the computer to explore other concrete poetry making websites including: – – – All of these websites have the option to print when the poem is complete. Once printed they can take them home, share them with the class, or put them in their poetry folder.

Bibliography Atwood, M. (2011). Connor and Clara Build a Concrete Poem. Chicago, IL: Norwood House Press. Burg, B. (2002). Outside the Lines. New York, NY: Putnam Juvenile. Franco, B. (2009). A Curious Collection of Cats. Berkley, CA: Tricycle Press. Graham, J. B. (1994). Splish Splash. New York, NY: Ticknor and Fields. Janeczko, P. (2001). A Poke in the I. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press. Lewis, J. P. (1998). Doodle Dandies: Poems That Take Shape. New York, NY: Athenium Books for Young Readers. Roemer, H. (2004). Come to My Party and Other Shape Poems. New York, NT: Henry Holt and Company. Sidman, J. ((2006). Meow Ruff: A Story in Concrete Poetry. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin.