0. Teaching Inferencing through Poetry
Kindergarten - 2nd Grade
welcome
This morning was the why….now we’ll talk about the HOW
link to this presentation

1. Goals Review strategies to build inferencing Identify relevant TEKS
Go over the implementation process
Differentiate between Good, Better, & Best
inferencing lessons
Create inferencing lessons
review norms - restroom, phones

2. Students with successful inferencing skills:
Have competent working memories
Have rich vocabularies
Are active readers who want to make sense of the text
Monitor comprehension & repair misunderstanding
Which ones can we control? Not control?

3. Teachers develop inferencing skills by:
Modeling
Choosing appropriate texts
Building vocabulary
Looking at title & text structure
Making predictions

4. Teachers develop inferencing skills by:
Questioning character relationships,
goals, & motivations
How do you know?
Why?
Generating, discussing, & clarifying prior knowledge
Making cross-curricular connections
connect to other content areas, writing about reading

5. Why poetry?
video from poetryguy.com

6. poetry can be intimidating ( to students and teachers)
the poetry genre is an area of weakness on STAAR tests
it’s coming up in the first semester IFD

7. Reading Poetry
Students understand, make inferences, & draw conclusions about the structure and elements of poetry & provide evidence from text to support their understanding. Students are expected to:
K.7A - respond to rhythm & rhyme in poetry through identifying a regular beat & similarities in word sounds.
1.8A - respond to and use rhythm, rhyme, and alliteration in poetry.
2.7A - describe how rhyme, rhythm, and repetition interact to create images in poetry.

8. Before the Lesson 1. Choose an appropriate poem
- school or classroom library
- textbooks
- laughalotpoetry.com
- gigglepoetry.com
- poetry4kids.com
- poetryguy.com
2. Select vocabulary to build schema
What words will be unfamiliar to your students? Which ones are crucial to understanding the poem?
Doc camera - I show my book and highlight the words I have chosen

9. Something Missing I remember I put on my socks,
by Shel Silverstein from A Light in the Attic
I remember I put on my socks,
I remember I put on my shoes.
I remember I put on my tie
That was printed
In beautiful purples and blues.
I remember I put on my coat,
To look perfectly grand at the dance,
Yet I feel there is something
I may have forgot—
What is it? What is it? . . .

10. During the Lesson 3. Introduce vocabulary
4. Look at the title & text structure
5. Make predictions
What will this poem be about?
What experiences have you had that relate to this title?
6. Ask questions & discuss connections
ALL will be teacher modeled at the beginning of the year
As you continue to build the strategy of inferencing, students will begin to make their own inferences about the passage
Go to doc cam and model

11. dance tie grand Vocabulary
tie - are they familiar with this piece of clothing, can I bring in one for them to see?
grand - marked by magnificence, splendid, impressive - grand piano, grand canyon
dance - not the verb, a place where people are gathering together to eat and talk and dance, do you remember the valentine’s dance at school?
tie
grand

12. Something Missing I remember I put on my socks,
by Shel Silverstein from A Light in the Attic
I remember I put on my socks,
I remember I put on my shoes.
I remember I put on my tie
That was printed
In beautiful purples and blues.
I remember I put on my coat,
To look perfectly grand at the dance,
Yet I feel there is something
I may have forgot—
What is it? What is it? . . .
look at the title
Look at the lines - what form of writing is this?
how do you know?
What makes this different from the writing in most of our books?
Make predictions, What will this poem be about?
What experiences have you had that relate to this title?
what could be missing? - make a list
Go into teacher mode:
*Today I am going to read a poem. A poem is a collection of words that express an emotion or idea. As you listen, I want pay attention to ideas or feelings that you notice in the poem.
Model inferencing -
I think this poem is about getting dressed. I noticed some clues like putting on socks and shoes. I put on my socks and shoes when I get dressed.
What other connections can you make to this story?
We made predictions about what was missing before we read. What do you think is missing now?
How could we figure out what is missing?
Let’s sketch a quick picture to show what he is wearing. Remember this is a quick sketch, so it does not need to be perfect.
<draw on doc camera>
First draw a little stick person. As I read, you draw. -socks, shoes, tie, coat
What’s missing? How do you know? What else could it be? (make a list as the students give ideas)
What do you think the speaker felt when he realized what was missing?
Excellent inferencing! You are making connections between your experiences in the world and the text that we are reading.

13. How could you adapt this lesson for your class?
This was a good lesson. What would make it better?
Think about something new that you noticed during the lesson. (give wait time) Turn to your partner. You will have 6 minutes of share time. I will give you a reminder at 3 minutes to switch partners and a 20 second warning when we are almost done. This time the shorter person will go first. (Share out.)
This is an example of a GOOD lesson that integrates inferencing and poetry. Remember that every time a student is making connections from their world to the text, they are inferencing. Practice using the word inferencing in your lessons. Not only will the students embrace the new and interesting word, they will also start to realize when they are making inferences.
The poetry TEKS for Kinder-2nd all state to teach about rhythm and rhyme. First grade introduces alliteration, and 2nd grade adds repetition and having the students notice how these things work together to create images. What are some ways you could modify this lesson for your grade level? What would you have done differently?
Turn to your partner. You will have 6 minutes of share time. I will give you a reminder at 3 minutes to switch partners and a 20 second warning when we are almost done. This time the taller person will go first. (Share out.)
This is a short lesson, but if this is all you have time to teach, that’s great! Let’s look at how we could extend this lesson by digging deeper into our questioning and discussion time.

14. Something Missing I remember I put on my socks,
by Shel Silverstein from A Light in the Attic
I remember I put on my socks,
I remember I put on my shoes.
I remember I put on my tie
That was printed
In beautiful purples and blues.
I remember I put on my coat,
To look perfectly grand at the dance,
Yet I feel there is something
I may have forgot—
What is it? What is it? . . .
Go into teacher mode:
Did you notice a pattern as I was reading? Some poems have a rhythm, which is almost like a beat in music class. Some poems have words that rhyme. Did you notice any rhyming words as I was reading? Let’s try some of our missing things to see which one fits with the rhythm and rhyme of the poem. (Read the poem and insert the words the students have suggested.)
How do we know that “pants” is the best word?
Would you like to help me read the poem? Let’s echo read it together!
- What is happening in this poem?
- What did this poem make you think of?
- Did you notice a pattern as I was reading?
- Where do you notice rhyme & rhythm in this poem?STAAR Stems:
The speaker in this poem is a person who…
By the end of the poem, the reader realizes that the speaker…
What is emphasized by the repetition of the words “I remember” in the poem?

15. During the Lesson 6. Ask questions & discuss connections
- What is happening in this poem?
- What did this poem make you think of?
- Did you notice a pattern as I was reading?
- Where do you notice rhyme & rhythm in this poem?
ALL will be teacher modeled at the beginning of the year
As you continue to build the strategy of inferencing, students will begin to make their own inferences about the passage
STAAR Stems:
The speaker in this poem is a person who…
By the end of the poem, the reader realizes that the speaker…
What is emphasized by the repetition of the words “I remember” in the poem?

16. What differences did you notice in the questioning?
Where do we go from here to make a best lesson?
Think about something new that you noticed during the lesson. (give wait time) Turn to your partner. You will have 6 minutes of share time. I will give you a reminder at 3 minutes to switch partners and a 20 second warning when we are almost done. This time the shorter person will go first. (Share out.)
What are some ways you could modify this lesson for your grade level? What would you have done differently? What are some different books in your classroom you could use for this lesson?
Turn to your partner. You will have 6 minutes of share time. I will give you a reminder at 3 minutes to switch partners and a 20 second warning when we are almost done. This time the taller person will go first. (Share out.)
This is a better lesson, let’s make it a BEST by extending it. We’re going to connect reading poems to writing poems. The Kinder TEKS say that students will write to express ideas and feeling about real or imagined people, events, and ideas by writing short poems. First and second grade add that these poems should convey sensory details.

17. Why do we have to write poetry?
discuss your concerns about teaching how to write poems

18. Writing Poetry K.14B - write short poems.
Students write literary texts to express their ideas & feelings about real or imagined people, events, & ideas. Students are expected to:
K.14B - write short poems.
1.18B - write short poems that convey sensory details.
2.18B
poems come naturally to kids
it gives them the freedom that more formal/structured writing does not have

19. How to Write a Poem
A poem is a collection of words that express an emotion or idea.
What do you know a lot about?
How do you feel about that topic?
Go to doc cam and model writing
Do you remember the definition of a poem. A poem is a collection of words that express an emotion or idea. Today we are going to write a poem to share about an idea.
First we will write a poem together, then you can go write your own poem. How does an author begin a poem? You should write about what you know, your feelings, and what you want to share with others.
These poems we have read today have me thinking about my clothes. I want to write a poem about how different clothes relate to different feelings for me.
Let’s brainstorm a list of our clothes and how they make us feel.
PJs - sleepy (soft, flannel, smells like fresh laundry)
Dresses/Ties - fancy (glittery, jewels, stripes, smooth)
T-shirts - comfy (soft, holes, worn)
Sports uniform - important, teammate (stains, dirty, smells sweaty, feels wet)
Now that we have feeling words, let’s add some sensory words. How would these clothes feel to the touch, or look, or smell?
Now let’s pick our favorite describing words and put them together in a poem. I want to talk about my feeling first and then describe the clothes I am wearing. We can decide on a title at the end.
Title (What Should I Wear Today?)
Sleepy, tired, ready for bed
Soft, fresh laundry pajamas
Fancy, going out, ready to dance
Glittery, shiny dress
Comfy, ordinary, stay at home day
Worn, holey, favorite t-shirt
Teammate, friends, winner
Sweaty, stained uniform
Let’s read our poem together. What do you think our title should be? Does our poem rhyme? No. Is that okay? Does it still have a rhythm? Remember that there is no right or wrong way to write a poem. This is a chance for you to really express your own feelings and ideas any way that you want.
Now you have the chance to write your own poem. You can add to our poem that we created, or you can start your own poem about an idea or feeling that you want to share.
What do you want to share with others?

20. What will this look like in your classroom?
T3 - How will you adapt this for your grade level? What other content areas do you want to integrate?
What will this look like in your classroom?

21. Let’s pick poems!

22. Putting it into Practice
1. Choose an appropriate poem
2. Select vocabulary to build schema
3. Introduce vocabulary
4. Look at the title & text structure
5. Make predictions
6. Ask questions & discuss connections
7. Make cross-curricular connections
- connect reading to writing
- relate to other content areas
- read another poem, then compare
Time to plan: poems, paper, markers, etc. animal stickers
30 minutes with table team (or grade level)
stop, mix groups, share
come back, reflect, share out
more time to plan a second lesson???

23. The Follow Up Plan http://go.esc18.net/reflect
Campus Support Day Options
- co-teach a lesson
- model a lesson
- support lesson preparation
- meet during conference time
What I Need From You
**this depends on principal and superintendent preference
*insert link to online quiz

24. Contact Information
Tracy Harper
Christel Applon
Robyn Jackson