Lesson Plan #1: Poetry

Emma Ferguson
0545804
General Curriculum Outcomes (Grade 9)
4: Read with understanding a variety of texts
7: Recognizes what texts say and how they are created
9: Creates a wide range of texts
Specific Curriculum Outcomes (Grade 9 English)
4.4: Use text features to construct meaning and understand the text
7.3: Recognizes increasingly complex tools that authors use in their
writing to achieve their purpose (e.g., organization of information, language
choice, use of time, imagery)
9.2: Considers and crafts writing (content, word choice, style, tone of
voice, form, structure, organization) to suit the audience and the purpose
Teacher Goal- As an end to a poetry unit, after having covered numerous
styles of poetry and studied closely the mechanics of poetry, I will present
the students with two songs representative of another form of poetry. The
students will be required to firstly, listen to the two songs in class while
following along with a copy of both lyrics and then to follow the directions of
the activity by recognizing the poetic tools that are used and to construct
meaning from the songs. These will be done through a variety of activities
that will help the students to solidify their knowledge of poetry and to be
open to creating their own works. By using songs, the students can end the
poetry unit on a fun note, realizing that poetry comes in many forms and it
can in fact be very relatable.

Context: Plan A
This lesson is for a Grade 9 English class. This lesson will take place over four
days with a half hour increment per day, totalling two hours. On day 1, I will
hand out one sheet of song lyrics to each student; the song will be What I
Wouldnt Do by Canadian artist Serena Ryder. The introduction to the class
and the song will take roughly 5-7 minutes. I will have the song on my laptop
and I will play the song while the students follow along. This will take
approximately 3:40 seconds. Then in partners, I will ask the students to
deconstruct the song like they have done throughout our poetry unit thus far.
I will ask them to try and identify the following poetry techniques and

highlight them on their sheets: (this activity should take the rest of the class,
approximately 20 minutes).
-Metaphors
-Simile
-Personification
-Imagery
-The speaker
-The theme
-How the song makes them feel
With these terms, the students have already made a list of definitions and
have them written down in the English binders.
This activity should take the full half hour of class. If the students have not
made their way through the song, I will ask them to take it home and try and
finish the rest of the song on their own time. I will have the song placed on
my website for the students to access if they need to listen to it a few more
times. Since the students have already deconstructed several poems, this
activity will be more of a refresher and focus more on how the song/poem
makes them feel and the main themes. However, as they will notice, this
particular song has quite a few poetic techniques that I hope the students
can pick out without hesitation.
The next day, I will introduce the students to another song. This song is also
called What I Wouldnt Do however; it is by the group A Fine Frenzy. Just
like the previous day, I will spend the first few minutes (about 3-5 this time)
to introduce the song and then a few minutes to allow the song to play with
the students following along on their own copy. I will once again ask them to
work in partners (new partners) to create a list of the following of what they
find in the song:
-Metaphors
-Simile
-Personification
-Imagery
-The speaker
-The theme
-How the song makes them feel
It is my hope that the students will find connections between the two songs
at this point. This activity will take the full half hour of class, and if the
students need extra time, I will be available after school and the song will be
available on my website for the students to access.

On the third day, the students will be asked to get into small groups of five,
to do this I will use popsicle sticks with their names on it and pull out five
sticks at a time. If there are more than 5 groups of five, I will divide up the
remaining students to join a group. Once the students have formed their
groups I will pass out a coloured and laminated sheet of paper for each
group. The colours will be Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, and Purple. On each of
these cards has a different instruction.
Red: As a group, compare and contrast the themes of both of these songs,
and then together, write a poem of at least 12 lines in whatever rhyme or
rhythm of your choosing and your findings (both comparing and contrasting).
Blue: As a group, pick the major theme of both songs (one that can be used
for both, ex. Love, heartbreak, etc) and write a 12 line poem about that
common theme with an ABAB CDCD EFEF rhyme scheme.
Yellow: As a group, use Serena Ryders song What I Wouldnt Do and write
a poem that is a response to the song. (ex. If the singer is speaking about a
lover, write a poem as if you were that lover). Write at least 12 lines in
whatever rhyme or rhythm of your choosing.
Green: As a group, use A Fine Frenzys song What I Wouldnt Do and write a
poem that is a response to the song. (Ex. If the singer is speaking about a
lover, write a poem as if you were that lover). Write at least 12 lines in
whatever rhyme or rhythm of your choosing.
Purple: As a group, write a poem titled What I Wouldnt Do with a theme of
your choosing. Write at least 12 lines with an ABAB CDCD EFEF rhyme
scheme.
This activity should take the entire third class, as well as the fourth class.
Once these poems are completed (extra time is available upon request, but
only if the students have been listening and following instructions), each
group will share their overall results.
Further clarification will be added at time of dispersal.
Lyrics:
What I Wouldnt Do- Serena Ryder
If you should fall to pieces
You know I'll pick them up

There are so many reasons

I'm never going to get enough
If you should leave this country
You know I'll come to you
Because you always love me
Oh what I wouldn't do
Oh what I wouldn't do
I'll carry the weight
I'll do anything for you
My bones may break
But I'll never be untrue
Woah-oh-oh Woah
Woah-oh-oh Woah
Woah-oh-oh Woah
Oh what I wouldn't do
Oh what I wouldn't do
Your love is like an ocean
That always takes me home
Whispering wind is blowing
Telling me I'm not alone
Your love is like a river
That I am floating down
I've never been a swimmer
But I know that I'll never drown
I know that I'll never drown
The current grows stronger
Under different shades of blue
I've fallen in your water
Forget everything I knew
Woah-oh-oh Woah
Woah-oh-oh Woah
Woah-oh-oh Woah
Oh what I wouldn't do
Oh what I wouldn't do
Oh the things I never noticed
Opened my ears to the chorus
You have made me listen careful
And you gave me the line
Woah-oh-oh Woah
Woah-oh-oh Woah
Woah-oh-oh Woah
Woah-oh-oh Woah
I'll carry the weight
I'll do anything for you
My bones may break
But I'll never be untrue

The current grows stronger

Under different shades of blue
I've fallen in your water
Oh what I wouldn't do
Oh what I wouldn't do
Oh what I wouldn't do

What I Wouldnt Do- A Fine Frenzy

If we were children I would bake you a mud pie
Warm and brown beneath the sun
Never learned to climb a tree but I would try
Just to show you what I'd done
Oh what I wouldn't do
If I had you, babe, I had you
Oh what I wouldn't do
If I had you, babe
If I were old, my dearest, you would be older
But I would crawl upon your lap
Wrap a blanket round our frail little shoulders
And I'd die happily like that
Oh what I wouldn't do
If I had you, babe, I had you
Oh what I wouldn't do
If I had you, babe, if I had you
So lace your hands round the small of my back and I will kiss you like a king
I will be your bride, I'll keep you warm at night
I will sing, I will sing
It was now and we were both in the same place
Didn't know how to say the words
With my heart ticking like a bomb in a birdcage
I left before someone got hurt
Cuz it was what I wouldn't do
I had you, babe, I had you
It was what I wouldn't do
When I had you, babe, when I had you
Plan B
(Same general and specific outcomes)
Teacher Goal: The goal remains the same. I would still like them to reach
the same outcomes, however instead of having groups work together to

create and accomplish specific tasks, I will ask them to complete them all
individually and of their choosing.
Context:
As a fallback plan, I will still use the same two songs. I will still ask the
students to write down examples of each of the poetic techniques in
partners:
-Metaphors
-Simile
-Personification
-Imagery
-The speaker
-The theme
-How the song makes them feel
They will do this for the first two days of the lesson plan. However, for the
following two days of the lesson plan I will get each student to write a poem
called What I Wouldnt Do and they can choose whatever form they want:
ex. In a form of a song, a slam poem, a sonnet, anything!). Once they have
completed this task, they will get into small groups of five and share their
own poems with one another.