Navigating the Coast of Poetry Structures

Developed by:
Nidaa Alomari, John Hsiao, Irene Refuerzo, and Indigo Vu
for English class grade 9

Objective:
By the end of this class meeting, SWBAT the following:
Identify the differences between structures of poetry
Integrate Aquarium of the Pacifics theme in sharing coastal oceans with
nature: a growing challenge into their poem drafts

By the next class meeting (Tuesday, 11/8/16), SWBAT compose a first draft of a
poem to be entered in the Aquarium of the Pacific Poetry Contest.

Skill (from the College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards)

Reading 2: Determine central ideas of themes of a text and analyze their
development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas
Reading 4: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze
how specific word choices shape meaning of tone.
Writing 4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Writing 10: Writing routines over extended time frames (time for search,
reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or
two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Language 3: Apply knowledge of language to understand how language
functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or
style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
Language 5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word
relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

Anticipatory Set:
Before the students enter the classroom, our group will rearrange the desks
in six circles with four chairs each. Each group of desks will be labeled according
to the different lesson plan groups (i.e., 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7). As the students enter the
classroom, they will be asked to sit at the group of tables that corresponds to their
current lesson plan group number.

Procedure:
We will have each group look at the poetry structures handout and go over
which identifying characteristics fit in each poem. The procedure allows students to
familiarize with aspects of a poem in which they may choose for the poem each
individual may write:
 Time Goal Procedures
5 min. Welcome - Entry/welcome
students into - Explain seating
classroom
5 min. Acknowledge - Ask students to summarize previous class sessions
prior in 1 sentence.
experiences - Ask students what structures of poems with which
they are familiar.
- Record the names of structures on the board.
5 min. Give - Briefly cover the basic defining characteristics of
instructions various poems:
and model Number of lines
Rhyme scheme
Meter
- Project a haiku on the board.
- Model the process to identify what makes up a
haiku.
10 min. Group - Assign each group a poem structure and a sample
discussion poem.
- Each group will label the defining characteristics of
the poem.
- We will circle each group and help guide them to the
answers.
10 min. Group mini - Each group will give a brief 1-minute presentation of
presentations their findings.
- We will verify and bridge the presentations into the
drafting stage.
- Each group that presents will receive small prizes.
15 min. Poem drafting - Having familiarized themselves with different poem
structures, students will then be asked to start
drafting their poems, keeping in mind the theme of
the poem.
- We will walk around and ask students how they are
coming along and if they need help.
(5 min.) Optional draft - Students can read out loud their poem drafts to
sharing share with their classmates.
- Volunteers will receive extra prizes.
5 min. Closing - Assign homework.

Modeling:
Irene and Indigo will be modeling for students how to analyze the poem structure
of a haiku. By projecting a sample haiku on the board, we will be able to underline
and annotate the poem in order to identify the defining characteristics: number of
lines (3) and number of syllables (5/7/5) per line, in the case of a haiku.

Material(s):
There will be three materials that will be used during our lesson plan.
 1. Copies of the following types of poems:
a. For modeling:
i. Haiku
b. For group work:
i. Sonnet
ii. Limerick
iii. Free Verse
iv. Acrostic
v. Concrete
vi. Blank Verse
2. Poetry Handout
a. This handout will help guide the students as they analyze their
assigned poems in their groups. The handout will ask for
characteristics such as how many lines the poem has, if the poem has
a rhyme scheme, and if the poem has any other defining
characteristic.
3. Poetry Forms and Defining Characteristics Cheat Sheet
a. After the different groups present their findings and observations on
the different assigned poems, and before we have the students begin
to write their own six lines of poetry for their exit ticket, we will give
the students a cheat sheet that contains all the information they will
have already presented (i.e., the types of poems that were discussed
and the characteristics that are associated with each poem style).
They may refer to this cheat sheet at they continue creating and
developing their drafts.

Assessment:
There will be two assessments attached to our lesson plan. Our first
assessment will take place after we have the students collaborate through
facilitated group work. For the assessment, the students (in their groups) will
briefly share their observations on the formal techniques of the types of poems they
were assigned. For this assessment, we are assessing whether students are able to
distinguish between the different poem styles by stating different formal techniques
that pertain to those styles (i.e., sonnets have fourteen lines).
The second assessment will take place at the end of the class meeting. After
the students briefly share their findings on their assigned poems with the class,
they will be given some class time to compose at least six lines of a potential
poem/first draft of a poem (of any chosen genre that they want to experiment with)
that they may want to turn in for the Aquarium of the Pacific Poetry Contest. This is
an assessment in which the students will be able to apply the poetry knowledge
that will have been discussed. The six lines that the students compose within the
given class time will serve as their exit ticket for the day.

Closure:
After the students discuss and analyze their poems in groups, the students
will present their observations to the class, which will be facilitated by our group.
Once the students have all shared, our group will conclude this group activity with
additional comments on poetry. The focus will then shift from acknowledging the
different styles of poetry and their characteristics to having the students begin to
compose their own poems.

Our group will introduce the final activity for the class meeting: compose at
least six lines of poetry that abide to any of the forms of poems we have discussed
in class (or any other styles that we have not discussed as well). To help guide the
students, we will pass out a poetry cheat sheet that will contain all the structures
of poems. As a ticket out the door, students will show proof of their poems to be
stamped. Homework will be to finish a draft for the next class period.

Extensions:

Write 12 lines/complete first draft

Analyze other example poems not discussed during group work and
discussion
Review handouts on strengthening diction and imagery in poetry