Lesson Plan 4: Elements of Poetry STAAR Review

UTL 640E Katlyn Anderson

Kathryn Gurganus/ Hendrickson High School Pre-AP English II / 10th Grade
Date: 4/4/2019 & 4/5/2019 Teach(es) # 6&7
Class Period & Time: 4th period & 8th period (2:45PM - 4:15 PM)
Note: Reflections 1 and 2 are due within 72 hours of teaches 3 and 6, respectively. Reflection 3 is due within 7 days
of the final teach.

Lesson Frame:
Objective(s)
- Today we will watch a video about poetry and briefly review the elements of poetry
in preparation for the STAAR exam.
Companion Concluding Task(s)
- With my team, I will participate in a game of “Trash”ketball to review the elements
of poetry. Then, on my own I will read the poem A Blessing in my STARR handout and
annotate the poem using the TPCASTT strategy. Finally, I will answer the 8 questions
that follow the poem in my packet and support my answer choices with evidence
from the poem.

Unit Connection—Enduring Understanding(s) & Essential Question(s):

Poets use the elements of poetry, such as figurative language and sound devices, to impart
theme and create meaning.
o F: What is the “theme” of a poem?
o C: How does the use of figurative language in a poem enhance its meaning?
o P: Can a poem be effective without the use of figurative language? If figurative
language isn’t present in a poem, how does the author make up for its absence?

TEKS/SEs Addressed in the Lesson:

English II
(3) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Poetry. Students understand, make
inferences and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of poetry and
provide evidence from text to support their understanding. Students are expected to
analyze the structure or prosody (e.g., meter, rhyme scheme) and graphic elements (e.g.,
line length, punctuation, word position) in poetry.
(26) Listening and Speaking/Teamwork. Students work productively with others in
teams. Students will continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity.
Students are expected to participate productively in teams, building on the ideas of
others, contributing relevant information, developing a plan for consensus-building, and
setting ground rules for decision-making.
Resources/Materials:
A. “TO DO” before the day of the lesson:
o Create a PowerPoint reviewing the elements of poetry
o Create rules and questions for “Trash”ketball game
o Using TPCASTT, read and respond to the poem A Blessing by James Wright
o This is a poem in the released 2018 English II STAAR Exam. My students will be
working through this released exam in the final 4 classes leading to the STAAR exam,
so they will already have their own copies!
o Make copies of TPCASTT handout
o Mrs. G taught this strategy earlier in the year, so I will make copies of the one
available in her classroom
o Get tape to mark the different shots for the game in the classroom and candy for the
winning team
o Use recycled paper(s) to make a paper “basketball” for game

B. For the lesson itself:

o Have my marked copy of A Blessing
o Have copies of TPCASTT handout ready for students
o Have PowerPoint and released 2018 STAAR exam ready on the board
o I will pull up the released exam when we are going over the questions and answers
to the poem
o Mark the “free throw” and “three point” lines in the classroom with tape
o I won’t mark the “trick shot” since it can be made from any corner of the classroom
o As mentioned before, Mrs. G has a conference period during her 3 rd and 7th periods,
so I’ll mark the lines during this time
o Have trashcan and paper “basketball” ready for the game of “Trash”ketball
o Print “Trash”ketball answer key for reference during the game

Steps in Lesson:
ENGAGEMENT—5 minutes
What the TEACHER will do / say— What the STUDENTS will do—
o Since STAAR is next week, I plan to begin
my lesson by simply checking-in with
students
o I will display the following on the board:
o “Before moving into the bulk of
today’s lesson, I just want to briefly
check-in with y’all.
 How are y’all feeling about
the STAAR exam next week?
Do y’all feel nervous?
Confident? Indifferent?”
o I will read the statement/question aloud o Students will read the
 and allow for 3-4 minutes of class statement/question displayed on the
discussion about the upcoming state board and participate in a 3-4 minute
assessment class discussion about the upcoming
STAAR exam

Potential Responses:
o Some students may share that they are
nervous about the upcoming exam
o Some students may share that they feel
fine about the exam, or even indifferent
about it
o Some students may share that they’ll
feel relieved when the assessment is
over

STATE THE “WE WILL” OBJECTIVE following the engagement.

As y’all already know, the English II STAAR exam is next Thursday. Today we will watch a video about
poetry and briefly review the elements of poetry in preparation for the STAAR exam.

ACTIVE LEARNING—79 minutes

What the TEACHER will do / say— What the STUDENTS will do / may ask—
Explain- 9 minutes
o I will play the following video for o Students will watch the short 5 minute
students to begin our review of the video
elements of poetry
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=JwhouCNq-Fc
o After watching the video, I will give a o Students will review the definitions that
brief presentation reviewing the are provided in the presentation ( I will
following elements of poetry: check their understanding later in a
o Stanza(s) review game)
o Rhyme
o Rhythm
o Meter
o Theme
o Tone
o In my slides, each of the elements will be
followed by a brief definition
o After reviewing these elements, I will
also revisit common figurative language
techniques used in poetry, such as:
o Metaphors
o Similes
o Onomatopoeia
o Hyperbole
 o Alliteration
o Personification
o Symbolism
o Imagery
o Allusion
o I have not provided definitions on this
slide because I want students to use
their prior knowledge to attempt to
define each technique
o Finally, I will briefly review the difference
between the “connotation” and
“denotation” of a word
o Once I am finished with the review, I will
ask students if they have any questions
before moving onto the review game.
o Using their prior knowledge, students
will help me define the figurative
language techniques listed in the
presentation
Potential Responses:
Some potential student definitions may be:
o A simile is a comparison using “like” or
“as”
o An onomatopoeia is a word that signifies
a sound
o A hyperbole is an exaggerated claim
o Alliteration
o Personification is giving human
characteristics to a non-human object
I will be ready to assist with definitions if I feel
students are struggling
Potential Questions:
o students may ask additional questions
about the elements of poetry, such as:
o What is the difference between
rhythm and meter?
o Do all poems that rhyme also
have a set meter?

Apply/elaborate- 30 minutes
o After reviewing the elements of poetry,
we will play a game of “Trash”ketball to
apply our review. o Students will read/follow along as I read
o I will display the following rules on the the directions/rules for the game aloud
board and read them aloud to the to the class
students:
o “Each group will be asked a question
and answer the question together
o If the group answers the question
correctly, they will then choose a
member to shoot the paper
“basketball” into the trashcan
 The member can either
shoot from the “free throw”
line (1 point), the “three
point” line (3 points), or
 make a “trick shot” from the
three point line (5 points).
 If the member makes the
shot, the team will receive
the number of points
assigned to the shot taken
 If the member doesn’t make
the shot, the team will not
receive any points ;)
o If the group doesn’t answer the
questions correctly, the next group
will be allowed to attempt to answer
the question
 If the question isn’t
answered correctly by the
next group, then it will be
passed on until each group
has had an attempt to
answer it
 If the question is answered
incorrectly by all of the
groups, its potential points
will not count for anyone
o Members of the groups can work
together to answer the question, but
only one member can attempt to
make the shot
o Each member of the group has to go
at least once before members can
have a second turn
o After answering the question, the
member only has one attempt to
make the shot into the trashcan
 This is an “all or nothing”
shot, so choose your shots
wisely!” o Students will ask any questions if they
o After going over the rules of the game, I feel unclear about the rules/instructions
ask students if they have any questions. for the game
After answering any questions that arise,
I will number students off and break
them into groups based on their number
o For my 4th period class I will number
students off into 2 groups
o For my 8th period class I will number
students off into groups 4 groups o Once numbered off, students will
o Once students are numbered off and remember their number and break into
broken into their groups, I will select the their groups for the game
 first group to go by thinking of a number
between 1 and 20 and asking each group
to guess that number; the group closest
to guessing my number will go first.
Once the first team is selected, I will ask
the first question to begin the game and
keep score for each group on the board.
o The questions can be found in my
PowerPoint presentation
o After the game is finished and the final
score is calculated, the winning group
will be awarded with candy!
o Each group will select a number between
1 and 20 and the group closest to my
number will begin the game
Potential Questions
o Students may ask if they can choose
another person to take their
“Trash”ketball shot if they answer a
question correctly
o The answer to this will be no to
keep the game fair and fun
o Students may ask what the prize for the
winner team is
o I will have candy for the winning
team, but extra points on an
assignment will not be an option

Evaluate- 40 minutes o Students will retrieve their copy of the

o Once we have finished the game of STAAR review packet they’ve been
“Trash”ketball, I will ask students to working in all week
retrieve the STAAR packet they have
been working on all week o Students will follow along as I quickly
o I will review the TPCASTT analysis review the TPCASTT strategy from earlier
strategy with students and give them a in the year
copy of the handout from earlier in the
year:
o T: Title
o P: Paraphrase (each stanza)
o C: Connotation (+/-)
o A: Attitude (Tone)
o S: Shift
o T: Title
o T: Theme o Students will follow along as I read the
o After reviewing TPCASTT with students, I directions for the poetry activity
will display the following directions on
the board and read the aloud to
students:
o “First: Completely read the
poem all the way through
 without marking anything
o Second: Using the TPCASTT
strategy, read the poem again
and mark each of the elements
in the poem
o Third: Answer each of the
questions that follow the poem
o Read both the question and all
of the answer choices before
choosing an answer
o Support each answer with
evidence from the poem
o You all will have 25 minutes to
read the poem and respond to
the 8 questions. After everyone
is finished, we will go over the
poem and correct answers as a
class. Don’t rush through the
poem and/or questions!” o Students will ask any questions that arise
o After reading the directions, I will ask when preparing for the activity
students if they have any questions- if no o If no questions arise, students will begin
questions, I will tell students to begin the to work independently on the poem
activity and let them know what time I section of their STAAR packet
will resume the lesson
o I will keep the directions posted on the
board for the duration of the activity o After I read the poem aloud, as a class
o Once 25 minutes have passed and/or students will share their answer choices
students have finished the activity, I will and justification for each of the
read the poem aloud to the students and questions
go other each of the questions and
correct answer choice with the class Potential Questions:
o During this, I will ask students to o While I can’t predict the exact questions,
share their answer choice with I feel that students will ask why the
the class and their support for correct answer was chosen for some of
choosing that answer the questions
o I have worked through the
packet and answered the
questions, so I am ready to walk
through each question with the
students
o Students may ask if they have to use
TPCASTT on the STAAR exam
o While I definitely recommend
that students use this strategy, I
will also let them know that they
have to freedom to choose what
works best for them when taking
 the exam

CLOSURE—5 minutes
What the TEACHER will do / say— What the STUDENTS will do—
o Using the “3 W’s” strategy, I will display
the following three questions on the
board:
o What did we learn today?
o So What ?(relevancy, importance,
usefulness)
o Now What? (how does this fit into
what we are learning, does it affect
our thinking, can we predict where
we are going)
o I will read the questions to the students o Students will turn to a person sitting
and then instruct them to turn to a near them and discuss the 3 questions
person sitting near them to discuss the displayed on the board
three questions.
o After giving students 2-3 minutes to o After discussing the questions with a
respond to the questions, I will ask 2-3 partner, 2-3 students will share their
students to share their answers with the answers with the class
class
o Preferably, I will ask a different
student to respond to each question

Potential Reponses:
 Students may respond to the first
question by saying that we reviewed the
elements of poetry (such as theme, tone,
rhyme, meter, etc.) and/or reviewed the
TPCASTT reading strategy
 Students may respond to the second
question by saying that this review was
to prepare them for the English II STAAR
exam next week
 Building off of the second question,
students may respond to this question
by saying that they need to keep these
elements/strategies in mind to work well
on the STAAR exam. Beyond the exam,
students may respond by saying that the
TPCASTT strategy will continue to help
them unveil the “deeper” meaning of
poetry in the future.
*The concluding task, enabling students to execute the “I will” statement, will either fall within
‘apply/elaborate’ or ‘evaluate’ phase of active learning or function as the closure activity, depending.
Modifications/Differentiation Strategies:
o Following IEPs
o Poetry video for auditory learners
o “Trash”ketball review game for kinesthetic and interpersonal learners
o Independent poetry activity for intrapersonal learners

Evaluation Strategies:
o Participation in the “Trash”ketball game (informal)
o Completion and accuracy of the poem activity in STAAR packet (informal)

Notes/Recommendations for next time:

o