Poetrypacket

The Poetry Jar
PUT AN INTRIGUING ITEM IN THE JAR (e.g., a fuzzy mouse).
Q: What do you see in the poetry jar? Jot everything you can.
A mouse, a tail, a rat, 2 ears, brown fur, a shadow, beady eyes
TURN JAR AROUND
Q: What else do you see in the poetry jar?
Reflection in his eyes, upward-pointing tail, many browns, yuck
Q: What doest his remind you of?
My parents bathtubs, mouse poops in the kitchen drawers at Mountain Lakes house, rats, garbage, city sidewalks, dump, sewers, mouse cartoons
Q: What kinds of situations come to mind?
Scurrying into mouse holes, mousetraps in cartoons, rabid mouse, CATS!
Q: Some more words or phrases you associate with what you see in the poetry jar? Evil, scary, EEEKK!, housewives on tables, swatting with brooms
Q: Ask a question to what you see in the poetry jar.
Where would you rather be, mouse?
SCATTER POETRY BOOKS AROUND THE ROOM
Students peruse books, searching for a poem, they feel “goes with” what they see in the poetry jar. Any associations are valid, but they need to give a reason for choosing the poem. Tell students to “Str—et---ch” as needed.
Students share poems aloud. (Choose short poem or read just “connecting” stanza.)
Students describe their search processes. (What did you DO to find this poem?)
HOW THIS ACTIVITY ENGAGES STUDENTS:
Gets them to touch a lot of poetry books
They hear many poets’ names
They get physically “into” poetry, looking for words, phrases
Helps students think about what makes them choose a particular a poem (e.g., title? words? ending? Look/shape of poem?)
Practices reading aloud in front of the class
Promotes metacognition (i.e., thinking about why they did something a certain way)
FOLLOW UP: “Introduction to Poetry” and “Workshop” by Billy Collins
(both include a mouse…
*adapted from an activity by Susan Voake, Norwich, VT
Poetry Response Through Images
Goal:
Represent tone and understanding poetry through use of images found on the Internet.
Materials:
“The Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost
“Between Walls” by William Carlos Williams
“When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer” by Walt Whitman
“Impeccable Conception” by Maya Angelou.
- or any poem(s) of your choice
Newsprint or construction paper
Glue Sticks
Internet enabled computers (or magazines)
Tone chart worksheet
Considered response worksheet
Activities:
Break students into groups.
Assign each group a different poem
Have a representative from each group to read their poem aloud.
Direct students to reread their poems and “free write” for three to five minutes.
Introduce tone through a quotation from Donald Murray (2005, p. 50)
Students then receive “tone charts” on which they list 10-12 words or phrases that they felt contributed to the overall tone of their poem.
Students use tone chart words and phrases as online search terms to find images
Teacher models the process of placing images on tableau(i.e., choosing, placing, overlapping the images), and students asked questions.
Working individually at group tables, students create “image tableaus” on newsprint.
Students choose five or six “best images,” they arranged pictures in a manner that might help them understand and represent the meaning—in particular, the tone— of the poem
In groups, students discuss tableaus with regard to expectation, choice, surprise elicited through Internet searches, and reasons for placement and arrangement.
Students write two-part considered responses.
Title of poem ___________________________________________________________________ Date ______________
COLOR______________ NUMBER ____________________
Reread the poem. Then free write for 3-5 minutes in response to the poem.
You may write any reactions— thoughts, feelings, questions, etc. Just keep writing, even if you find yourself copying lines or wandering on tangents. Please feel free to turn page over and continue writing.
Before you begin, think about:
What struck you forcibly?
What might be “clues” to meaning?
What puzzled you?
What did you do while you were reading the poem?
Tone refers to the poet’s attitude toward the material and/or readers. Tone may be playful, formal, intimate, angry, serious, ironic, outraged, baffled, tender, serene, depressed, etc. In your poem, circle 10-12 words or phrases you feel contribute to the tone of the poem. List them below.Title of poem ___________________________________________________________________ Date ______________
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.
Title of poem ___________________________________________________________________ Date ______________
Your Group______________ Your Number ____________________
Considered response: 2 paragraphs.
Paragraph #1: What, now, does the poem mean to you? How, if at all, does the tone of the poem affect your understanding and reaction?
Paragraph #2: Compare/contrast your initial free-write with your considered response (Paragraph #1 above). Note anything that changed. How did the processes listed below help you make sense of the poem. Explain.
Identifying important words and phrases
Searching for images on the Internet
Assembling your image tableau
Discussing the poem with others
Strip Poetry
Goal:
Have students create a poem using a collection of responses to teacher prompts.
Materials:
Prompt worksheet
Strips of colored paper
Chart paper
Scissors
Glue sticks

Activities
Hand out two different sets of colored strips to each pair of students.
Read prompts aloud one by one.
Have each student respond to the prompt on a strip of paper
Provide scissors, markers, glue sticks, chart paper for poetry-creations.
Pairs of students arrange strips.
Students can add words to the poem on the chart paper.
Add title and names of two students.
After Strip poetry activity, students hang chart paper creations on the wall.
Share Billy Collins “The Student” --- includes all the things he said not to include.
Reflections:
Students read their creation aloud, standing at the chart paper they’ve hung on the wall.
After each reading, individuals refer to the colored strips to tell one important detail about their life that “made it” into the poem… Did it get transformed?
Compare student poem tp Collin’s list of rules.
Discuss sarcasm in Collin’s poems about rules of poetry
Strip Poetry
one of your strengths
something you’re wearing
what it’s like where you go to be alone
something about the kind of person you like
noise you make
a word like “velvety”
something you wish
why you are taking this course
a phrase like: “brown hens standing in the rain”
how you felt last night
something you see during your favorite season (include season)
a place you like to go with others
one thing you did fun you did last week
something you see, right now, that interests or intrigues you
something do you do on a regular basis
something about people that makes you angry
Extended Metaphor Lesson Plan
Goal:The overall goal is for the students to explore how identity is reflected in writing, specifically through the use of imagery. The students will also understand how multimodal characteristics of writing contribute through meaning through the creation of their own extended metaphor poems.
Essential Questions:
What do I notice when reading this text? How is my interpretation affected by what other people think? by my past experience?
How do I say what I mean?
What is my purpose for writing, and how does this affect the words and images I choose?
Enduring Understandings:
The legitimacy of an interpretation is grounded in the text.
What we read affects how we make sense of the world.
A writer chooses words, imagery, and information to solicit a response in the reader.
Connecticut Language Arts Standards:
1.2 Students interpret, analyze and evaluate text in order to extend understanding and appreciation.
1.4 Students communicate with others to create interpretations of written, oral, and visual texts.
2.1 Students recognize how literary devices and conventions engage the reader.
2.4 Students recognize that readers and authors are influenced by individual, social, cultural, and historical context.
3.1 Students use descriptive, narrative, expository, persuasive and poetic modes.
3.2 Students will prepare, publish and/or present work appropriate to audience, task and purpose.
The students will know:
That an author’s writing captures his or her sense of identity.
That meaning is negotiated using words, symbols, and images.
That design features should add and not detract from the attended message.
The students will be able to:
Define an extended metaphor, source, target and imagery.
Analyze an extended metaphor poem in order to identify use of imagery.
Analyze an author’s identity through response to an extended metaphor poem.
Createa multimodal extended metaphor poem.
Vocabulary:
Target
Source
Extended Metaphor
Imagery
Materials
Copies of the poem “Identity” by Luis Polanco
“Identity” Graphic Organizer
“My Metaphor” Graphic Organizer
Access to computer lab.
Assessment:
Learning Activities:
Day One:
Break students into small groups.
Pass out “identity” by Julio Polanco.
Have students read the poem in small groups.
Then have students complete the “Identity” graphic organizer.
Then have students respond to literature by either developing their own response or using these questions:
Why do you think the author would want to be a weed?
Can you give an example of Polanco using imagery? How did Polanco use imagery to build his sense of identity?
How do you think Julio Noboa Polanco feels about himself? About society?
What is Julio Noboa Polanco saying about himself by comparing himself to a weed?
Discuss group responses as a class.
Define target and source.
Have students choose a source they feel best captures their sense of identity.
Have students create a metaphor linking the target (themselves) to the source.
Have students brainstorm how to extend the metaphor using the “My Metaphor” graphic organizer.
Assign writing the poem for homework preferably saved as a .doc file
Day Two (Computer Lab)
Have students break into partners or small groups to revise poems.
The goal is to have students read each others’ poem with an eye on imagery
Where is imagery used effectively?
How does the author use imagery to describe his or her identity? the extended metaphor?
Where can the author use imagery more effectively?
Then have students make any suggested revisions to there poem.
Have students search for images from http://www.photoshopsupport.com/resources/stock-photos-royalty-free.html that reflect their extended metaphor.
Students should download the photo.
Then students can create a multimedia poem using powerpoint or publisher.
Directions for Making Multimedia Poem using PowerPoint
Open powerpoint.
Under the file menu choose Page set-up
Have students choose US letter page from the the slide size for down menu.
Students can choose the orientation of slide.
Then have students import their picture to the slide.
They should choose Insert>Picture>From File
Navigate to the picture and select it.
Then have students resize the picture so it fits the slide.
Next have students create a textbox for their poem.
Then students should copy and paste their poem from Microsoft Word.
Have the students adjust the color and font of the text to reflect their meaning.
Students may have to adjust brightness, transparency, and/or contrast of picture to make text legible.
First right click on picture and select “format picture”
Format pictureTransparency level
To change transparancey of picture students can adjust levels fro 0% to 100%
To change the brightness and contrast students select picture
Students should adjust the picture so it adds to the meaning and does not detract from their message.
Then have students peer review one more time. this time they should focus on the role of the image and font in making meaning.
If you choose students could then print poems or we could publish them online.

Poetrypacket

by J. Gregory McVerry

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