1. Writing Poems
What you say?
Can’t you see?
Writing poems is just for me!
2. What is a Poem
A poem tells a story.
The writer is able to create a short story
that includes a beginning, middle, and end
so the reader can understand what the story is about.
Poem Styles
Short Poem
Long Poem
Funny Poem
Sad Poem
Serious Poem
Inspirational Poem
Question: Do poems have to rhyme?
3. Famous Poets
versus
Shel Silverstein (1930-Present) Robert Frost (1874-1963)
http://www.youtube.com/watch? http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Pnx_dbwec1Q&feature=related v=2v4M73_WKl4&feature=related
4. Understanding the
Poem
Is this an inspirational poem?
• What does Shel Silverstein mean when he says,
“the sidewalk ends”?
• What does Robert Frost mean when he says, “a
separation from the usual path”?
5. Write Your Own
Poem
• Group 1 – Write a poem about playing outside
• Group 2 – Write a poem about ice cream
This is a 10 minute activity.
Afterwards the class will switch papers and read a poem.
Then write down what you think the poem means.
6. Teacher Page
This Webquest is intended for students in 7th grade.
Students should be able to write a simple poem based on their understanding of
what a poem is,
review samples of poems from famous poets,
review a poem written by a peer,
and create a video poem book that is uploaded to the Internet.
Editor's Notes
Introduction Ask the class what they know about poems. Who writes poems? What is a poem? What does it do? Tell a story, discuss a feeling, write about an event? How long has poetry been around? Did the caveman write poetry? Did Elvis write poetry? Who is a modern day poet? Ask if they know any famous poets. Writing a poem with the ending in mind: The purpose of this exercise is to learn how to write a poem. We will look at poems written by 2 other authors and discuss their style of writing, analyze what the poet is talking about in each poem, try to figure out how the poet picked the topic, and talk about what topic the student might want to choose to write a poem. Poems are short stories. Ask the students where they might find a short story (library, newspaper, magazine, online, YouTube, TV). Short stories are found in many places. Stories do not always have to be written on paper. They could be on video or even told using photographs.
Task Ask the class about the length of a poem and the style of the poem. Does it have to rhyme? Can it be a story? Can it be changed into a song? Talk with the students regarding topics they would want to write about. Ask if they know any famous poets. There are many famous poets in English literature. Today we will talk about a few poets and their different styles. Fun game 1: Play hangman with the students. Here they will guess the name of a famous poet. When the poet’s name is guessed, discuss what the poet wrote. Let the students know that after we are done discussing these poets and their poems, they will write a poem in class. Fun game 2: Play hangman a second time with the students. Pick a topic that the students will write a poem about later in class. Use that topic as the hangman word. For instance: sunset, birthday, summer, ice cream. Then let the students know they will be writing about one of these topics later. This way they can be thinking about it during the rest of class. Fun game 3: Play hangman a third time with the students. Pick another topic that the students will write a poem about later in class.
Process Learning about how to write a poem. Compare the two poets and their poems. The first poet is Shel Silverstein. What do you think about this poem he wrote? Is it fun? Does it rhyme? Does it make sense? Does it tell a story? What story is he telling? How is this different from the second poet, Robert Frost? Is the writing style different? Is the tone of the poem different? What are the differences? What are the similarities?
Evaluation Shel Silverstein writes about the end of the sidewalk, a separation between the sidewalk and the grass. One place ends, another place begins, and what’s in the middle? Robert Frost writes about the place that divides, a separation from the usual path. He has to make a decision, which road to take. One road will end and another will begin. Both poets are questioning things that they see. Ask the students, how do these poems make you feel?
Process Assessment/Standards, Objectives, Measureable Outcomes: The students will assess what they have learned in class and apply it to a poem they write in class. Activity 1: Give the class 10 minutes to write a poem that tells a story. They can choose one of the topics you selected earlier in the hangman game. Then have the students switch papers. Have the students review a peer’s poem and write a one or two sentence analysis on what they think the poem is about. Activity 2: Have the students review the peer’s analysis of their poem. This way the student knows if they got their story (message) across in the poem. Have the students make any changes to their poem. Activity 3: Create a video poem book. After the poems are written the class will create a video poem book where all the students will read their poems and create a poster that has something to do with the poem they wrote. The video poem book will be uploaded to the Internet so parents can see class work. Activity 4: Give the video poem book website URL to the students. Have the students talk to their parents and have the parents review the video poem book with their child. Have the parent signoff that they went online and saw their child’s poem in the video.
