Mary is a 7th grade language arts teacher who needs to teach poetry elements like imagery and theme to her students. She notices her ESL and inclusion students struggle with language arts. She wants to make the difficult poetry concepts accessible to all students. Her school requires using technology daily and she can sign up to use the computer lab or mobile devices. Her principal will observe her lesson, adding pressure. She needs a solution to help all students understand poetry elements using technology. She plans activities where students define elements, identify them in poems, and use Animoto to demonstrate a poem's meaning visually. ESL students can read poems in their native language.

1. Teaching All
Students
7th Grade Language Arts: Poetry Elements

2. The Teacher’s Dilemma
Mary is teaching 7th grade Language Arts. She is getting ready to teach
the elements of poetry (imagery, theme, characterization, etc.). As part of
a professional development day offered at her school, Mary had looked at
last year’s standardized test results for her class; she noticed that her
students are weak on Language Arts, especially her ESL and inclusion
students. Mary is planning the activities to teach the poetry unit and she
already knows that they will be difficult concepts to grasp, especially by
special population students. This year, Mary’s school board has made it
clear that they want the teachers to use computers for teaching and
learning on a daily basis. Mary's school has a computer lab, a class set
of netbooks on a mobile cart, and a class set of iPad2s on a mobile
cart. She can sign-up for the computer lab or to check out a cart of
mobile devices. To complicate things, Mary’s principal, Ms. Klondike,
announced that she will go and observe Mary the day after tomorrow –
precisely the day when Mary will be in the middle of teaching the
elements of poetry to her class. Mary needs to come up with a solution
on how to help ESL and inclusion students understand the difficult poetry
concepts but, what is THAT solution?

3. What is the teaching Standard?
Arizona's Common Core Standards English Language Arts and Literacy 6th - 8th
Grades
The Standard
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of rhymes and other
repetitions of sounds (e.g., alliteration) on a specific verse or stanza of a poem or
section of a story or drama.
Learning Objective
Students will learn the definition of the elements of poetry: metaphor, alliteration,
hyperbole, personification, simile, refrain, and onomatopoeia and be able to
identify these elements in poems the class will be reading and examining.

4. Explaining and Identifying the
Elements of Poetry Activity
The teacher will present the students with a study sheet of the poetry elements and their
definitions. For ESL students, the English term will be next to the term that is from their native
language to help connect the terms for understanding.
Students will be given three (3) short poems and will be asked to examine them and list the
elements they see in the poems that they have been given.
For English speaking students
The poems will be in English
For ESL students
The poems will be provided in their native language

5. Yo ser‚ para ti.
Toda la vida que me queda la vivir‚ para
ti
y cuando el tiempo haya terminado,
morir‚ por ti.
Dir‚ tu nombre
en cada vela que encienda, respirar‚ tu
nombre.
Te susurrar‚,
cada oraci¢n que diga ser siempre parte
de ti.
Por toda la eternidad,
y as¡ ha sido y ser siempre,
y cuando deje este mundo,
aquello vendr conmigo
en la luz de una vela.
Todo el mundo sigue girando, haciendo el
d¡a y la noche,
y de la oscuridad a la luz,
ser s siempre parte de cada oraci¢n que
yo diga.
Yo ser‚ para ti.
Como una fresca quebrada de la monta¤a
que se desborda por ti
como una c lida brisa de verano
entre los rboles para ti.
En el brillo de una vela,
todo lo que he sido o llegue a ser
por toda la eternidad,
tu ser s parte de todo lo que yo haga
siempre.
Yo ser‚ para ti.
Vela
Traducci¢n: Emilio J. Saavedra M.

6. I will be for you.
All my life that is left, I will live for you,
and when time has run out,
I will die for you.
I will speak your name
in each candle that I light, I will breath
your name.
I will whisper you,
every prayer I ever say will be part of
you.
For eternity,
and forever it has been, and will always
be,
and when I leave this world,
it will go with me.
In a candle light
all the world keeps on turning, making
day and night,
and from dark to light,
you'll be part of every prayer that ever
comes from me.
I will be for you.
Like a cool mountain spring that overflows
for you
like a warm summer breeze
through the trees for you.
In a candle glow,
everything I've ever been or will ever be
for eternity,
you'll be part of everything I ever do.
I will be for you.
Candle
By Ron Wilson aka Vee Bdosa the doylestown poet

7. Worksheet Sample
Poetry Elements
Type Meaning Section of Poem
Metaphor Compares two unrelated
nouns or pronouns
Like a cool mountain
spring that overflows for
you
like a warm summer
breeze
through the trees for
you.

8. Use Your Favorite Poems
Activity
• Students will be placed into groups and will need to have the
worksheet of elements to reference.
• Students will each choose a favorite poem of their own or they may
search for a poem online.
• ESL Students can use a poem from their language but must be able
to explain the poem in English and describe the elements.
• Each student will work with their group to identify all the parts of the
poem that are elements of poetry: simile, metaphor, etc.

9. Second Part – Using Technology
• Each student will use Animoto to demonstrate the poems
meaning in photos or drawings. They will show two elements
in their poem that while working with their group.
• ESL students will have the option of reading their poem to the
class in their primary language. While all students may not
understand the words, they can feel the intended feelings of
the writer to gain a true appreciation of the language and the
poem.

10. References
• Animoto Software www.animoto.com
• Candle Poem translation retrieved from
www.poetrysoup.com/poems/best/spanish
• Arizona Department of Education English Language Arts
Standards. Retrieved from www.azed.gov/azccrs/elastandards/6-8
• 7th Grade Poetry Terms retrieved from memorize.com/7th-grade-
poetry-terms/catalina00