Shannon-Lesson

Poetry Month
 * Title: ||< "Poetry" ||
 * Subject: ||< Language Arts ||
 * Grade: ||< First Grade ||
 * Time Frame: ||< 3 weeks ||
 * Summary: ||< In class, students will discuss various types of poetry, and review examples of each. Working with partners, students will create poems on their own. These will be shared with the class, and revisions will be made. In partner groups (with teacher assistance), students will work on putting together a Photo Story which will include the student poetry, pictures, and music. These will be shared at our Family Poetry Night at the end of Poetry Month. ||
 * Tasks: ||< 1) As a whole-class, students will discuss various types of poetry (Acrostic, rhyming, "feeling" poems, Haiku), and review examples of each (3 days).

2) Once students have had enough time/exposure to a variety of poems, students will be put into partner groups. In these groups, students will work together on creating their own poems (3-4 days).

3) Students will orally share their poems with the class, and will make changes/corrections based on suggestions (not changing the poem itself, but rather, making **//editing revisions//**) (3 days).

4) Once all students have shared/made corrections, they will begin (with teacher assistance) putting together a Photo Story of their poems, including pictures/photos that match each poem being shared (digital photos of the student poets will be included in the story). Students will have the option of adding music to their story (4-5 days).

5) Each partner group will share their Photo Story with the class, in order to gain practice presenting the story in front of an audience/to get comfortable with sharing their work (1-2 days).

6) All partner groups will present their Photo Story to the families that attend our First Grade Family Poetry Night at the end of Poetry Month. ||
 * Objectives: ||< * Our school is an International Baccalaureate school, and "Poetry" is one of our IB units. Through completion of this activity/series of lessons, we will be able to work on a large portion of our unit.


 * On the Berkley School District report card, curricular and behavioral areas covered in this series of lessons include: //**Demonstrates cooperative skills, Manages time effectively, Follows directions and procedures, Works productively during writing time, Generates ideas and topics, Can effectively write to a prompt, Shows an awareness of, and employs various writers' strategies,**// and //**Writes for a variety of audiences and purposes.**//


 * __**21st Century Skills Include**__: Student collaboration, Use of decision-making (both independently and with a partner), Integrating technology (through use of a digital camera and classroom PC), Global Awareness (looking at poems from around the world), and comfort with public speaking (presenting/discussing the Photo Story to our families who attend Poetry Night). ||
 * Assessment: ||< * Students will be assessed on their poetry writing and ability/willingness to make corrections, once editing suggestions have been given. Since students will be working in partner groups, the teacher will take care in paying close attention to the individual student writing and contribution to their partner group (informal assessment) while students are working.


 * __**Differentiation:**__ *//Extension//-- Students will have the opportunity to explore poems not touched upon in class, and create poems in that form, if they choose. These students will be able to add more slides to their Story, and include additional photos/pictures. *//Support//-- Students will have greater assistance from the teacher/parent volunteer, and they will be allowed to complete shorter/simpler poems. ||
 * Resources: ||< * A variety of poems, digital camera, classroom PC, paper and writing utensils. ||
 * Examples: ||< * http://mrswheelerfirst.blogspot.com/2012/03/april-is-poetry-month.html
 * http://jessica-gleason.suite101.com/simple-poetry-types-for-beginners-a139495
 * http://abcteach.com/directory/basics/writing/poetry/ ||
 * Reflection: || I am excited to try this in my classroom! Having new technological tools under my belt (like Photo Story), I feel as though I am able to take things a step further than I did previously. I will let you know how it turns out! ||