Madison Public Schools R.E.A.C.H/Gifted and Talented Unit Plan Title: What makes a Poem?
Grade: 4
Content Area: Literacy Objective: ​
As a means of enrichment, students will ● Read and analyze classic poetry for themes, figurative language, and other poetic elements ● Write a poetry collection of their own that incorporates the elements of poetry Time Allotted:​
40 minute sessions once a week for 6 weeks. Standards NAGC Standards: 1.7. Cognitive and Affective Growth. Students with gifts and talents recognize their preferred approaches to learning and expand their repertoire. 2.4. Learning Progress and Outcomes. Students with gifts and talents demonstrate advanced and complex learning as a result of using multiple, appropriate, and ongoing assessments. 3.4. Instructional Strategies. Students with gifts and talents become independent investigators. Common Core Standards: CCSS.ELA­LITERACY.RL.4.1​
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. CCSS.ELA­LITERACY.RL.4.2​
Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text. CCSS.ELA­LITERACY.RL.4.4​
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean). CCSS.ELA­LITERACY.RL.4.5​
Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text. CCSS.ELA­LITERACY.W.4.4​
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. CCSS.ELA­LITERACY.W.4.5​
With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. Materials: ● Chromebooks ● Text of poems, ​
here​
. Lessons Session 1​
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maggie and milly and molly and may ● Short bio of E. E. Cummings and discussion of his original style ● Sonority: alliteration, assonance, consonance ● Rhyme scheme ● Metaphor ● Generalized observation of life ● Try your hand at using these poetic elements in your poem ○ Complete the poem in class and at home ○ Read other poems by this poet in class or at home Session 2​
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The Eagle ● Short bio of Alfred, Lord Tennyson ● Vocabulary ● Miniature poems ● Sonority ● Personification ● Try your hand at writing a miniature poem ○ Complete the poem in class and at home ○ Read other poems by this poet in class or at home Session 3​
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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening ● Short bio of Robert Frost ● voice ● Form: iambic stanzas ● Symbolism ● Generalized observation of life ● Try your hand at writing a poem in verse ○ Complete the poem in class and at home ○ Read other poems by this poet in class or at home Session 4​
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The Fog ● Short bio of Carl Sandburg ● Imagery ● Metaphor of the fog as a cat ● Symbolism ● Try your hand at using these poetic elements in your poem ○ Complete the poem in class and at home ○ Read other poems by this poet in class or at home Session 5​
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Old Folks Laugh ● Short bio of Maya Angelou ● Vocabulary ● Imagery ● Free verse ● Universal truths ● Try your hand at using these poetic elements in your poem ○ Complete the poem in class and at home ○ Read other poems by this poet in class or at home Session 6​
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The Wind begun to knead the Grass ● Short bio of Emily Dickinson ● vocabulary ● Personification, natural tableau ● Presentation of students’ poetry