Teacher’s Name: Leslie Ross
Date: Thursday
Title of Unit: Poetry
Title of Lesson: Sonnets
Previous Assignment: Haiku
The haiku assignment from the previous day will be displayed outside of the classroom
on a “bulletin” board of student work. We will take 10 minutes to wrap up the discussion
on haiku that we did not have a chance to finish up the day before (discussion of several
sonnets in class).
Estimated Time: Hanging up haiku’s- 3 minutes; Review discussion- 10 minutes;
Introduction to Sonnets- 20 minutes; Inclass assignment- 15 minutes
Objectives: The students will be able to:
 Label a sonnet “Italian” or “English” and list differences between
the two.
 Manipulate the language of another author’s sonnet in order to see
the logic behind the author’s choices.
 Write a sonnet.
Materials: sonnet envelopes, handout with sonnet for free writing.
Activities: Define “sonnet” by telling the students that a sonnet is a lyric poem that
usually consists of fourteen lines and typically follows one of several conventional rhyme
schemes. It may address a range of issues or themes, but love is the most prevalent. Tell
the students that there are two types of sonnets, Italian and English. Explain to them that
the Italian sonnet has fourteen lines and consists of two parts, the octave (eight lines
w/the rhyme scheme of abbaabba) and the sestet (six lines usually rhyming cdecde or
cdcdcd), and the English sonnet also has fourteen lines and is divided into three quatrains
(stanza containing four lines) and a couplet (stanza made up of two lines). Read A Drink
of Water by Seamus Heaney as an example of an Italian sonnet, and read a
Shakespearean sonnet as an example of an English sonnet. Ask the students for questions
and then continue.
The class will then break into small groups and each group will be given a sonnet
envelope. The envelope will include 14 slips of paper, each with a line from a sonnet.
Tell the groups whether it is supposed to be an English or an Italian sonnet. By paying
attention to rhyme scheme, groups must put the sonnet together in logical order. After 10
minutes, the groups will read their sonnet aloud, and I will read the correct version of the
sonnet by the author.
Evaluation: The evaluation will come in two parts. The students will have a short
inclass quiz, in which they will be given a handout with a sonnet on it. They must tell
whether it is an English or an Italian sonnet and write a several sentence response to the
sonnet.
Assignment: The students will write the first eight lines of a sonnet, either English or
Italian. They may write on any topic they wish, as long as the content is appropriate for
class. The students also need to review the poetic terminology previously assigned, as
well as look up rhyme, rhythm, onomatopoeia, rhyme scheme hyperbole, and free verse.