READING, WRITING,
COMMUNICATING
Grade 6, Unit 4
POETRY
Academic Vocabulary
• Stanza – line of verse grouped so as to compose a pattern that is
usually repeated in the poem
Academic Vocabulary
• Narrator – the person telling the story, writing the
poem
• Central idea = gist
• Tone – feature of a poem that shows the poet’s
attitude toward a theme, speaker, person addressed
in the poem, or reader
• Figurative language (figures of speech) – words in
which the literal meaning of words is disregarded in
order to show or imply a relationship between
diverse (different) things i.e. simile, metaphor
Academic Vocabulary
• Rhythm
• Rhyme
• Viewpoint – author’s outlook or opinion
Language goals
•Listening – Dramatize or draw interpretation
of poems from oral reading
•Speaking – Retell ideas from poems
•Reading – Interpret poems and identify central
idea
•Writing – Write variety of poems
Essential Questions
• Why is it possible to have different interpretations of
a poem?
• What is unique about how an author arranges words
and phrases in poetry?
• Why are life experiences a foundation for writing
poetry?
• How do poetic techniques engage readers?
Poetry Unit 4, January 9-31, 2012
Pretest
• Week 1
• Types of poetry – acrostic, epitaph, haiku
• Figurative Language – simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration,
allusion, onomatopoeia
• Week 2
• Types of poetry – sonnet, ode, praise poems
• Elements of poetry – irony, imagery, meaning, mood, pattern, symbolism,
tone
• Week 3
• Rhyme schemes – end rhyme, internal rhyme, half rhyme
Post-test
What is poetry?
•
A beautiful form of communication.
•A genre that is open to personal
interpretation and might differ
from person to person.
Why do we study poetry?
• Poetry helps us develop a sense of beauty, a deeper
awareness of feelings and nature, and an appreciation
for words. We all have a natural interest in the
rhythm of poetry and it is fun to recite poems when
given the chance!
Roses are red;
Violets are blue.
I can write poetry;
How about you?
What makes poetry unique?
• The interpretation of a poem can vary from person to
person, especially in how on might read it aloud, act
out, or emphasize certain aspects in a poem.
• Authors arrange words and phrases in poetry to
express emotion and insights and to create writing
that is aesthetic in nature, very much like music.
Poetry-Learning Target & Criteria for Success
• I can identify elements of poem arrangement to help
me understand the poem’s underlying meaning.
• After reading Margaret Walker’s poem, Lineage, I will:
• Identify an example of framing, word spacing, and
sections.
• Write a paragraph explaining my interpretation of the
poem.
Figurative Language
• Hyperbole
• Simile
• Metaphor
• Personification
• Alliteration
• Allusion
• Onomatopoeia
Hyperbole
•A very strong exaggeration
Ex. He is stronger than a giant panda.
HYPERBOLE VIDEOS
Simile
• A comparison between two objects using the words
“like” or “as.”
Ex. She sings like a nightingale.
Learning Target and Criteria for Success
Simile
• I can identify and utilize the poetic device of simile
by:
• Listening to and reading poems and identifying the similes
• Defining what two items are being compared in each poem
• Creating three similes comparing sports and holidays to an
object using “like” or “as”
• Writing a poem using at least three similes comparing
something important to you to how you feel about it.
• Poetry handout pg. 79
SIMILE VIDEOS
Writing Poetry - Similes
• Write a poem about an animal, carefully selecting the
images and similes to influence the reader’s feelings.
• Choose an animal for which you have strong feelings.
• You might write a poem selecting images and similes that
will influence the reader to feel as you do about the
animal.
• Use as many senses and similes as possible to describe
the animal.
Metaphor
A comparison
between two
objects (without
“like” or “as”).
Ex. Jackie is an
angel.
METAPHOR VIDEOS
Personification
Gives an inhuman
thing human
qualities
Ex. The sunrise was
jealous of her
loveliness.
PERSONIFICATION
VIDEOS
Alliteration
• The repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in
words that are close together.
• Example: Silly Sally sashayed on the shore.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Jumping Jorge wears jagging jeans.
Serious Sergio studies studiously.
Active Abby likes activity.
Silly Cindy (note “c” makes /s/ sound) swims in the city.
Cute Cathy (note “c” makes /k/ sound) cannot compete.
Axel absolutely loves apples!
Exceptional Emmanuel excels in efficiency.
ALLITERATION VIDEOS
Allusion
• A reference to someone or something that is known from
history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or some
other branch of culture.
• When you use allusion you are alluding to something for
example:
• I use loot as a slang name for money.
• He went home to his crib.
ALLUSION VIDEOS
Onomatopoeia
• The use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests
its meaning.
• Examples:
• Boom, boom, boom
• Rattle-rattle
• Ho Ho Ho
ONOMATOPOEIA
VIDEOS
Learning Target and Criteria for Success
• After reading There is No Word for Goodbye, by Mary TallMountain, I
can:
• Explain which parts of the poem are most vivid to me.
• Identify examples of figurative language in the poem.
• Describe the effect of figurative language.
Elements of poetry
•Irony
•Imagery
•Meaning
•Mood
•Pattern
•Symbolism
•Tone
Irony
•In general, it is the difference between the
way something appears and what is actually
true.
•Verbal irony is irony that is spoken aloud.
•Sarcasm is a form of verbal irony.
SARCASM VIDEOS
Imagery
• The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete
sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an
experience. Helps create images in reader’s mind.
• Examples:
• Sight: Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?
• Taste: Or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet?
• Touch: Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
• Smell: Does it stink like rotten meat?
• Sound: Or does it explode?
Learning Target and Criteria for Success
• I understand that when an author uses sensory
language in his writing, it is much easier for readers
to visualize what the author is describing.
• After reading Gary Soto’s poem, Finding Lucky
Number, I will:
• Identify three examples of sensory language and
explain one of the images
• Orally communicate why poets use sensory language
in their writing.
• Write a personal note to Soto. “Your poem made me
feel_____________...”
Sensory Language
•Why do poets like to use sensory language in
their writing?
•Sensory language makes writing fresh and
vivid. Authors use this type of imagery as a
way of appealing to the reader’s imagination.
Poetry Exercise- Simile and Sense
• Write a poem about a place in nature, using sense images and
similes. Choose a place in nature that is vivid in your mind. It may
be a place you visited long ago, but you need to remember some
details about it. It may be a place in the mountains, by the sea, at a
nearby part, by the river or simply up in a tree.
• Use similes and all five senses (taste, smell, sight, sound, touch)
• Avoid cliches i.e. “The sky was as blue as the sea.”
• If you cannot remember all of the details, start with what is clear in
your mind and invent the part that is missing. (This is common
practice among writers.)
Meaning
• What is the poem about?
Mood
• The feeling created in the reader by the poem or
story.
Symbolism
• The use of person, place, thing or event that has meaning in
itself and that also stands for something more than itself.
• Example:
The eagle is a bird, but it is also the symbol for American
freedom, liberty and justice.
Poetry Exercise-Symbolism
• Write a symbol poem choose some aspect of nature to
represent a human trait or global issue.
• Discuss how natural phenomena, such as a river, valley, rock,
flower, shell, mountain, wind or snow storm might stand for
anger or joy (emotion) greed or compassion (human trait), or
war and peace (global issues).
• Using wind as an example, a morning breeze could represent
peace and harmony; hurricane winds could represent the
combat of war; and tornadoes could symbolize nuclear
explosions.
Pattern
• A combination of the organization of lines, rhyme
schemes, stanzas, rhythm, and meter.
• There are many different patterns in poetry.
Tone
• The attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a
work, the characters, or the audience.
• What is the tone of Gustav
Klimt’s famous painting
“The Kiss?”
Rhyme Schemes
•End Rhyme
•Internal Rhyme
•Half Rhyme
Rhyme Schemes – End Rhyme
• The rhyme occurs at the end of the verse lines.
• It is the most common rhyme form.
• Example:
Now my days are lonely,
And night-time drive me wild,
In my heart I’m crying.
I’m just Miss Blue’es child!
(Langston Hughes)
Rhyme Schemes – Internal Rhyme
• The rhyme occurs within a line of verse.
• Example
The splendor falls on castle walls
And the snow summits old in story:
The long light shakes across the lakes
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson)
Rhyme Schemes – Half Rhyme
• The rhyme is imperfect and approximate, not “dead
on.”
• Example:
I was the slightest in the HouseI took the smallest roomAt night, my little Lamp and BookAnd one Geranium
(Emily Dickinson)
Learning Target and Criteria for Success
• I understand poetry is written to be seen and heard. Poets
use sounds for emphasis or to enhance rhythm of the poem.
• After reading Odgen Nash’ poem, Adventures of Isabel, I can:
• Read a poem out loud and listen for consonance(same
consonant sounds) and assonance (same vowel sounds).
• Identify sound devices such as rhyme, rhythm, alliteration,
assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia and repetition.
• Explain why poets use sound devices.
• Interpret humor in poem and cite specific lines and examples.
Learning Target and Criteria for Success
• I understand the rhythms of a poem affect readers’
enjoyment and understanding.
• After reading Maya Angelou’s poem, Life Doesn’t
Frighten Me, I will:
• Identify regular rhythm (meter) and irregular (free
verse).
• Contrast rhythm and rhyme
• Describe the mood created by rhythm and rhyme
Types of Poems
• Acrostic
• Epitaph
• Haiku
• Sonnet
• Ode
• Praise poems
Learning Target and Criteria for Success
Acrostic Poem
•I can develop flexibility in the way I use
language by:
•Writing an acrostic poem about one of my
favorite things
•Reading the poem aloud with appropriate
emotion/feeling
•Illustrating the poem to convey meaning
Acrostic
• The first letters of each line are aligned vertically to form a word.
The word often is the subject of the poem.
• Example:
• Bright
• Caring
• Middle
• School
•P
•R
•I
•D
•E
Haiku
• Presents a vivid picture and the poet’s impression,
sometimes with suggestions of spiritual insights.
• The traditional Haiku is three lines longs: the first live
is five syllables, the second line is seven syllables, and
the third line is five syllables.
• Example:
What’s in my headphones? (5)
Nothing but Hip-Hop music, (7)
Jay-Z, Tupac, Nas! (5)
Epitaph
• A brief poem written to be inscribed on a gravestone.
Sonnets
•A sonnet is a poem which consists of the
following building blocks:
1.
A sonnet has 14 lines.
2. Each line in a sonnet has a special rhythm.
3. Each line in a sonnet has a special length.
4. In a sonnet there are five iambs to each line. This is called a
pentameter. Therefore, sonnets are written in iambic
pentameter.
Ode
•Exalts (celebrates) and addresses a person or
thing
•Intensity and sense of exaltation (celebration)
Poems of Praise
• These poems contain a lushness of language or a
piling up of images, a great exuberance for the
subject, even exaggeration (hyperbole).
• The idea is to convey the intensity of feeling with
specific language.
Essential Questions
• Why is it possible to have different interpretations
of a poem?
• Poetry is a genre that is open to personal
interpretation and might differ from person to
person.
• What is unique about how an author arranges words
and phrases in poetry?
• Authors arrange words and phrases in poetry to
express emotion and insight and to create writing
that is aesthetic in nature, very much like music.
Essential Questions
• Why are life experiences a foundation for writing
poetry?
• Life experiences are a foundation for writing poetry,
because poems are a unique perspective or
commentary on life.
• How do poetic techniques engage readers?
• Poetic techniques engage readers with meaning and
imagery created by word choice, figurative language,
repetition, rhyme, etc.