Learning Outcome 4: Understand how students learn and develop
Kids in general are absolutely fascinating. They are so complex and layered it takes a
great deal of thought and consideration to figure out how to teach them. Students learn
and develop at different rates and these variables often make teaching seem difficult,
but there is always one constant – students can learn. It just means we must set them
up for success and look at them as both students and people. When viewing students as
people, we can see their interests, the things that influence their behavior, what makes
them tick. Once we find this out, we can dig deeply into how students learn best.
Before any learning can truly take place students need to know that they are learning
authentically. They need to know that they are not only learning skills, but also problem
solving for real life situations. I believe learning begins only after students can explore
themselves and share themselves in a safe space. Once they have done that they are
much more apt to explore the world around them, look at literature through the lens of
both self and how it affects others, and I am able to structure units, lessons, and
assignments around a new knowledge of them as people. Allowing students to share
who they are with each other also creates a community of learners, rather than having
each student feel alone in a room full of other individuals.
When designing a poetry unit for my students, I knew they would be reluctant to dive
into poetry. They had expressed their distaste for it earlier in the trimester. It became
clear that I needed to hook them, to find a way to engage them, allow them a way to get
excited about poetry. The first lesson in poetry was teaching them the basic skills of
figurative language (metaphor, imagery, symbolism) but their task was to create a
poem that explored their identity – an ‘I Am’ poem. In order to get students to the point
of feeling comfortable with writing this poem, I had to structure the lesson in a way to
interest them, and scaffold their learning while modeling how their poem should look.
As seen in the lesson provided, the lesson was scaffolded so that students could first get
their toes wet, slip into the water, and then dive right in. We started with a Do Now that
asked them to being describing themselves on a surface level to get them into the
framework of thinking about their identity. We then used their descriptions to
determine how we could improve them, which led us to a discussion of imagery,
metaphor, and symbolism – how the use of showing not telling and figurative language
bolsters any form of writing. From there we looked at a model of an ‘I Am’ poem written
by another student who was in the 11th grade. We analyzed the structure, the use of
figurative language, and the focus of the poem. I then shared my own ‘I Am’ poem so
that the students knew that since they were sharing themselves with me, I wanted to
reciprocate that openness. They were then handed an outline, which is also provided
here, that listed topics that they may use to develop their poem and guide them towards
writing so that the task didn’t seem as daunting, but they had the freedom to create the
poem in any way they wanted. The students took to the idea of writing about
themselves in a poetic way. They began avidly writing. The next day, they were eager to
share out with everyone.
Scaffolding and modeling is so important towards getting students to learn, but so is
how you position yourself and the work you are expecting of them. They need to know
what they’re doing matters, and they need to know that you think it matters enough to
participate as an equal with a little more experience.
Teacher: Samantha Slavin Class: English Date: 11/27/2012
Grade Level: 11 Room Number: 183 Period: 1,2,7
Unit: Poetry As Activism Topic: I Am Poem - Identity
Context: Yesterday students worked on their own definition of poetry and discussed what they
expected from it. They analyzed how rap may be considered poetry.
Objectives:
Short-range Learning Objective:
• Students will be able to apply the theme of identity to guide their writing
• Students will be able to create an ‘I Am’ poem as a means of expression and self
discovery
Long-range Learning Objective:
 Students will be able to view poetry as a means of self expression
 Students will be able to create poems using literary devices
Procedure:
Anticipatory Set:
Do Now: Describe yourself as though you are a stranger looking in. Be sure to include a
description of: your physical appearance, your internal qualities, your actions, and your
surroundings.
Instruction:

Imagery: playing on the 5 senses to invoke mental images (show and not tell)
o From the poem “In Praise of Vodka” –
 “Out of the freezer the bottle, the green frosty bottle, its label in Cyrillic”
 “The taste of air, of wind on the fields”

Metaphor: a direct comparison between two things that are seemingly different
o Success is a bastard as it has many fathers; failure is an orphan with no takers
 Symbolism: an object or idea used to represent something else
o Light in “Don’t Go Gently Into That Good Night”
o Holden’s red hunting hat
o McMurphy’s boxers
Guided Practice:
 Explain purpose and importance
o
Get to know you as people
o
Self expression and a way to figure out who you are
o
Creativity
o
Chance to play with language
 Show example of I Am poem created by a student
 What different things are being described in the poem? (Look at the stanzas individually)
 How is the poem organized?
 Does it rhyme?
 What does the student do to make it effective?
Independent Practice:
 Use outline to brainstorm ideas
 Begin drafting I Am poem
 Final Draft due tomorrow
Name: _________________________________
Date: _________________________
“I Am” Poem
Who you are NOW
I am [write 3 things/activites you love t do – think what makes you happy]
1. _________________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________________________
I am [favorite food, movie, book, music, etc.]
1. _________________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________________________
I am [town you are from, neighborhood, school, etc.]
1. _________________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________________________
Family Background
I am [3 things that describe your background – types of food, language, history]
1. _________________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________________________
I am [3 things about your family]
1. _________________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________________________
I am [personal feelings about your background and/or family]
1. _________________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________________________
What you want for the future
I am [what you want to be – something you want for YOUR future]
1. __________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________
I am [something you hope for the future in general – for the world, country, community]
1. ___________________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________________________________
I am [the life you would like yourself to have]
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________