STUDENT-TEACHER CREATED LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE
ENGLISH EDUCATION, 2008-2009 COHORT
“THE FISH” BY ELIZABETH BISHOP
TEACHER: ANDY RIDDILE
DATE: 2/11/09
PERIOD: 1, 3-6
GRADE LEVEL: 7TH
CONTEXT/RATIONALE:
(Why this lesson in this way with this group of students today? How does it fit into the bigger
context of the unit?)
Students need to be able to analyze literature for understanding. They also
need to know how to recognize literary devices, such as simile and metaphor, so
that they can recognize/understand them and even implement them in their own
writing. As part of the poetry unit, students will work toward such analysis with a
variety of works in a variety of ways. “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop is a poem
packed with ambiguous meaning, similes and metaphors, and it requires critical
thought for understanding. Due to the difficulty of the poem, it would be helpful if
students collaborated in small groups in order to analyze the poem.
INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES:
(Connect to SOL’s where appropriate.)
SWBAT analyze the poem for understanding. They will know the difference
between metaphor and simile, and will be able to identify them in the poem.
7.1
The student will give and seek information in conversations, in group
discussions, and in oral presentations.
b) Communicate ideas and information orally in an organized and succinct
manner.
d) Make supportive statements to communicate agreement with or
acceptance of others’ ideas.
7.4
The student will read to determine the meanings and pronunciations of
unfamiliar words and phrases.
b) Recognize analogies and figurative language.
7.5
The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of fiction,
narrative nonfiction, and poetry.
c) Describe the impact of word choice, imagery, and poetic devices.
e) Draw conclusions based on explicit and implied information.
f) Make inferences based on explicit and implied information.
OPENER/ANTICIPATORY SET/WARM-UP:
(Include details about what prior knowledge students need in order to enter into this lesson
and how you’ll engage it.)
Introduce Elizabeth Bishop. Provide a brief history of her life. Connect her
with other poets read in the unit by mentioning that she was also a winner of the
Pulitzer Prize.
ACTIVITIES:
(Include variety here – use the lesson planning checklist as a reference.)
Before “opener”:
- Place cards on tables with seating assignments. [These groups were carefully
picked with the help of CT for the purposes of the lesson]
- Help students find their seats. Explain that the seating arrangement is
temporary.
- Remind students of homework. Go over the class schedule.
After “opener”:
- Pass out poems (copy included below). Read poem aloud to class as they follow
along.
- Go over metaphor and simile (definitions on whiteboard). Give examples of
each.
- Explain task ahead. They will discuss and answer the questions provided in a
handout. Explain that although they will be working together, they each need to
complete the handout for credit. This will help ensure participation from all
group members.
- Tell students that they will need to use different reading strategies to analyze the
poem (rereading, making inferences, defining unfamiliar words, making
connections to prior knowledge, etc.)
- Remind students that they MUST work together and not attempt to answer the
questions alone. Tell them that doing so will make the task more manageable, as
the questions are difficult and are meant to be discussed. Say that you will “poke
and prod” them if they aren’t working together!
- Distribute handout (copy included below).
- Assist with assignment, milling around the classroom and helping to facilitate
discussion.
- After about 20 minutes, go over the questions with the class, getting input from
all groups.
- Use this process to delve deeper into the poem, noting multiple interpretations
of the same passage, notable insights, etc.
- At the end of class, collect handouts.
CLOSURE:
Talk with the class about difficulties, successes, and developments observed
throughout the class. Discuss the ambiguity in poetry. Also discuss how something
as simple as fishing can be a profound experience, and can be describes as such
through literature and descriptive language.
MATERIALS:
(What do you need to gather and have ready for students to support and drive this lesson?)
- Copies of “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop
- Copies of the handout
- Notes for reference during teaching and on Elizabeth Bishop
DIFFERENTIATION:
(What can you do within this lesson to make sure that you are moving ALL kids further in
their skills and understandings? Note: It is not enough to mention that you’re working with
a collaborating teacher or reading specialist here. This might not happen in each lesson.)
When deciding on groups for the lesson, careful consideration was given to
struggling students, advanced students, and compatibility. Students were carefully
grouped in order to further the understanding of everyone involved. These were
difficult questions, and therefore group dynamics were important. It also helps that
the teacher can rotate around the room, offering suggestions and advice for each
group, paying particular attention to groups and individuals that are struggling.
ASSESSMENT:
(How do you know what ALL students know? Formative and summative.)
Assessment will be gleaned from observation during group work and class
discussion. Further assessment can be gained from examining the students’
handouts turned in at the end of the lesson.
The Fish
Elizabeth bishop
I caught a tremendous fish
and held him beside the boat
half out of water, with my hook
fast in a corner of its mouth.
He didn’t fight.
He hadn’t fought at all.
He hung a grunting weight,
battered and venerable
and homely. Here and there
his brown skin hung in strips
like ancient wallpaper,
and its pattern of darker brown
was like wallpaper:
shapes like full-blown roses
stained and lost through age.
He was speckled with barnacles,
fine rosettes of lime,
and infested
with tiny white sea-lice,
and underneath two or three
rags of green weed hung down.
While his gills were breathing in
the terrible oxygen
— the frightening gills,
fresh and crisp with blood,
that can cut so badly —
I thought of the coarse white flesh
packed in like feathers,
the big bones and the little bones,
the dramatic reds and blacks
of his shiny entrails,
and the pink swim-bladder
like a big peony.
I looked into his eyes
which were far larger than mine
but shallower, and yellowed,
the irises backed and packed
with tarnished tinfoil
seen through the lenses
of old scratched isinglass.
They shifted a little, but not
to return my stare.
— It was more like the tipping
of an object toward the light.
I admired his sullen face,
the mechanism of his jaw,
and then I saw
that from his lower lip
— if you could call it a lip —
grim, wet, and weaponlike,
hung five old pieces of fish-line,
or four and a wire leader
with the swivel still attached,
with all their five big hooks
grown firmly in his mouth.
A green line, frayed at the end
where he broke it, two heavier lines,
and a fine black thread
still crimped from the strain and snap
when it broke and he got away.
Like medals with their ribbons
frayed and wavering,
a five-haired beard of wisdom
trailing from his aching jaw.
I stared and stared
and victory filled up
the little rented boat,
from the pool of bilge
where oil had spread a rainbow
around the rusted engine
to the bailer rusted orange,
the sun-cracked thwarts,
the oarlocks on their strings,
the gunnels — until everything
was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!
And I let the fish go.
Analysis of “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop
In groups, discuss the questions and answer them below. Although you
will be working together, each of you needs to complete the assignment for
credit. Remember to reread passages and/or the entire poem in order to
answer the questions well.
1. A. What images do you think work well in the poem? Provide at least three
examples.
B. What makes them effective?
2. Why do you think the fish doesn’t fight when it is caught? (lines 5-6)
3. Why do you think the speaker of the poem lets the fish go?
4. Identify examples of simile and metaphor. Provide at least three similes and one
metaphor.
5. What do you think the speaker means when she says “rainbow, rainbow,
rainbow” at the end of the poem?
6. Several times in the poem the speaker compares the old and ugly fish to
something beautiful or positive (lines 14, 33, 61, and 63). What are other
things that can be described by comparing them with something totally
different?