Clark University Master of Arts in Teaching Program
Learning Activity Plan
I.
Content: We will continue to work with poetic devices, focusing on personification
today. We will be reading the poem “Abandoned Farmhouse” by Ted Kooser. Students
will work to complete written responses to the poem after we read and analyze them
together.
II.
Learning Goal(s): Students will be able to respond to a poem independently of the
teacher. Students will know how to approach a complex poem and what strategies to use
to make sense of the poem. Students will know when and how to use the various
strategies we have been learning for the past few weeks.
III.
Rationale: This is moving towards a more summative part of the unit, where students
begin to work more independently and with less help from their peers and the teacher.
Students will be required to identify poetic devices as well as the author’s purpose,
meaning, and point of view in the poem as they write by themselves for the first time.
IV.
Assessment: Written responses will allow for the teacher to know if students have
reached my learning goals. I will be giving them feedback as they write and finish their
writing to go back and look at parts needing improvement. Students will receive copies of
the questions before they begin.
V.
Personalization: Students will begin by reading the poem as a class. After that, they will
break up into groups to analyze the poem. This will help to support students who might
struggle with the poem on their own. Each student will have a physical copy of the
questions they are answering as well as those questions being written on the whiteboard.
Time will be spent with IEP students reviewing and breaking down each question before
the writing process begins.
VI.
Activity description and agenda: Describe the activities that will help your students
understand the content of your class lesson by creating an agenda with time frames for
your class. Be prepared to explain why you think each activity will help students on the
path toward understanding.
Time frame:
0-5 minutes
Students will:
Listen to poetry read aloud.
5-25 minutes
Read “Abandoned
Farmhouse” aloud and
break into groups to analyze
the poem.
Students will write
responses to “Abandoned
Farmhouse.”
25-65 minutes
Revised 5/12/11
Teacher will:
Read “No Man is an Island”
by John Donne
Read “Abandoned
Farmhouse” aloud and then
circulate among students.
Circulate the room; support
IEP students by reading and
reviewing individual
response questions.
Clark University Master of Arts in Teaching Program
Learning Activity Plan
VII.
List the Massachusetts Learning Standards this lesson addresses.
a. RL.6.1: Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text.
b. RI.6.6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is
conveyed in the text. W.6.1c,d,e: Write arguments to support claims with clear
reasons and relevant evidence: c: use words, phrases, and clauses to clarify the
relationships among claim(s) and reasons; d: establish and maintain a formal style; e:
provide a concluding statement or section that follows the argument presented.
VIII.
Reflection
a. Today was a huge struggle. Mrs. Seles was out of the room testing while students were
responding to the text and they were not focused and not interested in responding. It was
very difficult to get them going and I did not have a great day keeping my head. We
made the decision to skip Fast ForWord (our reading intervention program everyday after
lunch) and have the students spend more time writing their responses. They were slightly
better in the afternoon and it was clear to me that part of the frustration and lack of effort
of the morning was that I had not provided enough support to some students. If I did this
again, I would DEFINITELY provide more support for all students in the class, not just
the select few that I thought needed it most.
b. I learned that students are still in need of support, even as we approach the end of the
poetry unit. I must keep this in mind as we progress and move forwards, or else students
will be left behind or remain frustrated with me and the work they are facing. I also
learned that there are many students in my class that are capable of even higher level
texts than we have been facing lately, which is a pleasant surprise.
Revised 5/12/11