Way To Go! Sports Poems
Lillian Morrison
Subject: English
Grade Level: Fourth
Standards of Learning:
English 4.1: The student will use effective oral communication skills in a variety
of settings.
a) Contribute to group discussions.
b) Seek the ideas and opinions of others.
English 4.3: The student will read and learn the meanings of unfamiliar words.
a) Use word-reference materials including the glossary,
dictionary, and thesaurus.
English 4.4: The student will read fiction and nonfiction, including biographies
and historical fiction.
a) Explain the author’s purpose.
b) Describe how the choice of language, setting, and
information contributes to the author’s purpose.
English 4.6: The student will read a variety of poetry.
a) Describe the rhyme scheme (approximate, end, and
internal).
b) Identify the sensory words and their effect on the reader.
c) Write rhymed, unrhymed, and patterned poetry.
English 4.8: The student will edit final copies of writing.
Techniques:
Save the Last Word for the Artist
Strategies:
Activate prior knowledge
Apply background knowledge
Visualizing
Making connections
Organizing Ideas
Skills:
Understand organization and structure of narrative and expository text
Use of dictionary
Use of contextual clues
Increase sight vocabulary
Increase meaning vocabulary
Use and recognize synonyms and antonyms
Use of punctuation
General Objectives:
The student will:
1. comprehend poetry.
2. use sensory words in writing.
3. engage in a small group drama presentation.
4. write a poem.
Specific Objectives:
The student will:
1. discuss his or her knowledge of poetry and poetry structure and provide
answers to complete a web on poetry.
2. write a paragraph using sensory words.
3. read an assigned section of the book Way To Go! Sports Poems.
4. identify unknown words, use a dictionary to look up the words, and add the
words to their vocabulary journal.
5. work with a group to create a dramatic representation that symbolizes the
group’s meaning of three poems in its assigned section to read from Way To
Go! Sports Poems.
6. write his or her own sports poem using sensory words.
7. edit and rewrite his or her sports poem.
Procedures for Teacher:
The teacher will:
Before Reading:
1. Write the word “poetry” in the center of a web on the board. Have
students think about their prior knowledge of poems and give the
teacher suggestions to complete the web (possible suggestions
include: rhyming words, incomplete sentences…)
2. Talk about and provide examples of different types of poems and
different ways to write poems. Poems may be rhymed, unrhymed, or
patterned.
3. Discuss the five senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, and hear) and
sensory words for each sense. Ask students how they think sensory
words set the tone in stories and poems. Assign students to write a
paragraph about their classroom using many sensory words. Let
volunteers read their sensory paragraphs.
4. Arrange the students in no more than 6 heterogeneous groups.
5. Give each group a section to read from the book Way To Go! Sports
Poems (“With a Ball”, “Winter World”, “Track and Field”, On Wheels”,
“On the Water”, or “The Spirit of Sport”).
During Reading:
6. Tell the students to read their assigned section of Way To Go! Sports
Poems silently.
After Reading:
Responding to the text:
7. Have students respond to the assigned section of Way To Go! Sports
Poems in their group. Tell them to discuss the poems they liked most
and how the author used sensory words to set the tone for the poem.
8. Observe each group as they discuss the poems and help direct or
redirect any groups to the discussion when necessary.
Exploring the text:
9. Have students write any words they did not know in their vocabulary
journal. Then have the students guess a definition based on the
context and look up the definition in a dictionary. Tell students to write
both their guessed definition and dictionary definition in their
vocabulary journal.
10. Have each group make a list of the sensory words used in the poems
they read.
Applying the text:
11. Tell groups to each choose three poems out of their section of Way To
Go! Sports Poems that they would want to create a dramatic
representation. For each poem, have students write a list of the
sensory words.
12. Have students plan their dramatic representation for each poem by
choosing motions for the sensory words in the poem. Tell them that
each member of the group must participate in at least one dramatic
representation.
13. Have each group perform their dramatic representations of their three
poems. Have the other groups guess which sport the dramatic
representation of the poem is being presented.
Steps for Save the Last Word for the Artist:
1. Read the text. Students read the assigned section of the text silently.
2. Discuss the poems in small groups. The teacher assigns the
students to no more than six heterogeneous groups in which the
students discuss the poems, sensory words, etc.
3. Create a dramatic representation for three poems. Each group
works together to create a dramatic representation that symbolizes the
group’s meaning of the poem and of the sensory words in the poem.
4. Present the dramatic representations. Each group acts out their
three poems for the class without discussing their interpretations.
5. Other groups discuss the dramatic representations. In a large
group, students discuss what they think the other groups were trying to
express in their dramatic representation. After everyone has discussed
the dramatic representations, the “actors” can then talk about their
dramatic representations and how it symbolizes their poems.
6. Reflect on the experience. After each group has finished, the
teacher asks the students to reflect on the experience in terms of being
a reader and bringing their interpretations to the comprehension of the
text. This may be in written or oral form.
Closing:
The lesson will end by the teacher having the students come together as a whole
group to discuss what they learned from doing Save the Last Word for the Artist
with poetry. They will also discuss what they could have done differently or what
they liked or disliked about the assignment. The teacher will answer any
questions about using sensory words or about poetry. The teacher will direct the
students to return to their seats and write their own sports poems using sensory
words.
Evaluation:
During this lesson, the teacher will evaluate the students’ amount of
comprehension based on participation in providing answers for the web and the
Venn diagram. The teacher will also check students’ paragraphs for use of
sensory words. During small group discussions on the assigned poems, the
teacher will circulate the room and observe students’ participation in these
discussions as well as their participation in creating the dramatic presentation.
Materials:
 Way To Go! Sports Poems by Lillian Morrison
 Dictionary for each group (possibly six dictionaries)
Extension
Have the students write a sports poem individually using many sensory words.
Students will edit and rewrite their sports poems and share them in their small
groups. The groups may create dramatic representations of these new poems.
The teacher will evaluate the students’ poems and groups’ dramatic
presentations.
Lesson plan written by:
Karen Rockwell
Longwood College