Molly Igo
December 8, 2014
Clark University Master of Arts in Teaching Program
Learning Activity Plan
I.
Content: Describe what it is you will teach. What is the content?
Now that I had a chance to see the students in action translating and finding meaning in poetry,
and the students themselves have had a taste of reading and discussing poetry, I’d like to add to
their “poetic toolkit” by introducing them to sensory detail with the idea of showing vs. telling. I
will first introduce them to the poem, “You Can’t Write A Poem about McDonald’s” which
emphasizes the five senses when entering the restaurant. I will have them respond to the poem
and then discuss it in their groups. I will then have them do a loop writing activity that eventually
lead to them describing their favorite place. I will then have them write a poem in their poetry
journals about this poem. This unit will focus on working in groups, adding to their poetic
toolkits and trying out poetry on their own in a low-stakes way.
II.
Learning Goal(s): Describe what specifically students will know and be able to do after the
experience of this class.
Students will be able to identify sensory details in a poem and then use them on their own in a
poem. They will be able to see how poetry does not need to be about pretty topics such as love,
nature, and relationships; it can touch on any subject—even McDonald’s! I want them to be able
to know that there is freedom in writing poetry but that the language can be kept poetic. This
poem is a great Segway into practicing sensory detail because there is so much of it in the poem.
Students will be able to use their awareness of the five senses and add this vivid detail to their
own poems to effectively use the “show don’t tell approach.” I also hope to remind them of
similes and metaphors and hopefully the challenge of the day will be them incorporating them
into the poem.
III.
Rationale: Explain how the content and learning goal(s) relate to your Curriculum Unit Plan
learning goals.
I have the students reading and responding to a poem individually and either translating or
making meaning out of it. I also have the students working in groups to read and discuss the
poem together as well as utilizing each other as resources to help create their first poem. I also am
adding to their “poetic toolkit” by introducing ways to add sensory detail, metaphor and simile to
their writing. I am scaffolding their tool-kit day by day by gradually bringing in different tools
they can use to read and write poetry.
IV.
Assessment: Describe how you and your students will know they have reached your learning
goals.
Looking at their final poem outcomes in their poetry journals will allow me to assess whether
they grasped the whole, show don’t tell approach. I hope to also look at their loop writing to get a
sense of how they are using word choice or thinking creatively about their topics.
V.
Personalization and equity: Describe how you will provide for individual student strengths and
needs. How will you and your lesson consider the needs of each student and scaffold learning?
How specifically will ELL students and students with learning disabilities gain access and be
supported?
The loop writing will be low stakes, as every student can write about their favorite place. The
poem may have some underlying deeper meaning but this is what their group is for, so they can
take what they notice at first and then add to it by listening to group members. In the “My special
place” poems, the guidelines are very simple and should support them enough to write a poem
about it. They are using personal experience so the only difficult part is putting it in a poetic form
which I hope they have seen enough poems to grasp the structure so far.
VI.
Activity description and agenda
a. 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.
b. What particular challenges, in terms of student learning or implementing planned activity, do
you anticipate and how will you address them?
VII.
List the Massachusetts Learning Standards this lesson addresses.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.5
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in
word meanings.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.4.a
Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word's position or
function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase
Time
12-12:05
12:05-12:07
12:07-12:12
12:12-12:16
12:16-12:26
12:26-12:34
12:35-1:02pm
Teacher’s Activity
Welcome students, put groups
of three on the board
Ask for volunteer to read
McDonald’s Poem, then have
students read it quietly to
themselves & give them
guidelines for making notes or
marking up paper
Instruct students to talk about
the poem with their group
Share out as a class: look
specifically for students to
bring up sensory details
Give a mini lesson the idea of
show vs. telling by having
them give suggestions to my
poem about the beach. Show
them examples how to show
instead of tell.
Loop writing giving them
sensory details to explain their
favorite place.
Give out show vs. tell
worksheet and have them
create a poem using sensory
Student’s Activity
Get into groups, quiet down
Listen to poem then read poem
then markup paper and make
notes.
Students discuss with groups
Students have a class
discussion and share out ideas
Students give suggestions to
make the poem better using
sensory details.
Write & listen for instructions
Work on Sensory detail poems
and brainstorm worksheet.
1:02-1:10pm
VIII.
detail
Ask for volunteers to share
poems out loud with the class
Students volunteer to share
poems
Reflection
a. In light of all areas of planning, but especially in terms of your stated purpose and learning goals,
in what ways was the activity(ies) successful? How do you know? In what ways was it not
successful? How might the activity be planned differently another time?
This lesson was designed to introduce students to using sensory detail in writing and in poetry
specifically. Many of the students know about the five senses but don’t realize how significant it
can be in setting the scene, giving detail and creating an image in a reader’s or their own minds.
The McDonald’s poem worked out really well because it introduced them to the fact that you can
write a poem about anything—some students found the poem really cool while others did not like
it. Both classes brought up the idea that it “made me hungry” and I followed up with asking why
it made them so hungry to which they said, “the way they describe the food.” This was a perfect
transition into my mini lesson where I explained the importance of sensory writing. Although the
loop writing was a little shaky, the students started creating some really great and creative poems
which used a lot of sensory details they wrote in their journal for the loop writing.
The loop writing seemed like a great idea to take them on a journey of the senses however the
concept of loop writing confused the students and they spent the journey asking questions, yelling
things out and making comments. I got them back on track by reminding them this was a silent
activity but the questions continued. I think if I were to do this activity in the future it may go
smoother because the students will have an idea of what it is, be more comfortable with it and
have fewer questions. The loop writing did lead to some great poems afterwards but the activity
itself was a little shaky for their first time.
b. What did you learn from the experience of this lesson that will inform your next LAP?
I noticed from reading some poems that many people were confused with how to structure a
poem. They would write really long sentences and write in paragraphs instead of constructing it
in a poetic and meaningful way. I thought by exposure to many poems so far would give them the
idea but now I realize I should make my next lesson focused on structuring poems in a purposeful
way and expose them to many structures. They have been exposed to strict guidelines like sonnets
and haikus but having free-verse I think confused them. One student asked, “what kind of poem
do you want us to write?” I responded that they should structure it in a way that makes sense, to
get creative but make the structure meaningful. I then realized they may not know what any of
that means so I should focus my next lesson around structuring a poem and helping them with
their sensory detail poems.
We also didn’t get to finishing or sharing out our poems which I would like to continue for my
next lesson but this time focusing on structure and maybe providing thesauruses so the students
can get creative with their words; which also touches on diction. I also realized the students may
need more time to work on poems in the future because some are slower at writing them than
others.