Looking Through a Poets Eyes: Visualization
and Poetry in Kindergarten
Days 1-5 Immersion: Read a variety of poems for 5 days. Begin Day 1 by thinking
aloud and pointing out what you notice about the poem. Day 2: Read 1-3 poems aloud
with class. Have students discuss what they notice about the poems with a writing
partner and as a class. Record “noticings” on Poetry chart. Begin to introduce parts of
poems such as line, stanza, voice, tempo, etc. as they are evident in poems read.
Repeat for days 3-5, studying a variety of styles and authors.
Day 6: Introduce the concept of visualizing. Explain that it is “like making a movie in
your head of what you hear”. Create anchor chart to record what students experience
during visualization activities throughout the unit. Read “The Toy Eater” by Shel
Silverstein 10-15 times. While reading, have students draw what they are imagining or
“visualizing” in their heads. Provide enough time for students to have a fairly detailed
picture on their paper. Share visualizations with class and ask students what is similar
about the drawings. What is different? Record sharing’s on visualization anchor chart.
Day 7: Review visualization poster. Repeat Day 6 activity with the poem “Big Green
Giant” by Jack Prelutsky. Share and discuss similarities/differences. Questions to ask:
How are brains working to visualize the same words differently? What does this mean
for your writing? How can you use this skill as an author?
Day 8: Students will take Writers Notebooks outside and record what is observed
using all 5 senses. Students can draw pictures, write words or sentences. Review as a
class what was observed and record some observation words on the visualization
chart. Discuss if “noticings” remind class of any poems read or any other observations
made.
Day 9: Observe ordinary objects as a class (Calkins & Parsons pg.1-3). Look at
classroom objects (bell, pencil sharpener, etc.) and describe the object. Encourage the
students to look “outside the box” with these objects. What else could they be used
for? Model a thought for each object. Record student comments and ideas. Review
some of the observations and work as a class to try putting observation words into a
poem.
Alleman, Hanley, Rimkus 2016
Day 10: Museum of Interesting Items. Place different objects around the room. Have
students walk around to each object to observe and record words they think of to
relate to the object. Place emphasis on recording visualization of the connections
made. Students should spend at least 1 minute at each object. Share observations with
a writing partner and as a class. (Calkins & Parsons pg. 4-5)
Day 11: Students review observations from the day before and try putting words they
recorded into a poem. Review parts of poems: line, stanza, voice, tempo. Have
students that would like to, share with the class.
Review poems read and add “poetry words” to chart
Day 12-13: Review visualization poster. Remind students that visualizing is like a
movie playing in your head and that everyone’s visualization is different. Listen to
classical music and have students draw or paint while the song is playing. Repeat song
for 10-15 minutes. Share visualizations with a partner and a few with the class.
Discuss what kinds of feelings students had while listening to the song and record on
the poetry chart. Record some words students use to describe their drawings as well.
Repeat on day 13 with a different type of music.
Day 14: Look at lyrics of a popular song that students will know. Discuss lyrics, line
breaks, meaning, etc. Relate the techniques/form to poetry.
Partner visualization- students sit with a partner back to back. Give one student a
picture in an envelope (monster or something easy to describe) and have them
describe to their partner. The second partner draws what they visualize while listening
to description. Switch partners and repeat activity. Share drawings and picture with
the class.
Day 15: Powerful thoughts in tiny packages. Poets find a topic that is “big and small”.
Demonstrate how to find a topic that is big and small by making a list as a class and
categorizing the feelings as “big” or “small”. Share “Strategies Poets Use” and
describe the steps taken to get there. Co-author a poem with students about a shared
big feeling. (Calkins & Parsons Pg. 32-35)
Day 16: Show, don’t tell. Poems have ingredients to them like a recipe. Poets find a
big topic that gives them big, strong feelings (excitement, happiness, sadness,
loneliness, worry, etc.) Poets find a small object or moment or detail that holds that
big feeling. Poets don’t usually just say their feelings, they show them through words.
Read a few examples and have students identify the big feeling and the small details.
(Calkins & Parsons Pg. 47-49 )
Alleman, Hanley, Rimkus 2016
Day 17: Review previous day. Have students close their eyes and visualize an
experience where they have felt happy, sad, scared, etc. Discuss visualizations and in
what kinds of small moments students experience those feelings (guide towards
discovering the small moment, if needed). Choose an example most students can
relate to and record sentences students share about the event. Try putting some into a
poem as a class. Have students work on writing a poem individually as well.
Day 18: Finding treasures in discarded drafts. Have students pick a poem they have
already written and pick 1-2 lines from the poem. Have students write about those
lines or create a poem with those lines as the topic. (Calkins & Parsons Pg. 107-110)
Day 19-22: Revising and editing poetry. Have students choose 1 poem to start with.
Read through poem and listen for anything they can change such as tempo, word
placement, line breaks, etc. They can also look at spelling. Check sight words, blends,
etc.
As they revise and edit 1 poem, choose a new one to work on. (Calkins & Parsons Pg.
125-129)
After students have revised a few poems, have them choose 1-2 to publish. They can
create a final draft of the poem on paper or using technology. If they have several to
share, create a Poetry Anthology!
Day 23: Author’s Celebration! Honor student’s hard work and efforts by sharing their
poems with an audience. This can be with students in class, other students in school,
parents, blog, etc. Some fun ideas include: Poetry Cafe, Author’s Tea, Compliment
Party, Buddy Read, etc.
Notes:
*Students should be writing daily throughout the study. At the beginning, it is appropriate if students
are not writing full poems. If students are struggling with how to get started, have them write words
or in prose. Guide students how to turn their prose into a poem during conferences.
*Use Calkins & Parsons for different mini-lessons throughout the study, as needed.
*Spend as much or as little time working on a skill/technique as needed throughout the study.
*The power is in the process, not the product. Celebrate all students’ efforts!
Resources:
Calkins, L., & Parsons, S. (2003). Poetry: Powerful thoughts in tiny packages. Portsmouth, NH:
FirstHand.
Ray, K., & Cleaveland, L. (2004). About the authors: Writing workshop with our youngest writers.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Collins, K. (2004). Growing readers units of study in the primary classroom. Portland, Me.:
Stenhouse.
Alleman, Hanley, Rimkus 2016
Alleman, Hanley, Rimkus 2016