Friday, March 6, 2009

Genre Study: Writing Poetry With the Help of Technology




Genre Study- POETRY
This is a lesson plan that I am currently using in the first grade classroom I am student teaching in. These programs and websites have already been explored by my first grade students.

Author:

Jayme Beard


Grade Level:

1st grade

Timeframe:
45 min a day, for four days
Lesson Description or Explanation

Students will be required to publish a piece of writing. They will be provided with texts that fit this genre. This can help them find a topic to write about or just give them a real world example of what can be expected from a poet. The will be using online resources as well as Kidspiration 8 to help them through their drafting and revision process.

Indiana Curricular Standards


1.4
Students discuss ideas for group stories and other writing. Students write clear sentences and paragraphs that develop a central idea. Students progress through the stages of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing multiple drafts.
1.4.2
Use various organizational strategies to plan writing.
1.4.3
Evaluation and Revision:Revise writing for others to read.

1.5
At Grade 1, students begin to write compositions that describe and explain familiar objects, events, and experiences. Students use their understanding of the sounds of words to write simple rhymes. Student writing demonstrates a command of Standard English and the drafting, research, and organizational strategies outlined in Standard 4 - Writing Processes and Features. Writing demonstrates an awareness of the audience (intended reader) and purpose for writing.
1.5.1
Write brief narratives (stories) describing an experience.
1.5.2
Write brief expository (informational) descriptions of a real object, person, place, or event, using sensory details
1.5.4
Use descriptive words when writing.
1.5.5
Write for different purposes and to a specific audience or person.
1.7.6
Speaking Applications: Recite poems, rhymes, songs, and stories.
1.7.5
Use descriptive words when speaking about people, places, things, and events.
1.7.9
Provide descriptions with careful attention to sensory detail.
1.7.8
Relate an important life event or personal experience in a simple sequence.


ISTE Standards

1. Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes
using technology. Students:
a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression.

2. Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance,
to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments
and media.
b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.
4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make
informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students:
a. identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation.
b. plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project.
6. Technology Operations and Concepts
Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students:
a. understand and use technology systems.
b. select and use applications effectively and productively.
c. troubleshoot systems and applications.
d. transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies.

Assessments
Formative/Summative


Throughout the study, the teacher should be taking kidwatching notes. They should be watching the children participate in an author’s circle and noting how well they collaborate with others. Assessments can be done by keeping track of their writing process. They will note how the student research through books and online resources during this study. Teachers can also assess the students by watching their poems develop and noting how the children revise their pieces. At the end of the study, the student’s will display their final product and be required to talk about the process they went through and the resources they used to produce this final piece. Through their explanation, teachers can see how well the student’s can use outside resources to help produce their final product.

Prior Knowledge

Curricular Knowledge or Skills: By the time this study starts, students would have knowledge of how to participate in an Author’s circle. The students should have already participated in a writing workshop and understand the concept of writing about something important to them. They have already had practiced revising their writing and making rough drafts. They should have already practiced synthesizing information from the texts they read.
Technology Knowledge: Students will have already spent time exploring the internet and practiced using the World Wide Web. They also should already understand the basics of using a computer.

Technology


Internet Resources:

For Acrostic poems
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Dictionary.html
Students can use this online dictionary by clicking on a letter to display a list of words and pictures that begin with the letter.

For finding synonyms and using a dictionary
www.ivyjoy.com/rayne/dictionary.html
For finding matching/rhyming words
http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/abcmatch/

Hardware: Computers with internet connection

Software: Kidspiration 8, Microsoft Office 2007, Word Pad.

Poetry books:

Nikki Grimes (3)
Welcome, Precious
Danitra Brown, Class Clown
Thanks a Million (2 copies)

Langston Hughes (2)
My people
Poetry for Young People

Eloise Greenfield (2)
Africa Dream
Nathaniel Talking

Lisa Wheeler
Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum

Janet Morgan Stoeke
The Bus Stop

Sam Williams
Talk Peace

Elizabeth Ficocelli
Kid Tea

Philemon Sturges
I Love Bugs!

John Winter
Dizzy

Kelli Nidey
When Autumn Falls

Michael Tyler
The Skin You Live In

Susan Myers (2)
Kittens! Kittens! Kittens!
Puppies! Puppies! Puppies!

Walter Dean Myers
Jazz

Javaka Steptoe
In Daddy’s Arms I am Tall


Alice Schertle (4)
All You Need for a Snowman
Little Blue Truck
Very Hairy Bear
When the Moon Is High

Margaret Wise Brown
Nibble Nibble (2 copies)

Elizabeth Winthrop
Shoes

Naomi Shihab Nye
Come With Me: Poems for a Journey

Bill T. Jones
Dance

Poetry by A.A. Children
The Palm of my Heart

Vera Williams
A Chair for My Mother

Jane Yolen (18)
Harvest Home
Dimity Duck
Mouse’s Birthday
Grandma’s Hurry Child
How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon?
How Do Dinosaurs Go to School?
How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?
How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?
Nocturne
Baby Bear’s Books
Baby Bear’s Big Dreams
Baby Bear’s Chairs
Off We Go!
All Those Secrets of the World
Hoptoad
Sleep, Black Bear, Sleep
Here’s A Little Poem Snow, Snow: Winter Poems for Children

Procedure

Day 1: Immersion 45 min.

During day one, students learn that they will have to publish a written piece by the end of the study.
First, read aloud a poem to the class (Welcome, Precious by Nikki Grimes). Students will be presented with 20-30 poetry books. They will spend about 20 minutes reading through poems and writing their noticings in their writing journals. After the students have read at least 3-4 books, we will come together as a class to chart our findings about poems. They will make a list of the characteristics of poems. After the discussion, students will pull out their writing notebooks and start jotting down possible topics they can write about.

Day 2: Research 45 min. (during computer lab time)
On day two, the students will be using the computers to use Kidspiration 8 to generate a web, list, outline, etc., to start planning specific things they want their poem to have. Once they have their plans laid out, they may use the internet to develop their ideas. They will be given specific URL’s to use that can help them write their poems. These sites allow them to find synonyms for words they want to use, use a word matching program for acrostic poems, and they can use a kid friendly online dictionary to look up words they find.

Day 3: Final Day for revision 45 min
Student will have the opportunity to participate in an author’s circle in order to generate ideas from their peers that might help them better their poems. If the students are ready to publish their poems, they will use Microsoft Word to write their poems and use clip art to add pictures if they would like. ESL and special needs students may use the drawing pad on the computer to draw pictures that tell a story. They will present them during the poetry celebration along with the rest of the class.

Day 4: Poetry Jam! 45 min
Students will present their poems to the class individually. After they read them, their classmates will be allowed to ask questions about their poems and their writing process. After each student presents their piece, each poem will be displayed in the classroom for the remainder of the year.

Differentiated Instruction

ESL
In order to meet the needs of all learners, all of the books for the genre study can be read by emergent readers as well as independent and proficient readers. In order for everyone to be able to find a just right book, some texts will be picture books and others will have lots of words with fewer pictures in them.

Challenge/Extend

In order to challenge the proficient readers, they will be presented will books of higher reading levels. If one of the students were to finish early, they would be required to publish a book that included a collection of their favorite poems that they read during this unit of study (anthology). This book will require an “about the author” page that includes a description of why they chose each poem in their book.

Special Needs

In order to have full class participation, each student must be engaged in each lesson. For this lesson, special needs students will get to illustrate a poem by making a picture book that tells a story or reads like a poem. They can present it to the class and read through their illustrations to explain what their piece is about.

No comments: