Casey Robinson

Language Arts

Convention Minilesson

Grade 7

Oct 10, 2004

Structured Poetry

Review (3-5 minutes):� Review poetry terminology with students.� The teacher should say the word and have the students respond with the answer.� If they do not know the word they should write it down.�� Words to be reviewed: syllable, imagery, stanza, theme, and synonym.� This will be the first lesson in the Improving Your Poetry Unit.

Introduction: Today�s minilesson will introduce students to different forms of structured poetry. �Haiku and Cinquain will be outlined and modeled for students.� Students will copy the format for both forms of poetry as the teacher outlines them on overhead or chalkboard.� The teacher should include the students when modeling how to write both types of poem.

Points/Objectives:�

• Students will explore poetry as creative expression (NC ELA Goal 1).
• Students will define criteria to evaluate poetry (NC ELA Goal 4).
• Students will apply conventions of grammar and language to poetry (NC ELA Goal 6).
• Students will become familiar with different forms of poetry.
• Students will develop an appreciation of the variety of poetic forms.

Materials Needed: Teachers will need an overhead, chalkboard, or whiteboard to write out poetry structures and examples.

Guided Practice (20 minutes):� Teacher: �Does anyone know what a Haiku is? Does anyone have any guesses?� After eliciting a few guesses, the teacher should write out the simple structure of a Haiku on an overhead or chalkboard. Teacher: �A Haiku has three lines.� The first line has five syllables; the second line has seven syllables; the third line has five syllables.� The subjects of Haikus are often nature based, such as plants or animals, or emotions, such as love or friendship. A lot of imagery and description are used so the poem paints a picture in the readers mind�.� The teacher should write out an example with the students help in choosing topic and title.

Haiku example:

Rainbow

Curving up, then down.

Meeting blue sky and green earth

Melding sun and rain

����������� The second form of poetry is Cinquain.� Teacher: Does anyone know what a Cinquain is or have any guesses?� The teacher should on a new overhead or different board write out the form to this poem.� Teacher: �Cinquains have five lines. The first line has just one word that serves as the title; the second line describes the title in two words; the third line expresses the action of the title in three words; the fourth line expresses feeling or thought in four words; the fifth line has one word that is a synonym of the title.� Writing out the following example should assist students in understanding the structure.

Cinquain example:

Puppies

Playful, loveable

Likes to run and play

love, care, happy, mad

Dogs.

Independent Practice (remainder of class):� Students will write three poems. They must have at least one poem of one format and two of a different format.� This will allow them a chance to write both types of poems but gives them more choice to express themselves.� After they have completed writing, they should share the poems with another student to get feedback on how to improve the work.

Closure/Expectations:� By the next class meeting students should have typed their poems and be prepared to read them aloud to the class if they feel comfortable doing so and time permits.