Lesson 1: Poetry Defined

 Lesson Plan

Tuning In

• Display and discuss slide 4 of the Elements of Poetry PowerPoint. Encourage the students to share any thoughts or prior knowledge they have about what constitutes poetry.
• As a class, read the five texts displayed on slides 5-9. Discuss whether the students consider each text to be a poem and why.
• Once the five poems have been discussed, ask the students:
  • What did the texts we considered to be poems have in common?
  • What was different about the texts we did not consider to be poems?
  • Is it possible to define poetry?

Teacher Instruction

• Place the students into pairs. Using the ideas from the tuning in activity, encourage each pair to write a one sentence definition of what constitutes poetry. Place a reasonable time limit on the task e.g. five minutes.
• Allow each pair to share their definitions with the class. Draw out the common elements from each definition and list these on the board. Once everyone has shared their ideas, use the common elements from the list to create a class definition of what constitutes poetry.
• Watch the What is Poetry? video on YouTube. After watching, ask the students:
  • What were the common elements in the six dictionary definitions of poetry used in the video?
  • What did the word ‘poetry’ originally mean?
  • Why is poetry described in the video as ‘the almighty describer’?

Guided/Independent Learning

• Display and discuss slides 10-11. Compare the definition of poetry on the slide with the definition from the YouTube video and the definition created by the class.
• Introduce the concept of the poetry reflection journal (to be completed in a student exercise book or similar). Explain to the students that they will use the journal throughout the unit to record their thoughts and feelings about poems and poetry in general. In order to record the students’ initial understanding of what constitutes poetry, ask them to answer the following questions in their journals.
  • Which of the three definitions of poetry (the PowerPoint definition, the YouTube video definition and the class definition) most appeals to you and why?
  • Do you agree that artworks, music, dance performances and nature can be described as poetry? Why or why not?
  • List five words which best sum up your own understanding of what constitutes poetry.

Wrapping Up

• Revisit the five texts from the tuning in activity. Using the various definitions of poetry examined in the lesson, ask the students if they have changed their minds about whether they consider each text to be a poem.

 Differentiation

Extending Students

• Encourage fast finishers to do some research on the etymology of the word 'poetry'.

Supporting Students

• Encourage students with lower literacy levels to discuss their ideas about poetry with a teacher or teacher aide before recording them in their journal.

 Assessment Strategies

Suggested Assessment Strategies

• used strategic whole class or individual questioning
• observed student participation during learning activities
• recorded student progress on a checklist
• annotated student work samples
• collected and reviewed student work samples
• facilitated whole class or peer feedback sessions
• encouraged student self-reflection
• administered formal assessment tasks.

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Poetry

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