Unit Plan
Exploring Poetry – Year 3 and Year 4 Unit Plan
This English unit addresses common poetic devices such as sound play, word play and imagery and explores how these may be applied to narrative poetry.
It consists of 10 lessons of approximately 60 minutes duration.
The sequence of lessons and suggested time frames should be regarded as a guide only; teachers should pace lessons in accordance with the individual learning needs of their class.
An independent writing task, which may couple as an assessment task, is included in the unit. The number of lessons required to complete this task may vary from class to class.
Teachers are also encouraged to collect samples of students’ work throughout the unit to reflect their learning journey.
Overview
Objectives
- To develop a definition of poetry.
- To identify the purpose, intended audience and subject matter of a poem.
- To explore the common literary devices found in poetry.
- To identify and explore alliteration in poetry.
- To identify and explore onomatopoeia in poetry.
- To identify and explore word play in poetry.
- To identify and explore imagery in poetry.
- To explore storytelling through poetry.
- To plan and write a narrative poem which includes a setting, characters and a storyline.
- To create a class anthology of narrative poems.
Preparing for Learning
Prior to commencing the unit, develop a poetry wall in the classroom. Display posters, word wall vocabulary and learning goals to stimulate the students’ interest and assist in their learning throughout the unit. For examples of teaching resources to display in your classroom, browse the Poetry topic on the Teach Starter website.
Expose the students to a range of poetry before and during the unit. Encourage the students to share the poems they enjoy with the class and add these to a classroom display. Look for and identify poetic devices in picture books, songs and other narrative texts.
Some of the resources which accompany this unit plan will need to be prepared prior to teaching. For this reason, it is advised that teachers browse through all lessons before commencing the unit.
Lessons
Lessons
Resources
NSW Curriculum alignment
- EN2-1A
Communicates in a range of informal and formal contexts by adopting a range of roles in group, classroom, school and community contexts
- EN2-2A
Plans, composes and reviews a range of texts that are more demanding in terms of topic, audience and language
- EN2-4A
Uses an increasing range of skills, strategies and knowledge to fluently read, view and comprehend a range of texts on increasingly challenging topics in different media and technologies
- EN2-6B
Identifies the effect of purpose and audience on spoken texts, distinguishes between different forms of English and identifies organisational patterns and features
- EN2-7B
Identifies and uses language forms and features in their own writing appropriate to a range of purposes, audiences and contexts
- EN2-8B
Identifies and compares different kinds of texts when reading and viewing and shows an understanding of purpose, audience and subject matter
- EN2-9B
Uses effective and accurate sentence structure, grammatical features, punctuation conventions and vocabulary relevant to the type of text when responding to and composing texts
- EN2-10C
Thinks imaginatively, creatively and interpretively about information, ideas and texts when responding to and composing texts
- EN2-11D
Responds to and composes a range of texts that express viewpoints of the world similar to and different from their own
- EN2-12E
Recognises and uses an increasing range of strategies to reflect on their own and others’ learning
Victorian Curriculum alignment
- VCELA246
Understand how different types of texts vary in use of language choices, depending on their purpose, audience and context, including tense and types of sentences
- VCELT251
Draw connections between personal experiences and the worlds of texts, and share responses with others
- VCELT264
Create imaginative texts based on characters, settings and events from students’ own and other cultures including through the use of visual features
- VCELY266
Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features and selecting print and multimodal elements appropriat...
- VCELA277
Identify features used in imaginative, informative and persuasive texts to meet the purpose of the text, and understand how texts vary in complexity and technicality depending on the approach to the t...
- VCELT298
Create literary texts that explore students’ own experiences and imagining
- VCELY299
Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts containing key information and supporting details for a widening range of audiences, demonstrating increasing control over text st...
- VCELT306
Discuss literary experiences with others, sharing responses and expressing a point of view
- VCELY256
Read an increasing range of imaginative, informative and persuasive texts by combining phonic, semantic, contextual and grammatical knowledge, using text processing strategies, including confirming, r...
- VCELT265
Create texts that adapt language features and patterns encountered in literary texts
- VCELY267
Reread and edit texts for meaning, appropriate structure, grammatical choices and punctuation
- VCELA271
Understand that successful cooperation with others depends on shared use of social conventions, including turn-taking patterns, and forms of address that vary according to the degree of formality in ...
- VCELY287
Read different types of texts for specific purposes by combining phonic, semantic, contextual and grammatical knowledge using text processing strategies, including monitoring meaning, skimming, scanni...
- VCELY300
Reread and edit for meaning by adding, deleting or moving words or word groups to improve content and structure
- VCELA304
Understand that social interactions influence the way people engage with ideas and respond to others
- VCELT253
Discuss how language is used to describe the settings in texts, and explore how the settings shape the events and influence the mood of the narrative
- VCELA292
Understand that the meaning of sentences can be enriched through the use of noun groups/phrases and verb groups/phrases and prepositional phrases
- VCELT254
Discuss the nature and effects of some language devices used to enhance meaning and shape the reader’s reaction, including rhythm and onomatopoeia in poetry and prose
- VCELY269
Use software including word processing programs with growing speed and efficiency to construct and edit texts featuring visual, print and audio elements
- VCELY302
Use a range of software including word processing programs to construct, edit and publish written text, and select, edit and place visual, print and audio elements
Australian Curriculum alignment
- ACELA1476
Understand that successful cooperation with others depends on shared use of social conventions, including turn-taking patterns, and forms of address that vary according to the degree of formality in ...
- ACELA1478
Understand how different types of texts vary in use of language choices, depending on their purpose and context (for example, tense and types of sentences)
- ACELT1596
Draw connections between personal experiences and the worlds of texts, and share responses with others
- ACELT1599
Discuss how language is used to describe the settings in texts, and explore how the settings shape the events and influence the mood of the narrative
- ACELT1601
Create imaginative texts based on characters, settings and events from students?? own and other cultures using visual features, for example perspective, distance and angle
- ACELY1676
Listen to and contribute to conversations and discussions to share information and ideas and negotiate in collaborative situations
- ACELY1678
Identify the audience and purpose of imaginative, informative and persuasive texts
- ACELY1682
Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features and selecting print,and multimodal elements appropriat...
- ACELA1488
Understand that social interactions influence the way people engage with ideas and respond to others for example when exploring and clarifying the ideas of others, summarising their own views and repo...
- ACELA1490
Understand how texts vary in complexity and technicality depending on the approach to the topic, the purpose and the intended audience
- ACELA1493
Understand that the meaning of sentences can be enriched through the use of noun groups/phrases and verb groups/phrases and prepositional phrases
- ACELT1603
Discuss literary experiences with others, sharing responses and expressing a point of view
- ACELT1607
Create literary texts that explore students?? own experiences and imagining
- ACELY1690
Identify characteristic features used in imaginative, informative and persuasive texts to meet the purpose of the text
- ACELY1694
Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts containing key information and supporting details for a widening range of audiences, demonstrating increasing control over text st...
- ACELT1600
Discuss the nature and effects of some language devices used to enhance meaning and shape the reader??s reaction, including rhythm and onomatopoeia in poetry and prose
- ACELT1791
Create texts that adapt language features and patterns encountered in literary texts, for example characterisation, rhyme, rhythm, mood, music, sound effects and dialogue
- ACELY1679
Read an increasing range of different types of texts by combining contextual, semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge, using text processing strategies, for example monitoring, predicting, confirmi...
- ACELY1683
Re-read and edit texts for meaning, appropriate structure, grammatical choices and punctuation
- ACELT1606
Understand, interpret and experiment with a range of devices and deliberate word play in poetry and other literary texts, for example nonsense words, spoonerisms, neologisms and puns
- ACELT1794
Create literary texts by developing storylines, characters and settings
- ACELY1691
Read different types of texts by combining contextual , semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge using text processing strategies for example monitoring meaning, cross checking and reviewing
- ACELY1695
Re-read and edit for meaning by adding, deleting or moving words or word groups to improve content and structure
- ACELY1685
Use software including word processing programs with growing speed and efficiency to construct and edit texts featuring visual, print and audio elements
- ACELY1697
Use a range of software including word processing programs to construct, edit and publish written text, and select, edit and place visual, print and audio elements
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