Week+of+June+8,+2009

Introduce poetry choices gradually, so students learn them and try each one out.

They already have done visualization, and looked for strong words and lines, and written questions / answers about poems.

Monday
Introduce "Listen Children" by Lucille Clifton [|listenchildrentext.doc] Students choose from visualizing, looking for strong language, or writing questions / answers about the poem. visualizing sheet: [|listenchildren.doc] directions for strong words and visualizing: [|imagery.doc] questioning: [|questioning directions.doc]

Tuesday
Introduce a choice about line breaks and form. Why does the poem look the way it does? Students may re-write it in a different form and see how it changes the poem. worksheet: [|linebreaks.doc]

Wednesday
Introduce studying the beginning and ending of the poem. What do they mean? How does she choose to begin and end the poem?

worksheet: [|beginningending.doc] Poetry choices: Each group studies one aspect of the craft of a new poem.
 * powerful images (that paint a picture you can see in your mind)
 * powerful words / lines
 * sounds: alliteration, rhyming, sounds effects, etc.
 * line breaks and other aspects of form
 * personification?
 * write questions about the poem / answer them
 * beginning and ending of the poem: how does the poet begin the poem? does it surprise you? How does he / she end the poem?

[|Here] is an example of student writing about a Hughes poem to share with students.

Visualization for