A library media specialist and fourth grade teacher will work together to teach this literacy lesson that helps students begin to locate poems they love, determine these poems' endearing characteristics, recommend poems to their classmates, and select new poetry books to read based on both personal interests and classmates' recommendations. At the conclusion of this lesson, students will choose poetry books to bring back to the classroom to read during reading workshop and to use as mentor texts as they craft their own poems during subsequent writing workshop lessons. This lesson can be taught in one longer block or can be broken up over the course of two days. It is designed to be the first in a series of language arts lessons that form a poetry unit in which students choose favorite poems, study techniques used within these poems, and apply these techniques to their own writing.
Instructional Goals:
· Students will explore a variety of poems and will know where to find the poems they love for future use.
· Students will analyze the merits of poems they love as they begin to think about the techniques they would like to use in their own writing.
· Students will collaborate with their peers to gain an appreciation of various poetic interests.
· Students will find additional poetry books to explore based on personal preferences and interests.
Learning Objectives:
- Fourth grade students will identify and record accurate location information (including poem title, book title, author, and call number) for at least four poems that they enjoy.
- Students will discuss poems’ features in small groups and will record at least two positive characteristics of each poem.
- Each small group of students will recommend a favorite poem to the class through either an expressive, dramatic presentation of the poem or a short “poem talk.”
- Each student will record accurate location information for two favorite poems recommended by other groups.
- Each student will choose a poetry book from the poetry section of the library to bring back to the classroom for future use in reading and writing.
Motivational Goals:
- Students will demonstrate an interest in poetry during the lesson and throughout the future.
- Students will become confident in their poetry reading and analysis skills
