Lesson Plan Template ED 3501 Curriculum Overview Lesson

Lesson
Title/Focus

Introduction to Poetry - Writing a

Clerihew (Lesson 3 of 3) English
Language Arts Grade 2

Teacher
:
Date:

Brandy Old
October 20, 2015

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
GLO 4: Students will listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent to enhance the clarity
and artistry of communication.
SLO 4.1: Enhance and improve
GLO 2: Students will listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent to comprehend and
respond personally and critically to oral, print, and other media texts.
SLO 2.3: Understand forms, elements, and technique
SLO 2.4: Create original text
Students will:
1. Use prior knowledge to relate poetry to daily lives
2. Demonstrate an understanding of elements in a poem
3. Identify the format of clerihew poem

ASSESSMENTS
Observations:

Key Questions:

Products/Performan
ces:

Students are using information from Lesson 1 and Lesson 2 to help them
write their poem.
Students are using words that they know.
Students are completing fractured poems in a way that has both meaning
to them and makes sense.
Students are using rhyming words in appropriate places throughout their
poems.
What is a clerihew poem?
Think of some places that youve seen poetry. What are they?
Why is poetry important?
What is a fractured poem?
How many lines are in a clerihew?
What are some elements of poems that we have learned about
that are in clerihew poems?
Complete fractured poems
Begin to write a clerihew poem (PERFORMANCE TASK will be
completed in next class)

LEARNING RESOURCES CONSULTED

Alberta Program of Studies
www.poetry4kids.com

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

http://www.poetry4kids.com/blog/lessons/howto-write-a-clerihew/ - clerihew lesson plan

http://www.poetry4kids.com/rhymes rhyme dictionary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=8AaFtT_M39Q funny poem
Independent white boards for each student
Erasers for the white boards (one for each
student)
White erase markers (one for each student)
Either a rhyme dictionary (enough for half
the class) or access to ipads/laptops with
link to http://www.poetry4kids.com/rhymes
(or app)
Performance task handouts
Rubric for writing clerihew

PROCEDURE
Attention Grabber

Introduction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AaFtT_M39Q play the
funny poem

Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe

Time
1 min

Lesson Plan Template ED 3501 Curriculum Overview Lesson

Transition to Body

Learning Activity
#1

Assessments/
Differentiation

Explain to the students that not all poems are serious, funny,
or just nursery rhymes. People write all kinds of poems. Today
we will learn about a clerihew. With an elbow partner, discuss
what you think a clerihew is and why.
Allow students to 1 min to discuss and 1 min to share.
Body
Discuss rhyming lists from last class if words do not rhyme on
the list. Praise students if all of them rhyme.
Teach students what a clerihew poem is. See powerpoint.
After instruction ask:
Questions: What is a clerihew poem?
Was your prediction about what a clerihew was close to
what it really is?
How many lines are in a clerihew?
What are some elements of poems that we have learned
about that are in a clerihew poem?
*These questions will be answered independently on
white boards. Once they have written down their
answers they will hold it to their chest until everyone
has written their answer*
Assessment: (Formative) Ask students key questions about
clerihews.

2 min
Time

10 min

The key questions will assess if the students understand the

concept of a clerihew. Use the information from this question
period to determine key focus points while working with
fractured clerihews. (EX: if students struggle with using a name
in the first line, spend time instructing them with this)

Learning Activity
#2

Assessments/
Differentiation

Differentiation: Print out the powerpoint slides for students

that will need references for themselves. This is an independent
activity, but if a student struggles with writing, they can have
help from an elbow partner.
Fractured poems. Powerpoint 2 will display clerihews with
missing end words, missing lines, etc. Students will work
independently or with elbow partners to come up with endings
for the fractured poems. Instruct students that a fractured
poem is like a fractured bone, some of it is broken and it is their
job to put it together for it to make sense.
Questions: What is a fractured poem?
What is a clerihew?
What is (specific weakness for class)?
Assessment: (Formative) View each students whiteboard, do
the endings make sense?

12 min

This is to ensure that students can understand a) the format of

clerihews b) rhymes. After students write on their boards, they
will have an opportunity to share their favourite one with the
teacher. Ask the students the key questions from activity 2
again independently to see if they can apply it to their own
poems.
Differentiation: students that struggle with writing on a white
board can use a journal or loose leaf to write on. For students
that struggle with writing, an oral conversation as to what they
wrote may be required. Rhyme dictionaries are available for all
students to use if they need help to think of rhyming words.
Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe

Learning Activity
#3

Assessments/
Differentiation

Assessment of
Learning:
Transition To Next
Lesson

Reasoning for the

instructional and
assessment
decisions. Relate
this to planning,
instruction, the
promotion of
students learning,
and the
establishment of a
positive learning
environment.

Lesson Plan Template ED 3501 Curriculum Overview Lesson

Before beginning writing activity. Ask students to think with a
partner about
Questions: Some places theyve seen poetry. What are
they? Why is poetry important? Lead a 7 min discussion
around this.
After working through fractured clerihews, students will have an
opportunity to write their own clerihew. This is the
17 min
performance task. Present rubric to students, go over rubric.
Clarify any questions. Provide students with performance task
handout and a sheet for writing their clerihew. Instruct students
that they are working on a rough draft, they can change it, they
can edit it (fix spelling, spacing, etc.). Next day, they will have
an opportunity to finish working on their poems and do a
gallery walk. Students will have a 10 min work period.
Assessment: Formative: guide discussion around poetrys
relevance by prompting students to think about where they
have seen poetry, why we use poetry, what is different about
poetry than normal stories, and emotions/painting pictures with
poetry.
This is an activity to get students thinking about why they are
learning about poetry. No summative assessment required.
Summative: the performance task will be summatively
assessed using the attached rubric. This is the end of the miniunit, assessing what the students have retained from the 3
previous lessons is needed before exploration of other types of
poetry can be completed.
Differentaition: students with learning disabilities may need
to have a revised rubric (depending on their disability).
Students can choose to type or write their poem.
Closure/Cliffhanger
Time
Notes on students reflections about their poetry will be taken.
Collection of final clerihews and gallery walk will be the
0 min
assessment of the students learning.
Relay they will have time to work on their performance task
next day. Specify a place to put their poems. Get their
3 min
attention using 1-2-3 eyes on me. Tell them it is time to clean
up and show good listening skills once they are done.
Rationale
This lesson is focused on writing poetry. The students are working on
whiteboards to reinforce their main focus of the lesson. Whiteboards are a
more interactive activity than writing on paper for the students. Also,
whiteboards allow students to erase their errors without any evidence.
Furthermore, having students work on whiteboards and hold them to their
chests until everyone is done encourages all students to participate. In this
way, formative assessment of each student is both possible and more
reliable. Clerihews are introduced because they are short poems that do not
require any attention to rhythm or syllable count. These poems only focus
on writing with a purpose (comedy) and using rhyming words. This is an
attainable activity for grade 2 students. Discussion with elbow partners is
allowed during this lesson, however, this lesson strongly focuses on
independent activity in order to prepare students for writing their clerihews
on their own. The station work and group work in the past two lessons have
functioned as a scaffold up to working independently with poetry. Poetry is
most likely a new form of writing for the students and may be intimidating.
Depending on how this performance task works out, further work with sound
poetry, shape poems, concrete poems, and acrostic poems could be
introduced. The upcoming gallery walk with provide students with a purpose

Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe

Lesson Plan Template ED 3501 Curriculum Overview Lesson

for writing, allow them to be in the process of assessment (both self and
peer), and will create a celebration for the students. This celebration will
help students remain positive about their writing skills. Their peer
assessments will also build strong relationships between classmates. Having
the students work with fractured poems before tackling their own poem is
also a scaffold method. A model of what a completed clerihew is also
provided for the students. In later years, exemplars from past classes will be
used instead of a teacher model.

Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe