Unit II:

Common Unit- Poetry Out Loud

November, 2015

Thisunitismeanttoencouragestudentstothinkcriticallyaboutmultipleformsofliterature.Studentswill
explorethetopicoflovethroughtheanalysisofmusicandpoetry.Studentswillbeencouragedtoshare
theirdifferentperspectives,useevidencetosupporttheirclaims,andformwelldeveloped,thoughtful
opinionsontheirevaluationsoftheirownreadingsandtheviewsofothers.

Objectives:
Studentswilldemonstratetheirunderstandingofpoetrybyanalyzingaselfselectedpoemonthetopicof
loveandpresentingtheirfindingstotheirclassmates.
Studentswilldemonstratetheirunderstandingofadramaticrecitalbyrecitingtheirpoemand
memorizingitiftheychose(
thiswillbethestretchportionforthespeakingandlisteningstandards).

Rationale:
ThiscommonunitisdesignedwithothermembersoftheEnglishdepartmentsothatallstudentsintenth
gradeEnglishwillhavethesameoutcomeandgoals.Studentswillbeaddressedonbothreadingand
speakingandlisteningstandards.TheunitcorrelateswiththePoetryOutLoudwebsite,wherepoemsand
othermaterialswillbechosen.Allpoemsandmaterialsusedwillbecenteredaroundthetopicoflove.All
poemsarerequiredtocomefromthewebsite.Studentswillbeexplainedtohowthiscommonunitis
utilizedinhighschoolsacrossthenation,andthatstudentswillhavetheopportunitytoparticipateinthe
nationwidepoetryoutloudcompetition.
Thisunitisdesignedtohelpstudentstounderstandpoetry,andtobeabletocloselyreadanddissect
multipleformsofliterature.Studentswillpracticetheirliteraryanalysisbyfirstworkingonsongs.
Studentswilllookattwosongsthatareontopchartstoday,andwillthenhavetheopportunitytopicka
songoftheirchoice.Thisportionoftheunitshouldbehighlyengaging,asstudentswilllistentofamiliar
musicandhavetheabilitytochosewhatmusictheyenjoymost.Studentswillberequiredtodemonstrate
theirunderstandingofcitingevidencebyproperlycitingquotesfromboththeirpoemsandsongs.
Studentswillalsodemonstratetheirunderstandingoftheme,figurativelanguage,andconnotative
languagebyanalyzingboththeirpoemsandsongs.
Studentswillberequiredtodramaticallyrecitetheirpoems.Abrainstormwillbedoneinordertohelp
studentsunderstandthestrategiesneededtomakeagoodperformance.Studentswillalsowatch
performancesfromPoetryOutLoudcompetitorssotheyareabletoseefirsthandwhatthecompetition
lookslike,andwhatadramaticrecitallookslike.Studentswillbeencouragedtomemorizetheirpoems,
whichwillbeconsideredthestretchportionoftheirspeakingandlisteningstandards.Studentswill
havetheopportunitytoreceiveahighAiftheychosetomemorizeandrecitetheirpoems,andwillalso
havetheopportunitytorepresentMrs.MorinsclassroomintheschoolwidePoetryOutLoud
competition.
Studentswillworkbothindependentlyandwithgroupstoexchangeideas.Discussionswillalsotake
place,wherestudentswilldemonstratetheirfindingstotheirclassmates.

Standards Addressed
ReadingStandards:

PS1a.R1
-
Citestrongandthoroughtextualevidencetosupportananalysisofthetext,includingany
applicableprimaryorsecondarysources,anddeterminebothexplicitandimplicitmeanings,suchas
inferencesthatcanbedrawnfromthetextandwherethetextleavesmattersuncertain.
PS1b.R2 -

Determinethemeorcentralideaofatextandanalyzethedevelopmentoverthecourseofthe
text,includinghowitemergesandisshapedandrefinedbyspecificdetailsprovideanobjectivesummary
ofthetext.
PS2a.L5 -
Determinethemeaningofwordsandphrasesastheyareusedinthetext,includingfigurative,
connotative,andtechnicalmeanings.

SpeakingandListeningStandards:

Ps6a.SL42-
Useappropriateorganization,development,style,andsubstance
PS6b.L6-
Acquireanduseacademicanddomainspecificwordsandphrases.

Assessments
Qualifying Formatives:

E.E.CummingsPoemAnalysis
SelfSelectedPoemAnalysis

Summative:

Presentationofpoemanalysis(Studentswillteachtheirpoemstotheirclassmatesinsmallgroups)
Dramaticrecitalofpoemandoverallpoempresentation

Themes:
Love
ThemembersoftheEnglishdepartmentconstructingthiscommonunithavedecidedthat
thethemetopicwillbecenteredaroundLove.

Essential Questions:

Onthetopicoflove...
Isthewaythatloveisportrayedinthemediaaccurate?
Studentswillexamineloveinthemediathroughlisteningtomusicandwatching
musicvideos.
Isthewaythatloveisportrayedinliteratureaccurate?
Studentswillcomparetheirreactiontohowloveisportrayedinthemediatohow
loveisportrayedinliteraturebyanalyzinghowloveisportrayedinpoetry.
Howhasyourconceptoflovechangedoverthecourseofthisunit?
Studentswillexaminepastmaterialstodeterminewhetherornottheirideasof
lovehavechangedthroughoutthecourseoftheunit.

Materials:
Poems
[icarryyourheartwithme(icarryitin]
byE.E.Cummings(
Model)
OneHundredLoveSonnets:XVII
byPabloNeruda
HowdoILoveThee?LetMeCounttheWays
byElizabethBarrettBrowning
CoyMistress
byAnnieFinch
ImaFooltoLoveYou
byCorneliusEady
LoveSong
byDorothyParker
LoveIII
byGeorgeHerbert
Songs
HellobyAdele
ElectricLovebyBorns
BadBloodbyTaylorSwift
SelfselectedLoveSong(
Studentswillbeencouragedtochosefroma
compilationofsongsthatIhavepreselectediftheyareunabletochosean
appropriatesongthemselves).
Technology:
Youtube
introductorycliponE.E.Cummings,musicvideosofHello,Electric
Love,andBadBlood.
Prezi
Asummativeprojectmodelwillbegiventothestudentsintheformofa
Prezi.
Powerpoint
studentswillviewapowerpointonprojectoptions,poet
backgrounds,figurativelanguagegame,andconnotativelanguagegame.
Supportinghandouts
FigurativeLanguageTermSheet
MemorizationTechniques


Road Map
November 2-24
Week 1:
Nov. 2-6
Theunitwillbeintroducedbystudentsreflectingonthetopicoflove.Studentswillfill
outananticipationguide,andthenparticipateinaninteractivefourcornersactivitythat
willdemonstratetheirpersonalviewsonthetopicoflove.Studentswilldiscusswith
theirclassmatesandcomparebeliefs.
Studentswillthenbeshowntheirexpectationsoftheunit,byviewingthestandardsthat
willbeaddressed,andidentifyingtheduedateoftheirfinalsummativeassessment.
StudentswillbegintheiranalysisbylisteningandwatchingtothemusicvideoHello
byAdele.Firstly,studentswilldemonstratetheirunderstandingofthemebyanalyzing
thethemeofthesong.Amodelwillbedoneasaclasssostudentsarecollectivelyableto
compilealistofthemetopics.Athemestatementwillbemodeledasaclass,andthen
studentswillbepromptedtocreatetheirownusingoneofthethemetopicschosen.
Studentswillthenbedirectedtolookatthefigurativelanguageandconnotativelanguage
withinAdelessong.Forthefirstclassperiod,studentswillplayagametoidentify
figurativelanguageinparagraphs.Asamodel,thestudentsandIwillfindthefigurative
languagewithinAdelessongtogether.
StudentswillthenlistentoBornssongElectricLoveandidentifythefigurative
languageandthemeontheirown.
Week 2:
Nov. 9-13
Studentswillbeintroducedtotheconceptofconnotativelanguagebyfillingoutan
anticipationguide.Studentswillbegivenalistofwords,andthenpromptedtoexplain
whetherornottheybelievethewordevokespositiveornegativeemotions.
Theywillthenplayaninteractivegamewheretheyaretoidentifypositiveandnegative
connotativelanguage.
Asaclass,wewillthencompareandcontrasttheconnotativelanguageinHelloandin
ElectricLove.
StudentswillthenwatchandlistentoTaylorSwiftsBadBloodtodotheirown
activityonconnotativelanguage.
Studentswillbeginbrainstormingtheirownselfselectedsongonthetopicoflove.
Studentswillbedirectedtopickanappropriatesongthathasfigurativelanguagewithin
it.
Studentswillanalyzetheirsongbyidentifyingthetheme,figurativelanguage,and
connotativelanguage.
Studentswillparticipateinsmallgroupdiscussionstosharetheirfindingsontheirlove
songanalysis.


Week 3:
Nov. 26-20
Studentswillthenberedirectedtopoetry,byanalyzingE.E.Cummingspoem[icarry
yourheart(icarryitin].Thepoemwillbeanalyzedontheboardasaclass.StudentsandI
willbrainstormthemetopics,andwillalsoidentifyfigurativelanguage.
Studentswillcompiletheirfindingsonthepoembyfillinginaqualifyingformative
worksheet.
Beforechoosingpoems,studentswillbegivenabrief,informativeslideshowonwhothe
poetsare.
Studentswillthenberemindedofsummativeexpectations.Theywillbegivena
presentationsotheyareabletoviewdifferentprojectoptions(projectoptionswillbe
suitableforalllearners).Studentswillberedirectedtochoosingtheirselfselectedpoem,
whichwillbeusedfortheirfinalsummativeprojects.
Studentsbeginanalyzingtheirpoemsbyfindingtheme,figurativelanguage,and
connotativelanguage.StudentswillbeassistedwiththehelpofbothMrs.MorinandI.
(
Secondqualifyingformative).
Abrainstormwillbedoneforstudentstothinkaboutwhatmakesagoodperformance
whenrecitingapoem.
StudentswillwatchandscoreaPoetryOutLoudcompetitionwinnerfromBangor,
Maine.
Week 4:
Nov. 23-24
StudentsusethetwodaysbeforeThanksgivingbreaktoparticipateingroupdiscussions
andpresenttheirfindingsontheirpoems.
Studentswillrecitetheirpoemsiftheychosetomemorizeforthestretchportion.