Poetry

Poetry

The Poetry unit was one of my favorite units we have focused on so far. I really enjoyed all of the assignments and I believe that teaching poetry is something that I will definitely use as a future teacher. I have learned that poetry does not need to rhyme in order to be beautiful. I remember learning about poetry when I was in Elementary School and it was one of my favorite units.

Books to Use:

-Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

-Wishes, Lies, And Dreams by Kenneth Kock

Useful Poetry Sites:

Useful Poetry Links-
https://vista.csuchico.edu/webct/ContentPageServerServlet/Poetry/poetry_links.htm?pageID=1651713323041

Poetry Box Rules from PBS- Links to definitions of poetry forms and poetic devices
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june00/poetryboxrules.html

Elements of Poetry- A list of elements of poetry, with links to definitions, interactives, and examples of how each element functions in a work of poetry.
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/elements.html

Teachers and Writers Collaborative-Writers in the Schools Program and links to texts
http://www.twc.org/

ReadWriteThink- Lesson plans and ideas for teaching language arts.
http://www.readwritethink.org/

Useful Prompts/Responses:

Prompt:
1. Find a poem that you think would be interesting to use as a model for students.
2. Create a poetry prompt that could be used with students based on the model you've chosen.

My Response:
The Cow
-Robert Louis Stevenson

The friendly cow, all red and white,
I love with all my heart:
She gives me cream with all her might,
To eat with apple tart.

She wanders lowing here and there,
And yet she cannot stray,
All in the pleasant open air,
The pleasant light of day;

And blown by all the winds that pass
And wet with all the showers,
She walks along the meadow grass
And eats the meadow flowers.

I think that this poem The Cow, by Robert Louis Stevenson would be very good to use as a model for students. Robert Louis Steven is a very famous children's poet and all of his poems are fun to read. I think that this poem would be a good model for students to work with because of the rhyming pattern that Stevenson uses in this poem. He uses the rhyming pattern of A, B, A, B. I think that this poem would be a perfect example to show students because it is simple and not very long. I believe that this poem would be very appealing to younger students because of the fact that it is written about an animal. From experience, I have observed that children love animals and enjoy reading/learning about them.

Prompt: Write a poem similar to The Cow, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Make sure that your poem is about an animal and uses the same rhyming pattern that Stevenson used. (A, B, A, B) Your poem should be a total of twelve lines.

Prompt:
1. What do you think Williams sees in this poem (describe the image in your own language) and what do you think he felt about what he was seeing? Why do you think so?
2. Then write and imitative poem, just as Jack did in Love That Dog, beginning with the words "so much depends upon..."

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens

--William Carlos Williams

My Response:
1. In this poem I believe that Williams sees the surroundings of a farm. It is unclear as to whether it is his own farm or someone else's farm. It seems as though Williams is inside looking outside. Williams describes seeing a red wheel barrow that is wet from the rain, and a group of white chickens. Williams is very descriptive when describing the wheel barrow and chickens because he lets the reader know what color they are. I think that Williams was sad about what he was seeing because he says that "so much depends upon" the objects that he is explaining. The wheel barrow is "glazed with rain" and this could mean that it has been raining. I think that Williams could be sad about the wheel barrow being wet from the rain because this might mean that he can not be outside on the farm like he wants to be.

2.
So much depends
upon
a red rose
covered with ice
slowly wilting away
standing alone in the garden