Poetry Anthology of Basic Forms - Grades 5-6

Lolene Gifford

Hurricane Middle School, Hurricane, Utah

 giffordl@p.hms.wash.k12.ut.us

Objectives:

By the end of this unit students will understand how to format the following poetic forms: acrostic  haiku  cinquain  diamente  free-verse. Students will create a handbook or anthology of these poetic forms, with at least one sample of original work in each format.

C Level - 70 points needed. All students are required to do numbers one and two, then choose from the following menu for a total of 70 points.

1. Listen to the lecture on each poetic form on successive days, and take notes. Help the class construct one example poem in each format. Write it in your notes. (10 points)

2. Draft an original poem in each of the above five formats, have a peer revision conference, and make the final copy mistake-free. (10 points)

3. Type up poems, keeping only one kind of poem on one page. Print them out, make a cover page, and staple like a book. (10 points)

4. Create a cover for your collection of poems. It must incorporate color, design, illustrations, a title in a bold and interesting font, with the author’s name displayed prominently. Be creative. (10 points)

5. Illustrate each page of your poetry anthology. (20 points)

6. Write additional poems in each genre. (5 points per poem) 7. Share your poetry with a group, or the entire class. (5 points) 8. Tape your poems for others to listen to. (10 points)

9. Set your poems to music. (20 points) 10. Memorize your poems, then share with group or class. (5 points per poem) 11. Write a poem in any of these formats using Social Studies or Science concepts. (5 points per poem.)

B Level- Choose any two activities, totaling at least 20 points

1. Go to the internet and find at least five poetry websites. Print out examples of each type of poetry we studied ,in your anthology, keeping track of web addresses. Add these poems to your anthology, giving authors credit and including web sites where found. (10 points)

2. Learn and perform a poem in sign language. (10 points)

3. Translate one of your poems into your native language. (10 points)

4. Dramatize and act out one of your poems for a group or the class. (10 points)

5. Video tape a dramatized version of your poem. Share it with the class. (10 points)

6. Create a word bank of sensory words that would be valuable in poetry, words that create strong images, evoke emotions, express strong feelings. Divide words into parts of speech like nouns, verbs adjectives, adverbs—and keep collecting. (10 points)

7. Teach a lesson on any one of the types of poetry to a special needs student, a younger sibling, or someone who was absent when the lesson was given. Help them create an original poem. (10 points)

 8. Memorize a famous poem of at least four stanzas. Get teacher approval. Share your poem with the class. (10 points)

A Level - Choose any one activity.

1. Create a power-point presentation on your favorite types of poetry, including "how to" and examples. (10 points)

2. Choose a poet whose work you really like. Research and find all you can about him/her, and write a summary of your findings. Include at least three examples of his/her poetry. (10 points)

3. Research and learn all you can about poetry—earliest known forms, where it originated, what constitutes a poem, what is the difference between prose and poetry, who are some famous poets, what are some of their famous works. Create an informational handbook to share this information with others. (10 points)