I'm not going to lie: poetry is not my favorite unit to teach. For a few years I actively disliked it. I think this is mostly because the level of poetry the state expects intermediate students to analyze is hard. So many of them still think in concrete terms, and poetry is the opposite of straightforward. Last year I revamped my poetry unit to make it both fun and challenging, and it went really well. Here's what I do:
First, I spend a week or so teaching/reviewing figurative language using song lyrics. I got the idea from Erin at I'm Lovin Lit's Interative Literature Notebook, but I use different songs. As we study figurative language I guide the students to notice that many times figurative language does not mean what the words literally say. I think this helps gently lead them into the idea that poems are not always literal.
After that I introduce the Poetry Scaffold. I learned this technique at a professional development a few years ago, and I believe it is based on a lesson from the Comprehension Toolkit. I've tweaked it from what I originally learned. The steps on the scaffold are:
- Meet the poem- read the poem once
- Read the poem closely- read it slowly, stop and think, notice figurative language and important words, use annotation marks, draw what you visualize
- Determine the mood- what is the feeling created by the poem? Does it change?
- Notice the form- is there rhyme scheme? Meter? What type of poem is it? (Narrative, Free Verse, Ode, etc.)
- Make the poem your own- have an emotional reaction, share your favorite line
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| Here's what a poem looks like after we've read it using the poetry scaffold. |
We read several poems using the scaffold as a class and then I let them try a few with a partner. Occasionally I have to remind students that all of their thoughts should be on their poems, but most students have no problem writing all over their poems by this point. We discuss how many poems don't always mean what they literally say, and that using the poetry scaffold helps us read deeply.
After I'm sure they have the poetry scaffold down we dive deeper into the different parts of the scaffold. We do minilessons on rhyme scheme, meter, types of poems, sensory language, etc.
I really like how the poetry scaffold gets the students to slow down and think deeply. (Now if I could just force them to use it on the test.....) By using the poetry scaffold and by choosing appealing yet complex poems, I no longer hate teaching poetry.
After we read poetry for a few weeks we move on to writing! I'll save that for another post.
Happy teaching!
