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Unit 2: Time for Rhymes: A Genre Study of Poetry
In parentheses, you will find the Missouri GLE the objective meets
and the learning styles used based on VARK (visual, auditory,
reading/writing and kinesthetic) learning styles.

Guided and Independent Reading Objectives:
    Students will read at-level texts with fluency, accuracy and  
    expression within guided reading groups. (CA R1D4a; R)

    Students will adjust their reading rate to the difficulty of the text
    they are reading during guided reading groups. (CA R1D4b; A)

    Students will demonstrate appropriate speaking techniques such
    as volume control, eye contact, and pace when presenting a
    poem. (CA LS2A4; A)

Mini-Lesson Objectives:
    Students will identify the purpose of and utilize the table of
    contents and glossary within a poetry anthology (CA R2A4; V, R).

    Students will identify and demonstrate the proper techniques for
    reading poetry aloud, including demonstrating a mastery of
    volume control, eye contact and pace. (CA LS2A4; A)

    Students will identify sensory details and figurative language
    within the text Love that Dog (CA R2B4; A, R).

Other Activity Objectives:

    Students will explain sensory details and figurative language in
    the context of poetry in a timed short essay.  (Excellent
    preparation for state-standardized writing prompts.) (CA R2B4; R)

    Students will learn to use the writing process while writing their
    own poetry (CA W1A4; V, A, R).

    Students will make inferences, make predictions and draw
    conclusions in response to writing prompts given daily.  (One for
    every day after mini-lesson on comprehension strategies) (CA
    W2C4; R).

    Students will define in their own words 8 figurative language
    vocabulary words on a handwritten quiz after discussion and
    practices (CA R2B4; A, R).

    Students will demonstrate their understanding of the plot of Love
    that Dog by taking a short multiple choice comprehension quiz
    after completion of the text (CA W2C4; R).

State Standards
From Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education:
CA R2A4: Text Features
    Locate
    • interpret and apply information in title, table of contents and
    glossary and recognize the text features of fiction, poetry and
    drama in grade-level text

CA R2B4: Literary Devices (PARTIAL)
    Explain examples of sensory details and figurative language
    within the context of poetry and prose

CA W2C4: Text Elements (PARTIAL)
    Use details from text to:
    • make inferences about setting, character traits, problem and
    solution and story events
    • make predictions
    • draw conclusions
    • identify cause and effect
    • compare and contrast various elements
    • identify author's purpose

CA W1A4: Writing Process
    Follow a writing process to
    • independently use a simple graphic organizer in prewriting
    • generate a draft
    • routinely revise, edit and proofread
    • independently publish writing

CA LS2A4: Discussion and Presentation (PARTIAL)
    In discussions and presentations,
    • present ideas in a logical sequence
    • identify and apply appropriate speaking techniques such as
    volume control, pace and eye contact

Anticipatory Set:  Read three poems aloud cited in Love that Dog:
"The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams, "Stopping by
Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost, and "Street Music" by
Arnold Adoff.  

Say: Each of these read aloud was a poem.  How do I know they were
all poems?

Continue to probe and assist students in considering "What makes a
poem a poem."

What about it tells me its a poem?

Give non-examples. Read an excerpt of a short storybook such as The
Amazing Bone by William Steig.  How do I know it is not a poem?  
What about it is different?

Do not worry about getting all the answers now.  Students will get more
practice with this in a mini-lesson.

Explain that our text for the next two weeks is Love that Dog written
entirely in poems.  Read the excerpt from September 13th:

"I don't want to
because boys
don't write poetry.

Girls do."

Hmm... this may seem different than what we normally think of as a
poem, but that is what the next two weeks are about!  We are going to
learn more about poems so that we can understand them better.  This
book is about a boy named Jack and his journey as he learns to tell his
own story through poetry.  Jack loves his dog, Sky, and we get to learn
more about Sky as we read Jack's poetry.

You could take this chance to introduce some of the other texts students
may read or you can jump straight into the text and start reading!
Why care about
learning styles?
See:
Miller, P. (2001).
Learning Styles: The
Multimedia of the Mind.
Research Report.
Retrieved from ERIC
database.