STUDENT OBJECTIVES Students will
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.5 Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.7 Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text. Session 1: Exploring acrostic poetry 1. Lead a brief discussion with students about poetry and why authors choose to write poems (e.g., poetry is a creative way to express feeling; poetry is an art form). Introduce the term acrostic poetry to students and explain that an acrostic poem is one that uses the letters in a word or topic to begin each line of the poem. All of the words or phrases in the poem relate to the topic word. 2. Share the examples of acrostic poetry that you have selected. Ask students to comment on what they notice about the poems and record their thoughts on the board or on chart paper. Some thoughts might include
4. Bring the class together for a shared writing experience. Choose another teacher or school official all your students know as the subject of an acrostic poem written together as a class. Using a transparency of the Brainstorming Template, write each letter of the person's name down the left column of the template. (You might share a sample of a filled-out template with students first.) 5. Work with students to brainstorm positive character traits about the person for each letter of his or her name. (See sample for examples.) 6. After you have three to five words for each letter of the name, work with students to compose an acrostic poem. Model adding phrases and connecting verbs to the word lists. 7. Have a student volunteer write a final copy of the poem (other students may wish to illustrate it as well). The class can then share it with the poem's subject. back to top Session 2: Brainstorming 1. Review the process for writing an acrostic poem based on the activities in Session 1. Explain to students that they are going to write acrostic poems for each other. Pass out the Student Checklist and review expectations and guidelines. 2. Lead a brief discussion about why it would be important and thoughtful to write an acrostic poem about a classmate. Talk about how it makes people feel good, it shows respect, and it is a creative way to express friendship. 3. Talk to students about how the use of thoughtful, descriptive words makes acrostic poems more effective and interesting to read. Explain that they will brainstorm positive character traits about another student in the class and then write an acrostic poem about that person. 4. Pass out copies of the Brainstorming Template and ask each student to write his or her name down the left column with one letter in each box. 5. Randomly distribute the templates to students so that each student ends up with someone else's name. 6. Allow students to access one of the major online thesauri: Demonstrate how to use the online thesaurus by typing in the word nice and viewing all of the descriptive words that are synonymous for it. Ask students to use the Brainstorming Template to come up with several words for each letter of the person's name. You may also want to have print thesauri available for students to use. (A sample list of character traits is available if you don't have access to multiple computers or print thesauri.) 7. After students have had sufficient time to brainstorm, ask them to look over their list and compose a rough draft of their acrostic poem. They should keep the checklists and rough drafts for Session 3. back to top Session 3: Publishing and sharing 1. Have students take out their Student Checklist as well as their drafts from Session 2. Review the guidelines and expectations on the Student Checklist and explain that they should use their checklist to make sure that they have all the necessary elements in their acrostic poem. 2. Give students time to revise their poems as necessary. 3. Set students up on computers with the Acrostic Poems writing tool. Guide them through the process of typing a final draft of their poem into the tool and have them print their poems. 4. Allow students to share their poems aloud and present them to their classmates. Students should turn in their completed checklist and a copy of their poem. back to top EXTENSIONS
STUDENT ASSESSMENT/REFLECTIONS
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