LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

UNLV ELEM. ED.

Name: Amanda Curtis
Lesson Plan Title: Finding Themes in Poetry
Grade Level: Fourth Grade
School Site: Hal and Dvorre Ober Elementary
1

Standards/Objectives
Specific common core standards: RL.4.2 - Determine a theme of a story, drama, or
poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
Measurable Objective(s) Fourth Grade students will be able to determine the theme of
a poem from details in the text with 95% accuracy given prior practice determining
themes of literature from text details.
Prerequisite learning and/or key concepts: Students have prior knowledge of finding
the themes of short stories as well as books. This will be reviewing, while adding in a
unique spin using poetry instead of short story format.

2. Materials and/or Technology resources

Descriptions, quantity
Elmo for displaying poem for Teacher to mark and read with class
1 packet of (3) poems for teacher to lead examples on Elmo (different poems than
students packets for assessment)
Packet of Poetry, 26 copies (includes 3 poems)
26 copies of Assessment page
Highlighters, pencils
Distribution Strategy
Packets will be distributed by supplier, students have highlighters and pencils at their
group tables.
Collection Strategy
One student from each group will bring their packets to round table to turn them in
after completion.
3

Procedures (Content Area Specific)

Quiet Signal: Give Me Five
I will raise my hand and say Give Me Five! Students will raise their hands and stop
talking. Since the conversation level will remain very low, this will only be used
when students are out of line.
Motivation/ engagement:
Students will arrive into class and sit at their desks. I will have Common Themes:
written on the white board before they arrive. When they are settled in, I am going to
begin asking questions to scaffold. Who can tell me what a THEME is? How can I
determine the THEME in a story? From here, after getting the kids to participate, I
will ask, Who here likes to read or write poetry? I do! Do you think that you can find
themes in poems the way you do in books, or stories? What if the poem is silly?

Why? Why not?

From here, I will motivate: One of my favorite poets is Shel Silverstein. Were going
to read some of his fun poems today, as well as a couple of others, and determine the
THEME of them. Were going to start out doing this TOGETHER on the Math
Carpet, and then you are going to find themes individually at your desks. Lets get
started!
From here, I will have students sit at the Math Carpet, since it is in front of the
projector and they can participate in examples with me that I will be projecting onto
the white board. I will ask questions pertaining to theme with the poems I project, a
total of 3. What THEMES can you find in this poem? How did you find that theme?
Find details from the text and I will highlight them. We will discuss the characters in
each poem, the situation they are in, and how it pertains to the themes they have
found. (Hint: Somebody Wanted But So method can be used to determine the theme
and conflict in poems.)
I will send students back to their desks, and the supplier will pass out packets. I will
give instructions to highlight key details in text that will help determine the theme of
a poem, and students will list the themes they have found and how.

Lemov Strategy; Kagen Strategy, Questioning Strategy

Assessment will include the following questions: What message did you take away
from the poem? Why? Highlight the parts of the text you consider most significant or
important. Does the title or illustration help you determine a theme?
Lemov Strategies: Cold Call, No Opt Out, Without Apology. While on the math
carpet, I will be cold calling to find details in the texts I show, that will determine the
theme. Once students have gone to their desks, I will move onto the next step.
Using Numbered Pair Share (Kagan), I will ask questions and have 1 group member
answer for their group after discussing. I will rotate so each member of the group gets
a chance to answer. Question ideas: Why is determining a theme important for a
reader? How can we use details to determine the theme? Do you think there can be as
many themes in a poem as in a short story? (How about if the poem is a funny poem?)
Why or why not?

Accommodation, modifications, and differentiations for diverse learners

Cooperative learning and team cooperation help to keep all students on the same
wavelength. Discussing as a group will keep everybody involved, and questioning
can be changed at whim to cater to high, medium, and low understanding.

Seating arrangement groups highs, mediums, and lows to group together and learn
more effectively.

Closure
Kagan Numbered Pair Share technique above will be used as the first part of closure,
and then I will say, Today, our goal was to learn how to find themes in poetry. We
learned that like short stories and books, poems, can have themes. We talked about
how themes can even be in silly poems, and how to determine the theme of a poem by
text details, just like you learned to do with short stories and books! I want you to turn
to your shoulder partner. Partner A, I want you to tell Partner B what your favorite
poem was today, and why! Partner B, I want you to tell Partner A what your favorite
poems theme was. Both partners please thank the other for sharing and for a job well
done today.

Extension
For extension, this lesson could be extended to be part of a homework assignment, in
highlighting key details of a text that provide theme clues. It could also be stretched
out to review over time, with practice using short poems randomly throughout the
year as a quick and fun activity.
*** For extension, my mentor teacher asked me to make copies of a poem that did
not make it into the student independent practice packet, so students could highlight
text details and determine themes at home for extra practice.

Student Assessment/ Evaluation (Formative or Summative)

Formative assessment of learning- include specific strategies and determine who and
what needs to be re-taught and reassessed
Questions and responses will be used to formatively assess and direct the lesson.
Students will do guided practice with me on the Math Carpet to make sure they are
gaining comprehension.
Summative assessment of achievement based on objectives:
I will give the students a packet containing 3 various poems. They will be asked to
highlight key details that can help determine the theme, and summarize the theme of
the poem as well as why they chose the key details that they highlighted. I will have
short response questions after each poem.

Post Lesson Assessment and Reflection (to be completed immediately. After the lesson)
Report the results (data) from application of assessments
From the results of what students wrote, I see that most of them understood the main
themes of the poems I assigned for individual practice. Some students did not finish
their assessment, which my mentor said was normal for her class.
From Numbered Pair Share questions as well as group discussion on the Math Carpet
portion of the lesson, I found that every student who spoke up had a very good grip
on what we were learning. (For Numbered Pair Share, each student in class got to
stand up and give input on questions I asked.)

Reflect on the following: Strengths, Concerns and Insights

One strength I found is that I was at ease teaching this lesson. I was well prepared,
but ready to change whatever needed changing on the fly if my methods were not
working for understanding. I researched and found very good questions to gauge
understanding from the students, and used many great resources rather than relying
only on what I could come up with at the top of my head.
My concern is that my students did not all finish their assessment packets. Although
my mentor teacher assured me that some students in her class tend to not finish
assignments no matter how long they are given, I felt unsure on my timing. I gave
about 20 minutes to do the assignment, and walked around the class giving one on
one feedback and helping students understand the poems if they were having trouble
deciding on a theme. I waited until almost everybody in class was finished before
calling for Timed Pair Share group questions, as I did not want nearly every student
silently reading to pass quiet time during my lesson when time was so important. My
mentor noted that I should always let the students know the backup plan if they finish
early, when I am passing out assignments or giving directions, as there are some
students who will finish very quickly and others who take a long time.
I had a very good grip on classroom management for this lesson. My mentor teacher
noticed how engaged I kept the students, and how quickly I quieted them down if
conversation got out of hand. I only had to count down twice during the hour long
lesson to quiet the class. She also noted that she saw I had a personal nickname for
one of the students, and appreciated the building of relationships in the class. She told
me that the little inside jokes and nicknames will build trust of students and keep
them engaged as well as helping them feel like part of the community. I will always
work on my classroom management, but I am extremely proud of how far I have
come with my class since lesson 1.

Discuss lesson and receive feedback from mentor teacher and secure hard copy of
performance evaluation