Sensory Color Poems

Curriculum Integration:

Materials/Equipment: My Color Poem

Planning Sheet graphic organizer, Color Poem

Template, Color Riddle example, crayons or
markers, pencils, colored paper, 40 or more
color chips with a variety of colors

Music
Social Studies
Science
Technology
Writing

Math
Reading
Theatre

PE
Health

Blooms Taxonomy:

Knowledge/Remember
Analysis
Comprehension/Understand Evaluate
Application
Create

Art

TEKS Achieved: (Include all TEKS and

ELPS labeled, numbered, and summarized.)
110.15-(b): (8), (15A), (16B), (21A)

Differentiated Learning:
Auditory
Kinesthetic
Verbal/Linguistic
Intrapersonal

Visual/Spatial
Logical/Math
Musical
Interpersonal

Classroom Strategies:

Cooperative Groups
Hands-On
Technology
Centers
Independent Activities Simulation
Charts/Graphs/Maps Lecture
Problem Solving
Wholegroup
Peer tutoring
Pairing

Submitted by: Christine Gatlin

Grade Level: 4th

Subject/Topic: English Language Arts/Poetry

Rationale: The student will be able to identify similes in a text and write a color poem using similes and sensory images

Objectives:

TSW identify the author's use of similes and metaphors to produce imagery.
TSW plan a first draft by generating ideas through a range of strategies (e.g., brainstorming
and graphic organizers).
TSW write poems that convey sensory details using the conventions of poetry
TSW write legibly and use appropriate capitalization and punctuation conventions in their
compositions.

Lesson Plan:

Introduction (Anticipatory Set/Motivation):

(Write what CREATIVE, COMPELLING thing you will say or do to immediately grab the childrens attention and interest.)

1.

Have the students close their eyes and think about your favorite color. I want you to think
about what you see and how you would describe it to someone else. Now open your eyes and
I want you to write down everything you pictured when you closed your eyes. Ask students
what their favorite color is and how they would describe it to another person.
2. Now I want you to close your eyes and listen to the riddle to see if you can picture what
color I am describing.
What looks like a leaf on a flower?
What smells as fresh grass in the summer?
What tastes like delicious mint ice cream?
What feels like a lily pad floating in the middle of a pond?
What sounds like the croaking slimy frog sitting on a log?

Process: (Plan how you will teach the lesson and follow the lesson plan cycle: Information Giving, Modeling, Check
for Understanding, Guided Practice, Independent Practice, Closure/Culminating Activity)

Information Giving: Explain that good poetry should paint a vivid portrait of a scene,
emotion, or similar subject using words. One way to do this is by using sensory imagery in
our poems, which is any description that involves one or more of our 5 senses. Ask the
students if they noticed that I used different senses to describe the color in the riddle.
Ask them to raise their hand if they remember one or more of our 5 senses that were just
used in the poem? Review over the five senses (touch, taste, sight, smell, and sound). Then,
ask if anyone noticed how I used like and as to compare the color to a sense. Ask them
if anyone knows what it is called when someone compares two things by using the words
like or as. Explain similes and give an example from the poem: Green tastes like mint ice
cream.
Modeling: Tell the students they will first work together and brainstorm as a group to
write a color poem using a color of the teachers choice. Since my favorite color is pink,
this is the color we will be writing our sensory color poem about. Use a web with the color
in the middle with 5 sections for each sense attached. Have them come up with different
things that are pink that you taste, see, feel, hear, and smell. For example:
Pink tastes like a piece of bubble gum,
Pink smells like a beautiful rose,
Pink sounds like a pig snorting,
Pink feels like my soft baby blanket,
Pink looks like a long-legged flamingo.
Check for Understanding: While writing the poem as a group, have each student come up
with a part of the poem to check for understanding. If you have more than 5 students in
your group, you can list more than one thing that is pink for each sense. For example: pink
looks like a rose, flamingo, heart, and pig.
During this time, ask them questions such as: What things LOOK (color)?, What things
SOUND (color)?, What things SMELL (color)?, How does (color) FEEL?, What makes YOU
FEEL (color), What things TASTE (color)?, What EXPERIENCES or IDEAS seem (color)?,
Can you think of any (color) PLACES? Have them write these questions in there notebook,
so they can refer back to them when they are writing their poem independently
Guided Practice: After creating a poem as a group, have the students choose their own
color by choosing from a variety of paint chips. Then, explain that they will need to
complete a rough draft before and get their poem approved before writing in on the paint
chip. First, have each student complete the My Color Poem Planning Sheet graphic
organizer by brainstorming different ideas that smell like, looks like, feels like, sounds
like, and tastes like their color. If the student is struggling with an idea, have them work
together to help each other come up with ideas.

Independent Practice: After completing their graphic organizer, have them individually
write a rough draft of their poem using the Color Poem Template. When their rough draft
has been approved by the teacher, have them write their final draft on a paint chip that
matches the color they chose. You can also bring colored printer or construction paper so
they can glue their color poem on that.
Enrichment/Extension:

Have the students visualize their poem in their head and then draw it on paper. It is
important that students realize that poetry can be very moving and, if well written, create vivid visuals in peoples minds. If
the students finish this early, you can have them create a rainbow poem, where they use senses and similes to create a poem
using each color of the rainbow (Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple). If the teacher would like to check their
understanding of similes more, he or she can tell the student to write a simile poem about a different topic than color. It
could be about themselves, an animal, the weather, etc.

Accommodations:
1.

2.

(what YOU will do to modify your lesson)

(for a child with autism) Provide the student with a computer, so they can type up their poem instead of writing it
out on their own.
(for a student that is an ELL) Provide the student with magazines and pictures that have color pictures they can
use to help them find items that are the color they are writing about. This will provide them with a visual that will
help them recognize and remember different things that are that color.

Assessment/Evaluation (Students):

Have each student share their poem with the group. As the students are
reading their poem check that they used similes and the 5 senses correctly. This should also be done as the students are
completing their graphic organizer and rough draft.

Assessment/Evaluation (Self): Check and see if the students seem to enjoy this topic and
are excited about this type of poem. Make sure that students are using sensory details
and similes correctly. See if it is hard for the students to come up with sensory details
and if visuals would be more beneficial next time.

WHAT COLOR AM I?
What looks like a leaf on a sunflower?
What smells like fresh cut grass in the summer?
What tastes like delicious mint ice cream?
What feels like a lizard laying in the sun?
What sounds like a croaking slimy frog?

CAN YOU GUESS MY COLOR?

I look like blood from a cut and lava in a volcano
I sound as loud as a fire truck flying down the road
I feel like an angry parent yelling at their child
I taste as delicious as sour apples and strawberries
I smell like a beautiful rose and baked cherry pie