Ms.

Geiers Poetry Unit Spring 2014

Contact Info
Email: cmgeier@rams.colostate.edu

Poetry is break dancing for the tongue Linda Christensen

Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is
just the ash. Leonard Cohen

Poetry is plucking at the heartstrings, and making music with them.
Dennis Gabor

Poetry is an act of peace. Pablo Neruda

Intro:

For this unit we will study poetry in an effort to answer the over-arching
question of who am I and why? The ultimate goal is for us to learn about
each other and start to understand how everyone has a story. We will take
a close look at the power of words and how to bring out our voice in
poetry. The idea is for us to see that writing is a way for us to talk back to
the world.

The two end products of this unit are that you will publish three of your
poems onto a public blog for others to see and visit and you will have to
perform one of your pieces in a coffee shop performance at the end of this
unit. It is important for you to have experience with public speaking and I
firmly believe that this is a life skill all students need to learn. Therefore, all
students, without exception, will have to perform one piece.
Standards:

1.1.a.viii Demonstrate appropriate verbal and non-verbal delivery techniques for
intended effect.
2.1.d.i By the end of the year students will use range and complexity to read and
comprehend literature, including stories, poetry, and dramas at the end of 8
th
grade
independently and proficiently.
2.1.a.i Use key ideas and details to cite the textual evidence that most strongly
supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the
text.
2.2.a.ii Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the
course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas.
2.3.a.iii Explain how an author uses language to express a specific effect (such as
mood, tone, voice)
2.3.b.i Demonstrate understanding of figurative language and interpret figures of
speech in context.
3.1.a.vii Write using poetic techniques (alliteration, onomatopoeia) ; figurative
language (simile metaphor, personification, hyperbole); and graphic elements (capital
letters, line length, word position) for intended effect.
3.1.a.ix Use mentor texts to help craft appropriate techniques
3.3.d Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience.
Goals:

___ I can find examples of the literary elements and figurative language terms in a piece
of writing (poetry)

___ I can code poems for an intended purpose.

___ I can make sense of a poem.

___ I can analyze a poem.

___ I can argue a poems figurative meaning by using evidence from the text.

___ I can create my own poems using mentor texts.

___I can insert my own voice into the poems that I create.

___ I can show my understanding of literary terms and figurative language by using
them effectively in my own writing.

___ I can recall all of the literary terms and figurative language terms correctly.

___ I can write poems following more than one type of structure/mentor text.

___ I can publish my own poems on a blog.

___ I can memorize a poem and recite it to the class.