Artifact Reflection

Imagery in Poetry Unit

Amy Oliver
 Amy Oliver

Artifact Reflection
Imagery in Poetry Unit

Poetry in third grade, what could be more fun! Some students would love learning how
to write poetry and some want to hide from it. They hope the teacher forgets about it. A
teacher can almost see the thought bubbles popping up around students when poetry is
brought up: Poetry is boring. Why do we have to learn this? No one ever has to
write poetry after they get out of school. I just want to go to recess. The challenge is
to make poetry interesting and easy for students to learn the concept presented.

My idea is for the students to create a skit from a poem given to them. I want them to
focus on understanding the imagery that poets bring to mind when they write their
poems. This is the reason that I want to separate them into groups of five or six so that
they can work together to bring the assigned poem to life. As a group they will decide
what roles they need to present. They need to decide what background they want and
bring that to life with the rolls of paper the school has along with crayons and marker or
colored pencils. The unit will use multiple intelligences. Visual, auditory, kinesthetic,
interpersonal, and linguistic intelligences will be used at some point in the unit.
Drawing from this educational theory, the students will have different ways to
understand what the objective of the unit is. (GPO #1 & 7, CLO #1)

I believe that all students can learn and am committed to help my students learn to the
best of their abilities. (NBPTS #1 & 2, USM #1) I will do this by creating a unit which
gets them up and learning with their fellow students. The unit should be fun and
engaging. The poems are of interest to the age level. The hook would be a video
watching a student of another school recite his favorite poem. The student in the video
shows how Casey at Bat can be brought to life just by recitation. The students will then
be given age appropriate sports poems. Since not everyone has a favorite sport, there is
one poem that the sport ends up being recess which appeals to most third graders. I will
then be able to group the students so that there is diversity in learning abilities. These
diverse groups will allow for a differing roles of difficulty.

Once the roles have been chosen, as the teacher I will check how the roles have been
delegated so that any modifications that are needed will be made (NBPTS #3). Doing
this I can be sure that those students who learn slower are given roles that are less
intensive, like building the background or playing a small role in the skit. Alternatively,

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those students who are faster learners will be given more intensive roles that will allow
them to stretch their abilities. For example, faster learners can be put in the narrator
role or take on more than one role so that they do not get bored. The students will learn
to interact with others who might be different than themselves. They will learn to be
respectful of people who are different than they are. No matter if it is a racial difference,
a learning ability difference, or a cultural difference the students will learn how to work
with someone not like they are. (USM #4, NBPTS #1, 5)

Additionally modifications will be made as needed. The assigned poem will be read daily
by one or two of the group members so that each person gets a chance to read aloud. If a
student gets too nervous to speak in front of even a small group they would also be to
read the poem to the teacher or another student. If they cannot read the whole poem
then they will be given the chance to read a smaller part of the poem. Having this
modification I will be able to respect the differences of the students in the classroom so
(CLO #2)

The poem skits will be performed in front of their peers. After each skit is performed,
the audience members will ask any questions they have of the skit members. The skit
members are now the experts on this poem so they will ask the audience what the
imagery is in the poem. Once the skits have been performed, the students will write
their own poems using imagery and their favorite sport. The students will then peer edit
the poems. This will help them find the mistakes that they also might make. (USM #7,
NBPTS #3)

The assessments in this unit include reading aloud in groups, performing the skit,
answering questions about the skit, and peer editing as formative assessments. The
written poem itself is the summative assessment. These assessments are designed to
determine what the students are learning and if a redirection is needed. These
assessments will be used later to determine what changes need to be made to this unit to
make it more successful. (CLO #2, GPO #6)

After the first year this unit is done, I want to think about what went right and what did
not. At this point I want to make changes to better suit the age level. I want the students
to have fun and get excited about this project so whatever changes I need to make will be
well thought out. I want them to build their understanding of this unit slowly. By
starting with the video, the students will see another idea on this theme. Then giving
them time to create their own vision of the poem as well as working with their
classmates. I want the students to understand how their words can create pictures in the
mind of their audience. (NBPTS #4, USM #5)

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When I first started substitute teaching I thought that students had too much freedom
and too many choices. With the experiences Ive had and the information Ive learned in
my classes I now know that students need that freedom to learn. They need to be loud
and messy and talkative in order to get the content from the instruction to a place in
their minds where they can synthesize what theyve learned to something new. Now I
think about classes that I substitute in and wonder how I would do this differently or I
need to remember to do this. I spend a lot of my time substituting watching how
students react to the lesson they are learning.

Since Ive been in this curriculum class, Ive read the tests that Ive given as a substitute
teacher. Ive read how the teacher has built the assessment and thought about what the
students would think about the questions. Ive watched students finish the tests quickly
and asked them if they are sure they dont want to go over their answers again.
Sometimes I think they are answering questions too fast so that they get to be the first
one done. In elementary school, being first at anything seems to be a status symbol no
matter if it is a good thing or a bad thing. When I reflect on the tests I give, I want to
make sure to determine if the questions need to change in difficulty level. I have noticed
in a high school class Ive substituted for a teacher who creates three different samples
of the same test. Each test has the same questions but different orders. I know that
elementary school students may not be sneaky enough to cheat off each other but
making different samples of the same test might allow a modified test to be given to
slower and faster learners. This way the students will not know which test they are
taking.

I want my classroom to be a learning community where they are able to take the facts
and ideas given to them and grow those to be a way of research and exploration. (USM
#3, NBPTS #5) I want them to really enjoy learning and get excited about finding new
information. As excited learning community members, my students can spread their
excitement out to their parents and family members. Theyre excitement for learning
should come from each other and from their teacher, me. We should all be excited to
find out what is new so that our time learning is not forced. Even if the excitement is a
tiny kernel, the increase will be there ready to burst out and grab onto something new or
interesting.

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Sources
Casey at the Bat (Favorite Poem Project) (YouTube)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13_bVaphCPo

Sports Poems (- For All You Sports Fans)

http://www.anitapoems.com/sports-poems.html

Kenn Nesbitt's Poetry for Kids - The Weather Is Perfect for Running -
A Funny Exercise Poem for Kids (Kenn Nesbitt's Poetry for Kids - The
Weather Is Perfect for Running - A Funny Exercise Poem for Kids)

http://www.poetry4kids.com/poem-723.html#.VmdNNrgrKM8