What Does Success Look Like?
Scholars articulate the author’s central message about the power of the written word.
Seminar 1:
“Poetry” by Pablo Neruda (Poem)
Do Now — 10 minutes
- Play classical or jazz music to establish a calm work environment.
- Scholars revise their Exit Tickets from yesterday’s seminar based on the feedback you gave them.
Launch — 2 minutes
- Tell scholars that today they will be reading “Poetry” by Pablo Neruda. Build excitement by telling scholars that this poem will develop their background knowledge about concepts important in Locomotion.
Read and Discuss — 30 minutes
Display “Poetry.”
Preview the Text (2 minutes):
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- Have scholars read the title and scan the poem to frame their thinking.
- Call on scholars to share what they noticed about the text and what they will think about as they are reading.
Read (3 minutes):
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- Say: As you are reading, think, What is this text mostly about?
- Read the poem aloud while scholars follow along on their digital copies.
Discuss (3 minutes):
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- Scholars discuss the following question in pairs: What is this text mostly about? Call on pairs to share out. Insist that scholars back up their claims with evidence from the text.
Read (10 minutes):
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- Say: As you are rereading, think, Why did the author write this poem?
- Read the poem aloud as scholars follow along on their digital copies. While reading aloud, pause to ask the questions below:
- Stop after line 13, “… and it touched me.”
- Partner Talk: How does Neruda characterize poetry’s arrival?
- Stop after line 27, “of someone who knows nothing.”
- Partner Talk: How does the speaker react to poetry’s arrival?
- Stop after line 44, “of the abyss.”
- Partner Talk: What does Neruda describe in lines 38–44?
- Discuss: Why did the author write this poem?
Main Idea Jot (2 minutes):
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- Scholars jot a main idea in a comment next to the title of the text.
- While scholars are working, circulate to determine which scholars have a bull’s-eye main idea jot and which do not.
Discuss (8 minutes):
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- Scholars discuss the following questions as a whole class: What does Neruda mean when he writes about the “wisdom of someone who knows nothing” (lines 26–27)? What is the tone of “Poetry”?
Give scholars 2 minutes to revise their main idea jots based on the discussion.
Exit Ticket — 8 minutes
Write an essay of no more than 200 words:
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- What is the speaker’s experience with poetry? Justify your argument with at least two concrete pieces of evidence from “Poetry.”
Wrap-up — 5 minutes
- Show an exemplar essay to scholars. Have scholars discuss what makes the claim clear and compelling. Have scholars articulate the transferable takeaway from the work study that they need to apply to their own work moving forward.
Homework
- Based on the Wrap-up, revise the essay question.