Spend two days on each lesson to give scholars practice.
The first day of a lesson includes direct instruction with a model text.
On the second day, quickly remind scholars of the lesson’s objective and get right to independent reading with coaching.
Lesson 1: Great readers of poetry recognize that they are reading a poem and read the poem twice, once to understand the literal meaning and a second time to identify the broader meaning. They make mind movies while reading.
Lesson 2: Great readers of poetry use the poem’s title and its relationship to the poem to help them figure out the big idea behind the poem.
Lesson 3: Great readers of poetry identify the tone of a poem and see how the tone supports the author’s message.
Lesson 4: Great readers of poetry pay attention to the poet’s word choices to understand the poem’s meaning.
Lesson 5: Great readers of poetry identify how the structure of the poem supports the big idea throughout the poem.
Lesson 1
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers of poetry recognize that they are reading a poem and read it twice—once to understand the literal meaning and a second time to identify the broader meaning. They make mind movies while reading.
Success is when scholars are able to read a poem twice to find both the literal and broader meanings.
Lesson 1
Engage — 1 minute
- I’ve watched Finding Nemo so many times. The first time, I thought it was just a movie about a fish and his friend. The second time, I learned it was a great friendship story.
- Great readers of poetry do multiple reads to notice more and dig deeper into the meaning.
Direct Instruction (Model/Practice) — 5-7 minutes
- Read “You and I,” by Mary Ann Hoberman, creating a mind movie to identify the literal meaning. Read the poem a second time, identifying the author’s message.
- Read “Living,” by Denise Levertov. Scholars turn and talk about the literal meaning. Read it a second time and have scholars turn and talk to discuss the author’s message.
- Listen in. Understand how well scholars can identify the poem’s literal and broader meanings. Briefly share out two scholar responses.
Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time — 20-30 minutes
- Use separate book bins to store the poetry books instead of book baggies. Put the poetry bins on each table for reading time. Scholars choose their poetry books from these bins. Scholars should sustain focused reading for at least 25 minutes. Remind scholars to read each poem a few times to understand the author’s message.
- Whether you are flying solo or teaching as part of a duo, start by making sure all kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone. Play classical or instrumental jazz music, but the volume should be low.
- Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations, such as staying focused on their books, or who are demonstrating strong reading habits, such as always making mind movies.
- Spend 2-3 minutes working individually with 5-6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his reading level goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
- Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each stanza and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
- Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Recommend a poem you think may interest the scholar.
- Listen to scholars as they read and hold them accountable for applying what you taught them.
Partner Share — 3-5 minutes
- When the timer is up, reset expectations for partner talk.
- Each scholar shares her interpretation of the literal and broader meanings from a poem that she read during Independent Reading, then explains her thinking. Partners listen to decide whether they agree or disagree.
- Listen to determine how mind movies help scholars define the poems’ meanings. Look for an effective scholar or partnership to model his/their thinking.
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
- Bring scholars together at the rug to reinforce today’s objective.
- The scholar shares the poem’s literal and broader meanings. Scholars evaluate which great reading tactic the scholar used.
Lesson 2
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers of poetry use the poem’s title to help them figure out the big idea behind the poem. Success is when scholars refer to a poem’s title to explain the poem’s big idea.
Lesson 2
- Engage — 1 minute
The title of anything—movies, books, tv shows, etc.—always gives you a clue to what the story will be about. Poets also choose titles that reflect the big ideas of their poems.
- A poem’s title will always help us understand the message the poet is trying to convey!
Direct Instruction (Model/Practice) — 5-7 minutes
- Read “The Orb Weaver,” by Georgia Heard, and model how the title of the poem helps you figure out the big idea behind the poem.
- Read “Think Like a Tree,” by Karen I. Shragg, twice.
- Scholars turn and talk to share how the title helped them figure out the poem’s big idea. Listen to how well scholars are able to use the title to help identify the poem’s big idea.
- Briefly share out two scholar responses.
Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time — 20-30 minutes
- Use separate book bins to store the poetry books instead of book baggies. Put the poetry bins on each table for reading time. Scholars choose their poetry books from these bins.
- Poems are short, and scholars need to sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Remind scholars that they need to read each poem a few times to understand the author’s message.
- Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and are demonstrating strong reading habits.
- Spend 2-3 minutes working individually with 5-6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading level goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
- Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding.
- Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars as they read and hold them accountable for applying what you taught them.
Partner Share — 3-5 minutes
- Each scholar reads a poem from his Independent Reading time to his partner and uses the title to explain the big idea. Partners listen to decide whether they agree or disagree.
- As partners share, listen to determine how the poems’ titles helped scholars define their literal meanings and identify the authors’ messages.
- Look for an effective scholar or partnership to model her/their reading or thinking during the Whole-Class Share.
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
- The scholar shares the poem and how the title helped her understand the literal and broader meanings.
- Scholars evaluate which great reading tactic the scholar used.
Lesson 3
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers of poetry identify the tone of a poem and see how the tone supports the author’s message.
Success is when scholars are able to successfully identify the tone of the poem.
Lesson 3
Engage — 1 minute
- So much of enjoying a text comes from how well we pick up on the emotions the author conveys. Great readers notice the feelings in the poems by using mind movies and thinking about what the words mean.
Direct Instruction (Model/Practice) — 5-7 minutes
- Reread the poem “Think Like a Tree,” by Karen I. Shragg. Identify the words that signal tone and discuss how the tone connects to the author’s message.
- Read “Song of the Dolphin,” by Georgia Heard. Scholars turn and talk about the poem’s literal meaning. Scholars turn and talk about the tone of the poem and the author’s message.
- Listen in to understand how well scholars are able to identify the tone of the poem and how it supports the author’s message, just as you modeled.
- Briefly share out two scholar responses.
Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time — 20-30 minutes
- Poems are short, and scholars need to sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes.
- Remind scholars that they need to read each poem a few times to understand the author’s message.
- Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and are demonstrating strong reading habits.
- Spend 2-3 minutes working individually with 5-6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his reading level goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
- Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding.
- Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars as they read and hold them accountable for applying what you taught them.
Partner Share — 3-5 minutes
- Each scholar picks one poem to read to her partner, describing the poem’s tone, and explaining how the tone supports the author’s message. Partners listen to decide whether they agree or disagree.
- As partners share, listen to determine how well scholars can identify the tones of poems and explain how tone helps convey the authors’ messages.
- Look for an effective scholar or partnership to model his/their reading of the poem during the Whole-Class Share
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
- The scholar reads the poem, identifies the tone, and connects the tone to the author’s message.
- Scholars evaluate which great reading tactic the scholar used.
Lesson 4
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers of poetry pay attention to the poet’s word choices to understand the poem’s meaning.
Success is when scholars are able to identify why poets choose to include certain words and how word choice helps to convey a poem’s big idea.
Lesson 4
Engage — 1 minute
- When a songwriter writes a song, he has to convey his message in a limited number of words. Poets are like songwriters. They take care to choose words for their poems that will convey their big ideas.
Direct Instruction (Model/Practice) — 5-7 minutes
- Read “April Rain Song,” by Langston Hughes, and notice the words he chooses. Identify images, the effect of rhyme, and the use of line breaks to develop meaning.
- Reread “Living,” by Denise Levertov, twice.
- Scholars turn and talk about how the poet carefully chose words to help us understand the poem’s meaning. Listen in to understand how well scholars are able to use stanzas to pay attention to the poet’s word choices to understand the poem’s meaning.
- Briefly share out two scholar responses.
Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time — 20-30 minutes
- Poems are short, and scholars need to sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes.
- Remind scholars that they need to read each poem a few times to understand the author’s message.
- Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and are demonstrating strong reading habits.
- Spend 2-3 minutes working individually with 5-6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading level goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
- Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding.
- Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars as they read and hold them accountable for applying what you taught them.
Partner Share — 3-5 minutes
- Each scholar picks one poem from his Independent Reading time to read to his partner, then explains the poem’s big idea by using the poet’s word choices. Partners listen to decide whether they agree or disagree.
- As partners share, listen to determine how well scholars can identify how the poet’s word choices help to convey the poem’s big idea.
- Look for an effective scholar or partnership to model her/their reading of the poem during the Whole-Class Share.
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
- The scholar reads the poem and models how the poet’s word choices support the poem’s big idea.
- Scholars evaluate which great reading tactic the scholar used.
Lesson 5
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers of poetry identify how the text structure supports the big idea throughout the poem.
Success is when scholars are able to identify the poem’s text structure and how it supports the poem’s big idea.
Lesson 5
Engage — 1 minute
- As we have been reading poems, many of you have noticed that each poem looks very different. Poets use text structure to support their big ideas.
Direct Instruction (Model/Practice) — 5-7 minutes
- Read “Elephant Warning,” by Georgia Heard, and notice how the poet uses repetition to emphasize how careful the elephants need to be.
- Read “Hummingbird,” by Georgia Heard, twice.
- Scholars turn and talk about how the text structure supports the big idea throughout the poem. Listen in to understand how well scholars are able to identify how the text structure supports the big idea.
- Briefly share out two scholar responses.
Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time — 20-30 minutes
- Poems are short, and scholars need to sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes.
- Remind scholars that they need to read each poem a few times to understand the author’s message.
- Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and are demonstrating strong reading habits.
- Spend 2-3 minutes working individually with 5-6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his reading level goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
- Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding.
- Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars as they read and hold them accountable for applying what you taught them.
Partner Share — 3-5 minutes
- Each scholar picks one poem from her Independent Reading time to read to her partner, then explains how the text structure supports the big idea. Partners listen to decide whether they agree or disagree.
- As partners share, listen to determine how well scholars can identify the poem’s structure and explain how the text structure supports the poem’s big idea.
- Look for an effective scholar or partnership to model his/their reading of the poem during the Whole-Class Share
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
- The scholar reads the poem and identifies the poem’s structure and how it supports the poem’s big idea.
- Scholars evaluate which great reading tactic the scholar used.
