This poetry unit is intended as an exploration of creative writing, thinking, and orally and visually presenting for all ages and all abilities. The Tic-Tac-Toe table below is divided into Gardner's intelligences and according to four levels of challenge so learners and teachers can pick and choose from beginner, emergent, capable or advanced activities depending on their skills in each of the areas (K-7).
When looking for sites: Orange (with an S) is for students, Greem for Teachers, Blue for both Students and Teachers
Exploration of Poetry
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Beginner | Emergent | Capable | Advanced |
- Can we create poetry as a group by brainstorming together and using each others' ideas? - What messages do poets attempt to get across: social justice, change, compassion? - Who are your favourite authors? What are they like as people? |
Creating pictures and webs to express feelings and emotional responses.
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Teacher-directed collaborative web creation (Inspiration, SmartBoard). |
Poetry circles and poet-trees for sharing favourite and personal poems.
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Peer assessment and critique (2 stars and a wish).
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- How can poetry journals and books be used to explore your thoughts and ideas? Explore: Free verse, imagery |
Journal
Scrap Book: collecting powerful images to evoke thoughts/feelings
Listening to Accessible Books |
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Creating Poetry Files |
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- Can poetry be expressed through movement? Dance? Explore action poetry, songs, personnification, use different textures and media to create poems: collage, 3-D poetry |
Act out poetry with:
ABC Raps
Poems and Rhymes and Things to Do |
Express yourself through movement and mime: |
Artful poets:
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Poetry in Action:
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- How does poetry change with tone of voice, cadence? Explore: onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhyme schemes |
Poetry Presentation
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Poetry Presentation |
Coffee House
Different interpretations of a poem
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Coffee House Oral Interpretations : ideas to assist with recitation of poetry
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- Which poems do you like to read? - Which poems do you like to write? Explore: poetry anthologies, picture books, catalogue poetry, limericks, couplets, powerful words using a thesaurus |
Clerihews - 4-line poems
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Magnetic Poetry: Play with words on-line!
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Magnetic Poetry - sorting
Weaving Technology into Poetry
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Magnetic Poetry - sharing ideas with friends
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- How can we define a poem by the number of syllables, verses, couplets or by its rhyme scheme? Explore: Cinquain, haiku, diamante, limerick, hexaquad, couplet, sonnet |
Rhyming Couplets |
Triplets |
Quatrain Cinquain
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Senryu Tanka Diamante
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- Which lyrics do you enjoy most? Why? - Can you write your own lyrics to music? - How does the beat of the music affect the words to the lyrics? Explore: rap, jazz, rock, nursery rhymes, |
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Lessons on Poetic Device
Poetry through:
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- How are poets inspired by nature? - Can you use poetry to describe the five senses? |
Explore: Haiku (breathe in, hold the thought, and let it go)
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Poetry is like dissecting a flower
Theme poetry: wind and weather
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- How does the layout of the poem affect how we read it? - Can poetry become even more meaningful with illustrations, graphics, choice of layout, font size and colour, backgrounds? Explore: cinquain, concrete poem, diamante, |
Artistic Poetry
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Playing with words and shapes and images:
Wordle: word posters
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Layout and visual arts for meaning Prompts for:
Poster work
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Shaped whimsey: Concrete Poems (Mike)
PowerPoint Poetry Presentations
Creative video from diamante poem (Karen)
Wordle: word posters
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