GLT

Concrete Poems Lesson

What students learned and which students struggled with the
lesson.

I was incredibly pleased with this lesson. I found some of the other lessons in which students had to think about syllables, metaphors and similes when writing and analyzing was much more difficult but I found all of the students in my class to excel in this specific lesson. I found all students to truly understand and grasp what this new type of poem I was introducing to them was. I was happy to see their excitement with writing the different concrete poems; they had wonderful ideas and came up with such great topics to write about. I feel there was not much struggle with this lesson and with students figuring out what to write about or how to write this type of poetry because I gave many examples, we made a class example, as well as made a class list on chart paper of ideas for great things to write about as topics for their concrete poems. I was the most pleased with this particular lesson with students understanding the style of poetry, there was little confusion and great poems were written.

What did you learn about your students? literacy practices that
extend beyond your objectives?

I learned a lot about my students through this lesson. I found their ability to use descriptive words as well as their creativity when describing their topic for their concrete poems to be amazing. I was very happy and excited to see how many students were able to write two and three different concrete poems. In past lessons some students struggled with getting through one poem. I also learned about the confidence many of my students have in getting in front of their classmates and talking. In this lesson was the first time my students read their poems to the whole group. I learned about their ability to express themselves as well as read at appropriate speeds and with feeling. I learned about how remarkable my students? imaginations are and how they are able to compare and describe things in such a fun and unique way, which I as an adult would never think of.

When and how will you re-teach the material to students who
need additional support?

I will try my very best to fit in time for more poetry review. I would like to add in each month one lesson for a review of the different types of poetry we learned about throughout the unit. I know that will be difficult because of the very tight schedule we already have but that is my goal. I will also try and make any connections between texts we read, stories we tell or anything we see throughout the year that may relate to my poetry unit. I want to try and remind them throughout the year of all they learned throughout the two week period and help them to understand the importance of continued practice of reading, analyzing and writing poetry. If students would like to stay in during recess time or take home a poetry packet to work on I would be more than happy to make up something like that. Some students seem to be so excited still about writing poetry and I see them writing poems with any free time they have. I believe having an option for an extra assignment or activity for students to do outside of school that relates to my unit would be fun and incredibly beneficial for students remembering and sticking with all they learned throughout the unit and actually practicing it beyond the two weeks we had together.

If you were to teach this same lesson again, what would you
do differently and how do you think the changes would
improve students?

I feel many of my poetry lessons I would have taught differently but with this specific one I was very pleased with the outcome. I would have liked to have more time at the end for students to read their poems and quiz each other on trying to guess what the topic of their concrete poems were. It saddens me each time when we share that I am not able to get to all students. I would have liked to hit half the students during the end of the lesson and the other half at the beginning of the following day but time just simply does not allow for that. I feel describing the set up of concrete poems, giving many examples and setting up expectations for writing concrete poems was very helpful in this lesson going successfully. I also believe it was very beneficial for us as a class to make a concrete poem. It allowed students to not only see examples, but be a part of making a class example and really experience the process. I also believe making a brainstorming list of topic ideas for the poems was helpful for any students that frequently have troubles with getting started on writing their poems.