A Juicy, Succulent, Interesting, and Sensational Halloween Poetry Mini-lesson

A Juicy, Succulent, Interesting, and Sensational Halloween Poetry Mini-lesson

By Kathleen Isberg
Primary Subject: Language Arts
Grade Level: 3rd
Duration: 10-15 minutes with a 45-minute writing component

Description

This third grade mini-lesson teaches the application of descriptive language in reading and writing using poetry. There is an optional writing activity

Colorado 21st Century Standard:

Interpret how the structure of written English contributes to the pronunciation and meaning of complex vocabulary.

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Use poetry techniques and poetic structure to craft a poem.
• Create mental images by visualizing text.
• Select language carefully to create images and mood.

Materials Needed

• Making Friends with Frankenstein – A Book of Monstrous Poems and Pictures by Colin McNaughton. ISBN 1-56402-962-X. (A fun title to use during the Halloween season)
• Class copies of the poem I’m Talking Big! from the book above
• Highlighter pens
• Student thesaurus and dictionary
• List of trait and character words for each student (See list below)
• Projector — overhead or attached to a computer
• Pencils and paper

Trait & Character Word List

Procedures

• Teacher reads the poem I’m Talking Big! aloud using a large voice.
  • Ask students to highlight all the descriptive words.
  • Ask students to count how many descriptive words they found. There are 27.
  • Ask “Who can tell me what all these descriptive words mean? Big
  • “There are two descriptive words that don’t mean big, can anyone find them and tell me what they are?” Incredible and Unbelievable. (Be prepared for a student to reply I’m or talking. Explain subject and verb.)
  • Teacher and students read the poem together using their large voices.
• Teacher/Student Questioning Dialog:
  • Does the girl in the picture look big? No, but she feels big, enormous, vast and monumental.
  • What do we call words that mean the same thing – like the words big, enormous, vast and monumental?
    • We call these words synonyms
    • To encourage complete sentences and oral language development, ask as one of your students who needs to work on replying in sentences to answer this question as a complete sentence.
    • Words that mean the same thing are called synonyms.
  • Words make writing more interesting and not boring are called what?
    • Descriptive
    • Continue to encourage complete sentences and oral language.
    • Descriptive words are words that make writing more interesting.
  • Words that make us have a picture in our mind are called?
    • Descriptive
    • Continue to encourage complete sentences and oral language.
    • Descriptive words makes us see pictures in our mind. “
  • So that means the words in our poem are both? What types of words?
    • Synonyms and Descriptive
    • Continue to encourage complete sentences and oral language.
    • The words in the poem are both descriptive and synonyms words.
  • Exactly most of the words are a synonym of big and are descriptive.

Shared Writing:

• Finish the mini lesson with shared writing. The teacher is the scribe and the guide supporting the imagery and mood of the poem; display the work as it progresses.
• Select a messy or scary word for Halloween or as appropriate, such as Slimy or Oily or Cold or Stinky or Monstrous and have the students create an “I’m” poem. ( This part of the lesson can be substituted for the modeled writing below.)

Modeled Writing:

• Project your writing on the white board.
• Use the word ” Accomplish ” and write an “I’m” poem.
• Use the thesaurus and the dictionary to find words for the poem.
• Make the poem no longer than 5 lines.
• Explain why you choose to make your poem a little bit different.
  

  I’m ACCOMPLISHED! I’m completely, totally, utterly ACCOMPLISHED! I’m polite, well mannered, and a know-it-all! I’m ACCOMPLISHED!

Guided Writing:

Use the word “LITTLE” and have tablemates or other pairs work together to write an “I’m” poem. Have five of the student pairs share their work.

Independent Writing:

• Using the descriptive word list, have students look up synonyms for a word that describes their character and write an “I’m” poem.
• Allow the students to illustrate and share during writer’s workshop. This can become a permanent artifact.

Assessment

Determine if students need more time to complete their poems; this can be done in the next day’s workshop.

• Were they able to follow the author’s poem and the modeling to write their own poems?
• Were the students engaged in the process?
• Did they write an “I’m” poem and did they use descriptive language?

E-Mail Kathleen Isberg!