New Approaches to Literature: Teaching Poetry as a Response to Literature. Make Holiday Poetry Lessons For Middle School More Creative & Personal With Holiday Memory Poems. Written by: Kellie Hayden • edited by: Wendy Finn • updated: 10/31/2012 It can be tough in the weeks right before a holiday break for teachers to keep students engaged.
Try this poetry lesson for middle school students to keep them working until the break and tick off the state indicators for poetry. Make Poetry Fun For the HolidaysThe days before holiday breaks such as Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter can make the students antsy. Frankly, they are excited to have a break from school, and they have their minds on things other than the items on the state curriculum standards and indicators. Teachers can focus their students' energy on poetry and the holidays with this lesson.Materials NeededBefore beginning this project, teachers should send home a note to parents letting them know about the project.
Activities for Teaching Quatrain Poems. Quatrain Lesson A stanza in poetry can be a variety of lengths and can have a set meter or rhyme pattern or no pattern at all.
A quatrain is a four line stanza in poetry. The quartet stanza appears in many types of poetry. Types of Quatrains Most types of poetry or stanzas that employ the quatrain have a rhyme pattern. Poetic Devices When teaching the quatrain, it is fun to add spice to the student's writing by teaching the poetic devices of alliteration, hyperbole and onomatopoeia. Alliteration is when there are several words in a line or a stanza that start with the same consonant. Steps to the Lesson Step 1 -- Teach students what a quatrain is and the three poetic devices: alliteration, hyperbole and onomatopoeia. Step 2 -- Students should choose a favorite activity or hobby. Step 3 -- They should write two quatrains and use two of the three poetic devices about the activity or hobby. After students have written their quatrains, they should share them with the class. Lesson Plan on Writing Rhyming Couplets for Teaching Couplets. Couplets Activity Starting a poetry unit writing couplets will give students confidence in their poetry writing.
In addition, writing couplets can be quite fun. Students will only need paper, pencil, colored pencils, markers and creative thoughts to complete the activities. First, they need to know what a couplet is. What is a Couplet? Couplets are two lines of poetry that become a stanza in poetry. Heroic Couplets The length of the lines in a couplet can vary.
Steps to Writing Two Lines Poetry. Teaching How to Write a Setset and Sestets Poems. Sestet Activity When teaching poetry, there are so many poetic devices to learn that some teachers skip over the structure of poetry.
The stanza or the "paragraph" of poetry comes in many lengths. The sestet is one that most students can write easily. In addition, students can show their understanding of rhyme pattern by writing a sestet. Sestet Stanzas A sestet is a six line poem or a stanza that has six lines. However, the sestet is generally referred to as the last six lines of an Italian sonnet or a stanza in a Sestina. Focus on the Rhyme Pattern One poetry device that can be taught along with the sestet is rhyme pattern. The original Sicilian Sestet may be an easy form for students to try writing because they do not have to worry about meter or rhythm.
Student can use letters to show the rhyme pattern of a poem, like in this example poem: Easy Poetry in the Classroom: A List of Poetry Topics and Formats for Poetry Made Simple. Easy Poetry Just say the word "poetry" and an instant groan can be heard in many classrooms.
Poetry is difficult for many students. However, the love/hate relationship usually depends on the student and his or her attitude towards poetry. Make poetry easy and fun by giving students choices to write a poem for class. The menu you provide for them can include a list of poetry topics, poetry formats and poetry devices. Poem Topic Choices Students like having choices because they like to have some control. Start by giving them big ideas and subtopics. Sports: baseball, football, soccer, volleyball, lacrosse, basketball, dodgeball, archery, track, cross country, swimming, etc Hobbies: sewing, collecting, video games, model airplanes, crosswords, computers, scrapbooking, etc.
Spark Your Students' Creativity at Halloween and Plan a Poem-Writing Lesson. Written by: Julia Bodeeb • edited by: SForsyth • updated: 8/2/2012 Around Halloween you can keep your students' attention if you build lessons around the holiday.
Let students unleash some holiday spirit and at the same time develop writing skills by writing Halloween poems.