Unit Overview

Introduction

What can poems do?

Poems paint pictures.

Poems make us feel things.

Poems make music out of words.

What makes a poem a poem? How do literary devices enhance the meaning of poems? How can context clues be used to figure out the meaning of difficult words in poems? Where do ideas come from? How do poets play with words until they get just the right image, feeling, or sound? These are important questions that will be visited throughout this poetry unit.

Why think about these important questions and learning targets?

Developing skills is like becoming an all-star athlete. All-star athletes don’t start out as professionals. They think about their performance, get guidance from their coach and teammates, and set goals for improving. The same is true for becoming a skilled reader, writer, speaker, and listener. We all have areas of strength and areas for growth, and we are all responsible for practicing, getting guidance, setting goals, and improving. Before this unit even starts, you will write your first reflection in your learning guide:

Write a short response to the following question in your learning guide now: Do you enjoy poetry? Why or why not?

When you have completed your response, return to this lesson.

Reading Poetry

In this module, you will read and listen to many poems to learn about:

• how to read a poem
• what makes a poem
• characteristics of poems (structure and features)
• what close readers do
• how you can find evidence in a poem to support your ideas
• how context clues can help to understand difficult words
• how authors use language to make poems come to life

Writing Poetry

Throughout this unit, you will be writing poems. You will write poems using a variety of structures and using some specific features, including language that can be used help to create powerful word pictures. You will be writing poems that follow specific patterns and you will be writing poems that allow for more freedom.

Presenting Poetry

By the end of this unit, you will have read and written several poems. You will choose how to publish your poems and show off you fantastic poetry reading by recording yourself presenting a poem.