Download Lessons for Writing Poetry Spanish Grade 2, CRM 3, Arcs 1

Lessons for Writing Poetry Spanish
Grade 2, CRM 3, Arcs 1-4
(4 Weeks of Lessons)
Resources Needed for this Unit:
Mentor Texts:
Con el sol en los ojos = With the Sun in My Eyes, by Jorge Luján
Gathering the Sun, An Alphabet in Spanish and English by Alma Flor Ada
Todo es canción: antología poética por Alma Flor Ada
Arco iris de poesía: poemas de las Américas y España por Sergio Andricaín
Cool salsa, Bilingual poems on growing up Latino in the United States,
Por Lori M. Carlson
El himno de las ranas por Elsa Cross
Por el mar de las antillas anda un barca de papel por Nicolas Guillen
Las palabras que se lleva el viento por Juan Carlos Martín Ramos
Word Choice Texts:
Moon Rope: A Peruvian folktale = Un lazo a la luna: una leyenda peruana,
by Lois Ehlert
Dónde Está la oveja verde? por Mem Fox
Dinosailors by Deb Lund
Additional Resources:
The Conferring Handbook by Lucy Calkins
Poetry: Powerful Thoughts in Tiny Packages by Lucy Calkins and Stephanie
Parsons (most lessons adapted from this resource)
6 + 1 Traits of Writing The Complete Guide for the Primary Grades by Ruth
Culham
NOTE: Adjust these mini-lessons and student writing times as appropriate for
your students. Some lessons may take more than one day to complete.
Unit Materials:
Websites:
Read Write Think Poetry (poetry lessons)
Smithsonian Poetry Activities (variety of lessons)
Splatter Poetry (more difficult frames)
Poetry for Kids (examples of different types of poems)
Giggle Poetry and Poetry 4 Kids (online poems)
Unit Materials:
Chart paper, poetry folders/journals, markers, publishing paper, mentor texts,
sentence strips, treasures (small objects used the first two weeks to write poems),
collection of various poems, pencils, colored pencils
Talking About Word Choice:
Word choice for the primary grades is not about grammar but instead about
students’ carefully selecting words to create strong, interesting writing. Students
may play with letters, attempt to write words, try sensory words, play with
finding the perfect word, and use language with precision.
Teaching Notes:
Teaching a unit on poetry can be difficult due to our own misgivings and
misunderstanding with the genre. Throughout this unit, find and share poems
that speak to you. The goal is not for students to understand exactly what a
limerick is, or for them to count stanzas of different poetic structures, but instead
to play with language, rhythm, sounds, onomatopoeia, voice, and repetition. This
unit will be organized in a different way from the other genres. Teachers will
conduct mini-lessons as students work on various poems to be collected and
shared orally and/or in written form.
Encourage students to explore and play with poetry in their own way. Just like
with any other writing, we want our students to see themselves as real writers.
We want them to look at the world and their experiences through different eyes,
and to express themselves in fun, creative ways.
The sample lessons below are not meant to be presented as a lock-step process.
Writers must be allowed to move back and forth within the process as they move
towards publication. Writing experiences should encompass both assigned and
self-selected writing in a variety of genres and content areas. Targeted
instruction should be provided to whole group, small group and individuals.
A great Learning Center Activity during this unit is to have a computer
bookmarked for Shel Silverstein’s website. It is filled with poetry fun!
Day 1: Introduction to Poetry Workshop
Mini Lesson
1. Tell students that today is a very special day; not only are we starting a new writing project
but we are also starting a new writing workshop, the poetry workshop.
2. Introduce students to their new poetry folders. Tell them that in this folder they will collect
not only their favorite poems written by other authors, but their own poems as well.
3. Share with students one of your favorite poems, written onto chart paper.
4. Explain to students why you enjoy this poem so much. Tell students this will be the first
poem they place in their poetry journal.
Independent Writing
5. Give students time to illustrate this poem.
6. Ask students what they know about poetry. Create a chart documenting all their responses.
Peer Sharing
Choose some students to share their illustrations with the whole group. This should include
discussion that provides an opportunity for rich vocabulary support and ideas to inspire more
reluctant writers and/or students who struggle with written English.
Teacher Tips:
Throughout this unit, consider using your shared
reading time as an opportunity to read aloud a
poem. In addition, Lucy Calkins recommends
copying down all the interesting, poetic sayings
our students make every day and using them
(rearranged or broken into stanzas) as minipoems.
Day 2: Examining Poems
Mini Lesson
1. Remind students that yesterday we began our new genre and workshop.
2. Tell students that today we will examine different poems by a variety of poets.
3. Read aloud another one of your favorite poems as students read along silently on chart paper.
4. While viewing the poem on chart paper, guide students through a discussion of reasons we
can enjoy a poem.
5. Tell students that today you want them to read through different poetry books, either
individually or with a partner.
6. Have different poetry books placed throughout the room.
7. Model for students using a sticky note to mark a new favorite poem and write the reason you
enjoyed it on the sticky note.
Independent Writing
8. Allow time for students to examine poetry books.
9. Provide sticky notes for students to mark their favorite poems and ask them to write why they
enjoyed this poem so much.
10. If students wish to copy a favorite poem provide paper for this.
Peer Sharing
Choose some students to share their favorite poems read today.
¿Por qué nos divertimos con los poemas?




Chistosa
Me recuerda a algo
Me hace pensar en ___________
Me hace sentir ________
Day 3: Seeing Through Poet’s Eyes
Mini Lesson
1. Ask students to find the favorite poems they selected yesterday. Have them turn to a partner
to talk about why this poem was their favorite.
2. Tell them that when poets begin to write a poem they look at things in a different way,
through poet’s eyes.
3. Share with the class a poem that illustrates how the poet saw things in different way. Tell
the students you want them to listen to how the poet describes the object in a different way.
(See poems by Zoe Ryder White below.)
4. Tell students you want to share with them another poem about an everyday object.
5. Ask them to look at the ceiling and to describe how they see they see the ceiling using their
poet’s eyes during a think, turn, and talk.
6. Share Zoe’s poem about the ceiling.
Independent Writing
7. Ask students to name some other eveeryday objects about which they could write.
8. Tell them to select one object and think and /or write about the object using poet’s eyes.
Peer Sharing
Choose some students to share how they see objects through poet’s eyes.
Sacapuntas por Zoe Ryder White
Creo que hay cien abejas
Dentro del sacapuntas
Y zumban
Y zumban
Y zumban
¡Hasta que mi punta se afila!
Ceiling by Zoe Ryder White
The ceiling
is the sky
for the classroom.
Como usamos nuestros “ojos de poetas”:




Vemos de cerca.
Pensamos acerca de nuestros
sentimientos.
Vemos a las cosas en una nueva forma.
Vemos…
Day 4: Seeing Through Poet’s Eyes (continued)
Mini Lesson
For today’s lesson, collect several small, ordinary objects to share with students, so they
can practice looking at these objects with “poet’s eyes”. You may want to have “special”
glasses to use. These can be shared with students to look at an object with “poet’s eyes.”
Whenever you want to use poetic words with your poetic eyes, just put the glasses on!
1. Remind students that yesterday we learned how to look at everyday objects through a poet’s
eyes.
2. Show another small object that you have brought in to write a poem about it. Model how
you look at this object with your “poet’s eyes.”
3. Have students share the different ways they “see” the object.
4. Chart student responses (Later you will form these responses into a poem.)
5. Begin a chart to be used throughout Poetry Writing Workshop-“Strategies Poets Use”
Estrategias del poeta

Los poetas miran con ojos de poetas.
(Plan to add to this chart throughout the
unit.)
Independent Writing
6. Arrange a variety of other objects around the room.
7. Provide time for students to walk around the room and examine the objects. Have students
carry Post-its® or their poetry folder to take notes.
8. During mid-workshop, teacher may want to emphasize to students to examine the object in
one particular way and to provide more details from that perspective. (i.e. this pencil is like a
rocket. Flying across my paper, leaving a trial of smoky writing.)
Peer Sharing
Have the class come back together and share how they viewed everyday objects through their
“poet’s eyes.” If it’s not disruptive, hand the poet’s glasses to the student who shares.
Day 5: Listening for Line Breaks
Mini Lesson
1. Ask students to explain what we mean when we say that they need to look with a poet’s eyes.
Can they give an example of the way they have been using their poets’ eyes?
2. Tell students that today they will learn another interesting feature of poetry.
3. Have a poem written on chart paper (without line breaks, in paragraph form). Read the poem
aloud in a prose-like rhythm.
4. Tell students that when we encounter text written in that format we read it in a certain way.
Tell them that we read it without the music in our voice.
5. Now show the same poem written with line breaks. Read aloud half of the poem, modeling
the music and emotion in your voice. Explain to students that the author divided up the poem
in this way because he/she want us to read it in a certain way, with rhythm or emotion.
6. Have students sit with a partner and read the rest of the poem with line breaks. Have them
talk about why they read the way they did.
7. Show another “poem” written on chart paper but without line breaks. Have your students
work in pairs to decide where to put the line breaks.
8. Have them share with the class how they divided the poem.
Independent Writing
9. Allow students to either continue writing (about small objects) with their poet’s eyes, or
review their poems and put in line breaks.
Peer Sharing
Provide time for students to share their writing. This is one of the most important stages of the
process. It helps them both learn to appreciate poetry and benefit from the back-and-forth
interchange of the feedback process.
Estrategias del poeta


Los poetas miran con ojos de
poetas.
Poetas escriben acerca de tópicos
y experimentan con pautas de linea
(We will continue to add to this chart.)
Day 6: Listening for the Music in Poetry
Mini Lesson
(Smithsonian Poetry Activities has a lesson on the music in poetry.)
1. Tell students one of the reasons many people enjoy poetry so much is that it feels like a song
to them. Tell them that often, as you read and reread a poem over and over again, you start
to hear the music in the poem.
2. Tell students that you carry around one of your favorite poems because you love the music in it.
3. Tell students that the first time you read it you read it in a very robotic, boring way. Model
reading part of this poem in this manner.
4. Tell students that the second time you read it, you tried to pay attention to the words, the line
breaks, and took little pauses where suggested by the poet’s structure of the poem (at end of
each line.)
5. Read the poem again, doing all of the above.
6. Tell students that the next time you read it; you wanted to think of how to read it “with
music.”
7. Using sticky notes, show students the type of notes you wrote on the poem to help you
remember when you wanted to read it slow in one place, faster in another place, or to make a
mental image in a certain line.
Independent Writing
8. Allow students to continue writing poems using their poet’s eyes, or to go back and put line
breaks in previously written poems.
Peer Sharing
Have students share new poems they are writing using their poet’s eyes, or discuss how they are
making decisions about where to add line breaks.
Estrategias que los poetas utiliza



Poetas ven con ojos de poeta
Poetas escriben acerca de tópicos y
experimentas con pautas de línea
Poetas vuelven a leer sus palabras para
añadir música a sus poemas.
Day 7: Putting Music into Our Poems (Add Rhyme and Alliteration)
Mini Lesson
1. Tell students that, just like when we read a poem and put the music into it, we also have to do
the same when we write a poem.
2. Show students a poem that contains rhyme and alliteration. Read it aloud several times,
allowing your voice to rise and fall with the rhyme and rhythm of the poem.
3. Ask students what they notice about the words this poet chose. They will probably notice the
rhyme, but may not notice the alliteration (several words beginning with the same sound, to
create a musical quality.)
4. Tell students that the poet probably played around with the words numerous times to find the
music.
5. Show what you imagine a draft of that poem may have looked like (with boring, unrhymed
words.)
6. Then show them the second draft that has more music in it. Create a chart-“¿Como puedo
añadir música a mi poema?”
Como puedo añadir música a mi poema…






Escribe el poema utilizando ojos de poeta.
Vuelve a leer lo que has escrito.
Escucha por la música en mis palabras.
Haz una lista de palabras que rimen con una palabra
al final de una línea. Intercambia estas palabras que
riman para crear un sonido musical.
Crea aliteración. Elije una palabra en el poema que
realmente te agrade y que quieras mantener. Crea
una lista de palabras relacionadas que comiencen
con el mismo sonido. Intercambia estas palabras
para crear sonidos en tu poema.
Elije los mejores lugares para pautas de línea.
7. Have a draft of a poem you have worked on written on a chart for students to view.
8. Ask students to help you create rhyme and alliteration, to rearrange and add words, to create
more music in the poem.
9. Be sure to tell students that they do not need to make all their lines rhyme. This makes
writing poetry too difficult for primary children! If they just add 2-3 sets of rhyming words,
that will give their poems plenty of music.
Independent Writing
10. Today, have students go back and revise a poem to add rhyme, alliteration, or line breaks and
to “add more music” to their poems.
Peer Sharing
Have students share how they have revised their poems to help the reader “hear the music.”
Refer to the chart: “¿Como puedo añadir música a mi poema?”
Day 8: Choosing Our Topics
Mini Lesson
1. Ask students to turn to a partner and talk about everything they have learned so far about
reading and writing a poem.
2. Remind students that, up until today they have been writing poems about small objects
around the room using their poets’ eyes.
3. Tell them that today they will begin to choose their own topics to write poems about.
4. Tell students that when we choose a topic, we need to pick something that gives us a big
feeling but is still a small moment.
5. Model going through this process for your students. (Ex. Well, I could start with something
small like a leaf or rock and see if I get a big feeling. Or think of something I have big
feelings about, like my niece Mia, and zoom in on one special moment. I remember when my
niece and I went to California together and she got in the pool for the first time and the smile
she had when she first felt comfortable and happy. If I close my eyes I can still see her face.)
6. Add to your chart - Strategies Poet’s Use





Estrategias que los poetas utilizan…
Poetas ven con ojos de poetas.
Poetas escriben acerca de tópicos y
experimentas con pautas de línea.
Poetas vuelven a leer sus palabras para
añadir música a sus poemas.
Poetas encuentran un tópico que les den
fuertes sentimientos.
Poetas encuentran un objeto, momento, o
detalle pequeño para mantener ese momento.
7. With students, begin a list of topics you and the class have shared that gives all of you a big
feeling, but is still a small moment, such as read-aloud time, a favorite game played, writing
workshop…)
Independent Writing
8. Tell students that today, after they finish up the work they started on the previous day, you
want them to begin drafting poems by picking their own small topics with big feelings.
9. Encourage them to create a running list of possible poetry topics.
Peer Sharing
Choose a few students to share what topics they chose to write about today and tell why they
chose them.
Writing Conventions: Irregular Verbs
Teacher should provide explicit instruction and modeling of the writing conventions during modeled and
shared writing. In addition, teacher should keep anecdotal notes to guide further instruction in small group
and individually. Irregular verbs can be tricky for young children. Provide lots of opportunities for them to
play with words and explore the correct use of irregular verbs. Poetry provides a wonderful platform for this.
Day 9: Show, Don’t Tell
Mini Lesson
1. Tell students that today they are going to learn another strategy poets use to write poems.
2. Tell them that when we write, whether it is a story or a poem, we need to “show, not tell.”
For example, instead of writing, “I felt happy to see my mom.” I could write, “I kept
checking at the window. When I saw her car turn the corner, I yelled, ‘She’s here!’”
3. Point out to students that when an author “shows, not tells”, he uses his words to show the
things he did and the words he spoke to show how he was feeling.
4. Use a couple of your students’ examples to highlight how they showed their big feelings. If
the student is open to it, work through one or two examples to develop the concept of “show,
don’t tell.”
5. Share a few more poems and have students work in pairs to tell what big feeling each student
is showing.
Independent Writing
6. As students continue to write poems, encourage them to show their big feelings to their
readers.
Peer Sharing
Allow time for students to share their writing. Be sure to choose good examples of “showing
feelings through words.”
Conferencing:
Be sure to take time each day to conference with a few
students. Here are a few possible conference questions.
 ¿Puedes pensar en un momento que mantiene el
sentimiento fuerte el/la ______ que te da?
 ¿Son esos sonidos que escuchas?
 ¿Puedes ayudarme a ver lo que tu ves?
Remember… when a student leaves a conference with you, they should go away feeling
confident, and wanting to write more.
Share this poem with students to encourage them to think hard and often about the places where
they might find a poem.
Valentine for Ernest Mann
by Naomi Nye
You can’t order a poem
like you order a taco, walk
up to the counter, say “I’ll
take two,” and expect it to
be handed back to you on
a shiny plate.
Still, I like your spirit.
Anyone who says, “Here’s
my address, write me a
poem,” deserves
something in reply.
So I’ll tell you a secret
instead:
Poems hide. In
the bottoms of our shoes,
they are
Sleeping. They are the shadows
Drifting across the ceiling
the moment before we
Wake up. What we have
to do is live in a way that
Lets us find them.
Writing Conventions: Pronouns
Teacher should provide explicit instruction and modeling of the writing conventions during
modeled and shared writing. In addition, teacher should keep anecdotal notes to guide
further instruction in small group and individually.
Day 10: Choosing Amazing Words
Mini Lesson
1. Tell students that a powerful way to show our big feelings is through the use of strong words.
2. Show students a simple sentence such as, “It was a nice day.” Show students how to change
this sentence into clear examples of what made it a nice day. “The sun was shining. I felt the
cool breeze. A bird chirped in the tree.” Be sure to choose strong, vivid words as you work
through this example.
3. Tell students that, as you were rereading your own poems, you found some bland bits that
didn’t show the reader your big strong feelings.
4. Show a poem that you have written on chart paper and underline the sentence or phrase that
needs work.
5. Have students work in pairs or small groups to create better, stronger sentences or phrases.
Share ideas and revise the poem. Reread it, or have a student volunteer to read it aloud.
Discuss the impact the change(s) have on the poem.
Independent Writing
6. Allow time for students to write. Encourage them to add strong sentences with vivid words or
to go back and find places they can revise their work.
Peer Sharing
Allow time for students to share their writing. Be sure to choose good examples of “showing
feelings through words.”
Day 11: Hearing the Voices of Poetry
Mini Lesson
1. Tell students that today and tomorrow we are going to learn how to “play with different
voices” in our poems.
2. Congratulate students on choosing small topics with big feelings. Tell them that many
students have been getting frustrated, however. They choose a great topic, but, when they
write, it ends up sounding just like a regular story--not a poem.
3. Share an example of this. (I love my cat. So much! My cat is cute and fluffy.) Tell them this
sounds just like regular writing.
4. Offer to show them a way to make their writing sound more poetic. Tell them that some of
our poems are sounding too “talky.” (Just telling about the object.)
5. Show them one way to make their writing more poetic is to write as if they are talking to the
object or subject of the poem. (Siempre gritas miau. Cuando quieres que te acaricie. En mi
cama, te acurrucar, lindo, esponjadito.) Be sure to use the same topic on both examples.
6. Share another example of a poem lacking voice.
7. In pairs, have students discuss how they might change this poem to write it directly to the
subject.
Independent Writing
8. Have students go back today and revise one of their poems so that it addresses the subject.
Encourage them to write their new poem directly underneath the old one.
Peer Sharing
Select some pieces of student writing to share with the class. The pieces should demonstrate
what you hope the children will all try to do.
Voces del Poeta:



Dirije (habla a) al objeto- el poeta escribe al poema al ob jeto
(ej. Sigue creciendo, pequeño tomate. Rojo y jugoso.
Pequeño ahora, pero serás grande.)
Escribe con Urgencia- di la historia como si es muy importante
y no puede esperar (El tomate pequeño, creció y creció. Lo ví
ayer y ahora…enorme. Rojo. Jugoso)
Escribe en forma lírica- escribe con emoción, con tu corazón
(Regué el tomate, en la mañana, por la noche, creciendo,
creciendo, creciendo. Limpié las hojas, examine la tierra, lo
moví al sol. Lo cuidé. Ahora es grade, rojo, jugoso.)
Day 12: Poet’s Voices (continued)
Mini Lesson
1. Remind students that yesterday, they learned a way to change their writing to make it sound
more like poetry.
2. Tell them that another way to revise poems is to make them sound very important (like an
emergency).
3. Tell them that some poems are like stories. One way to make them more interesting is to
write them as if you imagine running into a room, needing to tell your story very quickly.
4. Choose a poem and read it aloud in a quick and urgent manner. Highlight how the poet
wrote this poem in short, urgent-sounding sentences.
5. Another way words can be changed into a poem with poetic voice is for the poet to write as if
he is talking directly to you about his truest, deepest feelings.
6. Share an example of a poem that is full of heartfelt emotion.
7. Have your students practice with all three voices. Some may need to work with a partner and
take turns working on one person’s poem at a time.
Independent Writing
8. Tell students that you want them to pretend they are writing about waking up and feeling the
sun. Tell them they could say it in a “story way” (I woke up. I saw the sun.), but that
wouldn’t sound or feel very poetic. Have them work with a partner to practice this by
revising the poem to have the speaker talking directly to the sun.
9. Then have them create a poem using their urgent, storyteller voice. (Pretend you rush to the
breakfast table and you can’t wait to tell how you felt the sun.)
10. Finally, have them practice using their lyrical voice (be sure to explain the meaning of
lyrical.).
Peer Sharing
Review the chart for Poet’s Voices. Then choose students to share ways they used different
poetic voices.
Day 13: Finding the Right Word
Mini Lesson
1. Ask volunteers to help you list some of the strategies the class has learned for writing like
poets.
2. Tell them that another way to improve a poem is by finding the “perfect word.”
3. Show students a poem written on chart paper, but with a few words strategically covered.
4. Model that, as the poet was writing this poem, they probably came to a few spots where they
stopped to brainstorm the perfect word choice.
5. Read the poem aloud. When you come to the first covered word, create a list of possible
word choices. Choose the “just right” word and write it into the poem.
6. Have students work in pairs to create possible word choices for other missing words in the
poem.
7. Finish the poem with student word choices. Emphasize picking that “just right” word.
8. Add to the chart “Estrategias que los poetas utilizan” que poetas buscan por palabras
precisas.
Independent Writing
9. Allow time for students to write and work on their poems. Remind them to focus on choosing
“just right” words to share their thoughts.
Peer Sharing
Allow time for students to share how they changed their writing to make it more precise.
Example of a Poem with Precise Words
Mi mamá
En mi lonchera
Un jugo congelado
Porque esta caliente hoy
Envuelto en papel
Así no se derretirá
¿Como yo nunca
jamás
la veo
hacer esto?
Day 14: Finding the Right Word (continued)
Mini Lesson
1. Remind students that yesterday they learned another strategy that poets use: Searching for
just the right word.
2. Re-read yesterday’s poem with their “just right” words inserted into the poem.
3. Tell students that today, you want them to practice finding “that perfect word” by writing a
class poem.
4. Tell them you want to write a poem about an everyday object (i.e. pointer, chalk, eraser).
Have students talk with a partner, sharing observations about the chosen object.
5. As partners share out with the class, write their observations on chart paper.
6. Have them read the class list and, with their partner, choose two to three favorites. With the
observations they choose, have them experiment with finding the perfect words to make it
sound just right.
7. Have students read their shared poem about an everyday object to the class. If all students
write about the same object, writers will be able to hear how others tackled this difficult job
with the same topic.
Independent Writing
8. Allow time for students to work on revising their own poems to make sure the words they are
choosing are just the right words.
Peer Sharing
Have students buddy up to share the “just right” word choices they have used in their poetry.
Writing Conventions: Possessive Pronouns
Provide explicit instruction and modeling of the writing conventions during modeled and shared writing
and guided practice during writing conferences. Remember that the goal of explicit instruction is for
students to independently utilize writing conventions. Teacher consistently reviews student writing and
determines future teaching objectives.
Day 15: Putting Our Words Into Feelings
Mini Lesson
1. Tell students you are proud of the way they have been seeing things with fresh eyes.
2. Tell them that a poet doesn’t only see things with fresh eyes; they express their feelings so
their readers can see through those same eyes.
3. Share that good poets often don’t just “tell” their feeling (i.e. I am happy) but instead, say
their feeling is like something else. We compare our feelings to something else.
4. Share the poem “Inside my Heart”. Guide them through discussing what they think the poet
was hoping the reader would understand when reading her words.
Example of Poem with Feelings
Inside my Heart by Zoe Ryder White
Inside my heart lives
One birthday party
Two jazz bands
Three wrestling puppies
Four dancing birds
Five laughing babies
5. Tell students to think of a time when they felt sad. Have them think about what lived in their
heart when they were sad. Have them share with a partner by saying, “When I felt sad,
inside my heart lived….”
6. Have students use the same strategy with a few other feelings (like happy, proud, angry,
lonely…)
Independent Writing
7. Have children work on their poems, or revise previous poems, attempting to express their
feelings using comparison.
Peer Sharing
Choose students to share how they expressed their feelings in their poems.
Day 16: Examining Our Poems for Feelings and Creating Similes
Mini Lesson
Before today’s lesson… review your students’ work. Choose a few poems in which
students attempted to write their feelings but did so with simple statements such as “I felt
sad. I felt happy.”
1. Ask student permission to use their poem…if no one “volunteers,” trade poems with another
teacher, or write a “student poem” yourself. Share one of these poems on chart paper. Circle
the simple statement of feeling that you will be working on.
2. Make a T-chart, writing the simple statement on one side and what the feeling can be
compared to on the other side.
Ex:
Sentimiento
Comparación
Me siento triste
-Cuendo un amigo se muda
-Cuando mi mama dice no
-Cuando mi mascota escapa
3. Choose the example that best fits the rest of the poem. Model changing this simple statement
by creating a simile in the poem.
4. Continue modeling through revision ideas for student’s poems. Circle the words and ask
students to think about what those feelings remind them of. Create similes to replace the
simple feelings statements.
Independent Writing
5. Send students off to work today- trying to develop their feelings.
Peer Sharing
Choose students to share new ways they expressed their feelings in their poems.
Day 17: Comparing Poetic Ideas to Paint Pictures
Mini Lesson
1. Mention a few of the exciting observations you’ve made of the students’ growth as poets, and
their ability to express feelings with words.
2. Tell them that poets also express their ideas by comparing them to something else.
3. Show a chart comparing ordinary language to poetic language.
Ordinario
 El árbol es
verde.
 La noche
asusta
Poético
 El árbol es como un fuego
artificial explotando.
 En la noche, mi malos
sueños viven.
4. Have a few sentences written under the ordinary language section, with nothing in the
“Poetic” column. Have students work in pairs or trios, practicing by writing them in more
poetic language.
Independent Writing
5. Allow time for students to review their own poems, and practice turning some of their own
ordinary statements into poetic language.
Peer Sharing
Choose students to share ways they used poetic language in their poems.
Teacher Tip:
Over these days, provide time for students
to practice reading their poems aloud.
Emphasize finding the music in their poems.
Have them read their poems multiple times
until it is just right.
Day 18: Choosing Poems for Publication
Mini Lesson
1. Ask students to think back over their work as poets during the last few weeks.
2. Point out that it’s time to be thinking about publishing their work to share with others.
3. Using your own writing notebook, model going through and rereading the poems and
selecting favorites. (Don’t actually read them all aloud--read just one or two as examples.)
Tell students you want them to choose at least 5 of their own poems to edit for publishing.
4. Tell them to choose poems that are their best models of poetic language... poems that share
through poet’s eyes, include big strong feelings, use poetic language, precise words and so
on.
5. Tell students to star their chosen poems.
Independent Writing
6. Provide time for students to read through the poetry in their writer’s notebooks, and to
choose at least 5 to prepare for publishing.
7. Spend this time circulating and guiding students through this process.
8. Also provide time for students to ask for feedback from their peers on poem choices.
Peer Sharing
Use this time to discuss how students chose poems and allow time for the class to help struggling
peers make decisions.
Day 19: Editing our Poems
Mini Lesson
1. Tell students that now that they have chosen poems to publish, it is time to edit them.
2. Remind students that when we edit, we fix our writing to make it readable. Show students a
few lines from one of your student’s poems. Remind them that when we edit, the first thing
we do is reread the writing slowly and carefully.
3. Model rereading the lines very slowly and fixing any errors (not better wording, but actual
errors) you see as you go. Say aloud the type of corrections you are making (fixing spelling,
putting in punctuation) as you do it. If you’ve taught any blends or spelling patterns, pay
specific attention to correcting those, along with whatever specific writing conventions you
have worked on during this unit.
4. Create a chart “Editando nuestra poeía” for student use.
Menú de editar para la poesía







Asegúrate que todas las palabras estén allí.
Asegúrate que la palabras tengas espacion entre ellas.
Asegúrate que todas las letras se dirijan a la dirección correcta.
Todas las palabras de la pared de palabras estén correctamente
deletreadas
Toda la puntuación esté correcta (puntos, signos de interrogación y
exclamación, comas)
El uso de las mayúsculas sea el correcto
Reglas y patrones de deletreo sean correctos
5. Show a few other lines of a poem. With the editor’s checklist available, have students edit
those lines with a partner.
6. Talk about the editing the students did.
Independent Writing
7. Provide time for students to edit their poems. Remind them to reread the poem, thinking
about only one editing item at a time, (i.e., Read the poem to make sure all the words are
there. Then read the poem again to make sure words have spaces between them, lines begin
with capitals, etc.)
Day 20: Celebrating Our Poetry
Today students will celebrate the hard work they have put into writing their poems.
Be creative and make sure students feel the excitement. Teachers may decide to get together
with other classes and have a poetry reading with live musicians, berets, and snapping.
Lucky Calkins suggests placing poems around the school in appropriate places (i.e recess poem
on the jungle gym) and going on a poetry walk with guests.
Enjoy the day and provide feedback for you and your students’ hard work!
Celebrate Writing!