How Poems Are Built - Grade 6
In this study, students will experience three cycles of interconnected work with poems. Each cycle focuses on one or two poems by the following poets: Ko Un, Rita Dove, and William Carlos Williams. The work with each of the poems is designed to ensure a close reading of the text. The work begins with basic comprehension-level work and culminates with text-based interpretive tasks in which students participate in text-based discussions and write text-based arguments. The unit concludes with a retrospective task in which students consider what they have learned about poems as things people make or build.
Table of Contents
Writing Tasks
Title: Interpreting Ko Un “Exhausted”
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 1
- Discuss the task with the class and answer any questions students have about it.
- Pass out chart paper to each group.
- Ask students to work with their partners to create a chart (or charts if members of the group disagree about the message Ko Un is sending)
Title: Interpreting Ko Un “House left empty”
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 3
Explain to students that they will have this session to complete this work.
First, they will work in pairs or trios to discuss the question and make a set of notes.
After that, they will have time to work independently to draft their 2-3 paragraph response.
Finally, the class will reconvene as a whole group and tackle the “What is Ko Un saying?” question together.
Answer any questions students have about the work ahead.
Title: How “Sunday Night at Grandfather’s” Is Built
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 6
Place students in pairs or trios.
Give groups time to work together to make a set of notes in response to this task.
Use this time to confer with groups as they work on the task.
Title: Argument Writing About “Sunday Night at Grandfather’s”
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 7
Discuss the task with the class and answer any questions students have about it.
Place students in pairs or trios and give them time to work on the task and make a set of notes that they can bring to the closing meeting’s whole-group discussion.
Use this time to confer with groups about the task and their work on it.
Title: How “View of a Lake” Is Built
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 10
Place students in pairs or trios.
Give groups time to work together to make a set of notes in response to this question.
Use this time to confer with groups as they work on the task.
Title: Interpreting “View of a Lake”
Discuss the task with the class and answer any questions students have about it.
Place students in pairs or trios and give them time to work on the task and make a set of notes that they can bring to the closing meeting’s whole-group discussion.
Use this time to confer with groups about the task and their work on it.
Title: The Retrospective Task
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 12
Charts for Discussion
Title: What Do You See in the Poem
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 1
Point out that Ko Un’s little poems are driven by images arranged in a careful sequence.
Jot the following task on the board:
Write down what you see in the poem. Write these down in the order in which they “unfold” in the poem. (What does Ko Un show you first? Second? Next?)
Suggest to students that in the poem, Ko Un is drawing their attention to something (or some things) and that because of the way words and lines work, the poem “unfolds”—we are shown one thing and then another and then another.
Place students in pairs or trios and ask them to read the poem again and then to make a set of notes in response to the prompt on the board. Give the groups 3-5 minutes to do this work.
Reconvene the class and have students share their responses. Use this share out to evolve a comprehensive account of what the students see in the poem and the order in which Ko Un shows these things to his readers. Capture this information on a chart or the board.
Title: Ko Un’s Line Breaks
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 4
Read both poems aloud to the class again and then give students 3-5 minutes to talk with a partner about Ko Un’s line breaks.
Afterwards, reconvene the class and discuss the question “Why do you think Ko Un breaks his lines the way he does?”
Capture the class’ thinking on a chart titled something like “Ko Un’s Line Breaks.” Make this a two-column chart. In one column write the lines to which students refer. In the other, write the students’ explanations of why they think he breaks those lines as he does. (Note: Work with each poet in this unit will include a look at line breaks. You should imagine that at the end of the unit, students will step back and think about what they’ve learned about poems and how they are built, including line breaks. This chart, when placed alongside two others—one for Dove and one for Williams—will help them do that step back, retrospective work.)
Checks for Understanding
Title: What Message Do You Think Ko Un is Sending in “Exhausted”?
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 1
Give students masking tape and have them post the charts on the classroom walls so that the class can conduct a “gallery walk” where students take a few minutes to walk around the room to read the work on each chart.
Give students 3-5 minutes to walk around and read the other charts in the room.
Convene a whole-class discussion about the question “What message do you think Ko Un is sending in ‘Exhausted’?”
Once again, be sure to use the student charts as scaffolds or points of focus for the discussion.
Document and distill the class’ thinking on a chart. Be sure to include specific lines and phrases (including line numbers) on the chart as well as language that makes explicit the relationship specific lines and words have to an answer.
Title: How Our Poems Are Like Ko Un’s
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 4
During this conversation, be sure to capture the class’ thinking on a chart titled something like “How Our Poems Are Like Ko Un’s.” This conversation is a chance for you and the students to notice the aspects of Ko Un’s work they saw most clearly and that they consider to be most distinctive about his work
Title: Re-Saying “Sunday Night at Grandfather’s”
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 5
Reconvene the class and facilitate a sharing of the work period’s re-saying work.
Work with the class to develop a whole-class “re-say” of the poem. Capture this on a chart.
Title: Re-Saying “View of a Lake”
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 9
Reconvene the class and facilitate a sharing of the work period’s re-saying work.
Work with the class to develop a whole-class “re-say” of the poem. Capture this on a chart.
Independent Reading
Title: Reading Log
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Independent Reading
As you transition to independent reading, discuss how students can keep a reading log. Show students how you would like them to set up and use their reading log to record their independent reading this year. An example of one way a reading log could be set up is provided nearby. You may choose to have students create a table in their notebooks, use a pre-made sheet, or a digital format.
Explain to students that they should make an entry in their log only after they have finished a book. You will need to negotiate with students how to handle the entry of magazine readings (for example, entire issues versus individual articles).
After students have set up the log, including proper headings, creating the grid, etc., show students how to make an entry.
Answer any questions students have about the reading log.
Begin independent reading.
Consider conducting individual reading conferences with students as they are engaged in independent reading. In No More Independent Reading Without Support, Debbie Miller and Barbara Moss (2013) suggest that during early conferences, you should listen to students and work to build trust: Ask students how they view reading and how they think of themselves as readers; ask what they are interested in. Over time you can ask more about what they are reading and about how you can help them or what they are struggling with. Use what you learn from these conversations to guide additional instruction with groups or with the class.
Title: Independent Reading – Individual Planning Sheet
Instructions:
Title: End of Marking Period Self-Assessment
Instructions:
Unit Resources
Title: Cnterpreting Ko Un: “House left empty . . .”
Title: How “Sunday Night at Grandfather’s’” Is Built
Title: Writing About “Sunday Night at Grandfather’s”
Title: Scaffolds and Modifications: Descriptions and Use