Meredith Green

Lesson Title: Acrostic Poems

Subject/Grade Level/Date: Writing, 1st grade, February 9
Time Requirement: 1 hour
Materials List: samples of acrostic poems, poem worksheets, bubble map
worksheets for brainstorming, construction paper, a sentence strip with
acrostic poem written on it
Type of Lesson: Whole class
Content Standards:
1.RL.4
Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or
appeal to the senses.
1.W.4
With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the
development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose
1.L1f
Use frequently occurring adjectives
ELP Standards:
II-W-4, B-HI-7
Use expressive or descriptive phrases or sentences in a student generated
text.
II-W-4, B-HI-6
Use a variety of words in a student generated text to create a picture in the
readers mind and to convey the intended meaning.
II-LS-2, B-HI-6
Ask and respond to academic questions using complete sentences.
Instructional Objective:
Students will demonstrate understanding of acrostic poem format by
composing one of their own.
Language Objectives:

Students will be able to describe a person using adjectives by including

appropriate adjectives in an acrostic poem.
Students will be able to share their knowledge and opinions about poetry by
answering academic questions to the class and with a partner.
Active Instructional Plan:
1. Bring students to the carpet. Review what we talked about with poetry
the day before. Have students stand up if they remember something
about poems from the day before. Have a few students share, then ask
some review questions if there are some important points being
missed.
2. Put up all three of the sample acrostic poems on the stand near the
carpet and ask students what they notice about these poems.
3. Explain that acrostic poems are poems in which someone picks a topic,
then writes details about that topic so that on the side it spells out the
name or the word that they are talking about.
a. Go over the objective at this point in order to let students know
that we will be writing our own acrostic poems. Have students
notice the new word in the objective and have them read it to
me.
4. Put the poems, one at a time, on the Promethean board, and have a
student read it aloud. Then have students share with someone next to
them what they think this poem is about. Have a student share and ask
them how they knew what it was about. (Its spelled out on the side)
5. On the last poem, have students share all of the describing words they
notice. Talk about how these poems are about describing something,
so we need to use a lot of adjectives.
6. Together, on the document camera, create a poem about Mrs. Leon.
a. Make a list of adjectives to describe her.
b. Write her name down the side.
c. Have students tell me all of the lines until the poem is finished.
7. Show students the worksheet and explain that they are going to create
an acrostic poem for a friend for Valentines Day. It can be someone in
the class or someone else, and then on Valentines Day, you can give it
to your friend to tell them all of the wonderful things you like about
them. If it is for someone in the class, you can give it to them during
the card exchange.
a. Ask students what words they think they will need and write
them on the board
b. Have students think for a minute about who they could write
about, then have them all whisper the name to me at the same
time.
c. Call tables one at a time to go back to their seat, having them
get a copy of the worksheet from me as they stand up to go.

8. Students work independently on the worksheet, then glue it onto

construction paper and decorate it. (This can also be done throughout
the week when work is finished early if they dont finish.)
a. Fill out the adjectives part of the sheet.
b. Fill in the poem.
c. Write their name after From
d. Decorate if there is time left.
Anticipatory Set
Ask students to
tell me
everything they
know about
poems.
Ask students to
just look at the
poems sitting in
front of them
just to see what
they notice
about them.

Teacher Action
Explain acrostic
poems.
Scaffold during
class creation of
the Mrs. Leon
poem.
Provide spelling
of a list of
words.
Support
students during
independent
work.

Student Action
Read poems
aloud.
Share with a
partner when
asked.
Help in creating
the acrostic
poem for Mrs.
Leon.
Write a poem
for a friend
based on what
they learned
about acrostic
poems.

Closure: After the students have worked for a while, share a few lines from a
few students work with the rest of the class. Ask again what kind of poems
these are and how I know who these poems are about. Just briefly close by
saying that they are all now poets and are able to write their very own
acrostic poems, saying that I am sure that the recipients will be so grateful
for their hard work and nice words.
Assessment/Evaluation: With the gradual release of this lesson, I will be
able to observe students at the beginning, middle, and end points of the
lesson, which will help me find if students need extra support or instruction
just by the way they are answering questions or writing the poems.
I will also go around and be sure to read all of the poems throughout the
lesson as an informal assessment of their understanding of writing the
poems. If students are not doing it correctly, that will be an opportunity for
me to give them a little more support to help them understand better.
Modifications/Differentiation:

Different adjectives will be written on the board so that students who have
trouble with spelling can focus on structuring their poem rather than just on
spelling difficult words.
I will also be walking around the room giving extra support to students who
are having trouble, and will be helping students who are struggling with
ideas to brainstorm.
If ELL students are really struggling to come up with adjectives in English,
but have them in Spanish, Mrs. Leon or I will translate specific words once
they have concrete ideas.