Design for Learning

Instructor: Ms. Pierson

Grade Level/Cooperating Teacher: 5/ Brown
Lesson Title: Diamante
Date: March 15, 2016
Curriculum Area: English and Language Arts Estimated Time: 45 minutes
Standards Connection:

Explain major differences among poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural
elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters,
settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text.
[RL.4.5]
Learning Objective(s):

When given a Diamond Diamante worksheet, students will be able to accurately fill in
all 16 blanks to create their own diamond diamante poem that contains all the right
elements of a diamonte poem.
Learning Objective(s) stated in kid-friendly language:

Students, today we will be reading some poems and learn how to write our own poem
similar to the ones that we read.
Evaluation of Learning Objective(s):

Students will be given a writing diamante poem worksheet that has seven lines outlined
for them. They will be given the prompt that allows them to write about whatever topic
they choose. However, they have to make sure that it has all the requirements of a
diamante poem. Students that have all line requirements and blanks filled in correctly will
score a 16/16. Students who have at least 13 out of the 16 blanks filled in correctly will
be considered in the green group. Students who have 10 out of the 16 blanks filled in
correctly will be placed in the yellow group. They will need more practice. Students who
score less than 10 will be placed in the red group and will be in need of more teaching.
Engagement:

The teacher Ms. Pierson, will begin by reading her students the poem about the pencil.
Pencil
Sharp, skinny
Writing, answering, erasing
Wood, lead, ink, plastic
Drawing, smudging, leaking
Durable, comfortable
Pen
The teacher will write the poem on the board. After she will discuss with the students
what is unique about this poem.
Good morning boys and girls! I am going to read you this special poem. Ms. Pierson did
not write this poem, someone else did. However, I really like this poem. The teacher will
read the poem aloud to the students and have it written up on the board behind her. Boys
and girls, did you enjoy reading this poem? Lets talk about what was different with this
poem. Was it long or short? I have written it on the board also. Now I am going to read
another poem aloud. I want you to listen carefully to this poem too.
The teacher will read this poem aloud and have it written on the board as well.

Puppy
Sweet, young
Running, sleeping, playing
Ball, leash, treats, backyard
Barking, eating, fetching
Playful, silly
Pup
Now can someone raise their hand and tell me what this poem was about? That is right it
was about a puppy. Now Ms. Pierson did not write this poem either but she also likes this
one a lot. Do you like this poem? Are the poems similar? They are kind of similar. Youre
right one is talking about a pencil and on is talking about a puppy. Now these poems are
similar because they are written in a special way. We are going to learn about what
makes these poems so special and today you too will get to write this special type of
poem. (Transitions to teaching...)
Learning Design:
I. Teaching:
The teacher will explain the objective again to the students. She will define what a
diamante poem is to the students. She will look back at the poems that she read for the
engagement using them as an example and to reference back to when she is teaching.
Boys and girls, when I call on your table will you please come take a seat quietly on the
carpet. The teacher will call all students to the carpet by table. Students give me five: eyes
on speaker, ears listening, mouth quiet, body still, brain focused. Today you will learn
about diamante poems and at the end of today I feel confident that you will be able to
write your own diamante poem. Do you remember the two poems I read earlier, the one
about a puppy and the one about a pencil? Yes they were good poems but they were
different poems that what we are used to writing. Ms. Brown tells me that you all have
been learning all about poetry. What can someone tell me about the characteristics of a
poem? Raise your hand and when I call on you I want you to tell me one characteristic of
a poem. Teacher will call on the students who have their hands raised. Yes that is right
poems have line breaks. All poems have line breaks. What is a line break? A line break is
the way the lines are broken up to suggest meaning. It can create rhythm or form a
particular shape. Now, last week when I was here you all were working on your shape
poems. I loved getting to read your shape poems. Can someone raise your hand and tell
me what the rules or requirements were to writing your shape poem? Did it have to have
a certain number of words or a certain number of lines? I also liked the variety of
different poems I saw. Some were about footballs and others were about cookies. Some of
your shape poems were long and others were short. What is another characteristic that
poems have? Yes that is right they are broken up into stanzas. Can someone please raise
your hand and tell me what a stanza is. That is right a stanza is a group of lines that go
together in a poem. Some poems have a lot of stanzas and others just have one. What is
another quality that a poem has or can have? That is right it can have repetition. Can
you tell me what repetition is? Repetition is repeating of a sound, syllable, word, phrase,
line, or stanza. Can someone give me an example of repetition. Yes, row, row row your
boat is repetition. Do we have to have repetition in our poem? We dont have to. What
else can you say about poems? I know you all learned so much already. Yes that is right
metaphors! What is a metaphor? A metaphor is a comparison of two things without using
like or as. Now what is it called when you compare two things and you use like

or as. Yes that is right that is a simile. Did you all use metaphors and similes in some
of your poems that you wrote? Now can someone read to me the poem that was on the
board and that I read earlier? It is on the board. I need a volunteer to read the poem that
starts off with pencil. Thank you for volunteering. The teacher will call on a student and
the student will read the poem pencil aloud to the class. Awesome reading! Now can I
have a volunteer to read another poem. Please read the poems that is about the puppy.
Thank you for volunteering. I need everyones ears ready to listen. The student will read
the poem aloud. Thank you for reading. Now after hearing these two poems again. I want
you to raise your hand and tell me what you notice about these types of poems. How are
they similar to your shape poems that you wrote earlier? Lets dissect this poem and look
more in depth at it. This is a special type of poem called a diamante poem. Have you ever
heard of a diamante poem? This is a special type of poem that is written in a specific way.
Lets look at another poem. The teacher will write this poem new poem on the board.
Flower
Beautiful, brilliant
Sprouting, budding, growing
Roses, daises, violets, tulips
Blooming, smelling, waving
Colorful, lovely
Blossom
Lets put our listening ears on as I read this poem to you all. The three poems will be put
on the board all side by side so they will be easy to read and compare all three. Lets look
at the first line of the poem. Can someone please tell me what the first line of the poem
is? Yes that is right it is Flower. Now boys and girls is that similar to the other first
lines of the other two poems on the board. Yes. They are all one word like puppy and
pencil. What part of speech is that? You are right that is a noun. You all are so smart that
is right. Great observation. Now the first line of every diamonte poem is a noun. It is the
subject of what your poem is going to be about. Now lets look at the next line,
Beautiful, brilliant.How many words are on the second line of all three of these
examples. That is right. What part of speech is it? That is right it is an adjective. Can
someone raise their hand and remind me what an adjective is? That is right. It is a
descriptive word that describes something. What do those adjectives describe? What does
sharp and skinny describe? They describe the pencil. What does beautiful and brilliant
describe? The two adjectives in line two describe the noun in line one. Lets review so far
the two lines. Line one is a noun that is one word. Line two has two adjectives that
describe the noun in line one. Now lets look at line three. Throughout the time the
teacher will be writing a blank outline on the board. They will have blanks with the
amount of words on each line with noun or adjective written underneath it. This will
serve as a reference for the students and a model of the rules and components of a
diamonte. Now boys and girls lets look at line three. Can someone raise there hand and
tell me what they notice about any of the words in line three? Yes that is right there are
three words in line three. Anything else that you notice. That is right! Awesome
observation! All the words in line three end in -ing. So for our blank outline how many
blanks would Ms. Pierson draw for the amount of words that should be included in line 3.
That is right three blanks. What type of words should be in these blanks. Now there is no
particular part of speech that should be included in these blanks however, they should be
words that end in -ing that describe the noun or subject in line 1. Does everyone
understand so far? Okay now lets move on to line 4. Will someone volunteer to read line
4 in the poem about pencils? Teacher will call on student to read. Will someone volunteer
to read line 4 in the poem about the puppy? Teacher will call on student to read. Will

someone read line 4 in the poem about flowers? Teacher will call on someone to read.
Now raise your hand if you can tell me something that you notice about these. Lets take a
look at the first two words. They are what part of speech? That is right they describe the
noun in line 1. Now lets look at the next two words. What part of speech are these two
words? That is right they are nouns. Now pay close attention. Do they describe the noun
in line 1 or do they describe the noun in line 7? This is a tricky part so I want you to take
a minute of quiet thinking. When you think you know I want you to give me a silent
thumbs up. Teacher waits for all the students to have a silent thumbs up. Okay raise your
hand if you think you know. That is right the last two words describe the subject in line 7.
For example ink and plastic do not describe a pencil rather they describe a pencil. Will
someone please raise their hand and tell Ms. Pierson what she should write on the blank
chart. That is right she should draw 4 blanks. What parts of speech are these four words?
That is correct they are nouns. What else do you think I should write that would be
helpful. I agree with that statement. I think that I should write under the first two blanks
noun describing line 1 now what should I write on the last two blanks. I agree I think it
would be helpful if I wrote noun- describing line 7. Now lets look at line 5. Do you
predict that there might be in a shift of what we are describing? Do you think we will still
be describing the noun in line 1 line pencil or flower? Lets take a look and see. How
many words are in line 5? That is right there are three words. What is unique about these
words. That is correct they are -ing words. Now what are they describing? Are they
describing the same thing that line 3 described? No they are describing the subject on
line 7. Are they similar to line 3? Yes they are. They are same types of words but instead
of describing line 1 they are describing line 7. I will draw out three line and write under
the lines -ing words that describe line 7. Lets look at line 6. How many words? What type
of speech? That is right two and they are adjectives. Boys and girls are you seeing some
type of pattern? For our blank diagram I will draw two lines with the words adjectives
describing line 7. Now what is line 7? That is right it is one word that is a noun. Do you
see any relationship between the noun in line 1 and line 7? Yes that is right! They are
related. Boys and girls! I think we have learned about a diamante poem. There are
certain rules that a diamante poem follow in order to be able to call it a diamante poem.
Just like your shape poems that you all worked on the diamante poems are usually in the
shape of a diamond. Awesome work today. I am so proud of how hard you all worked.
Now it is time to practice! (transitions to practice)
II. Opportunity for Practice:
Teacher will have the students go back to their desks. She will pass out the Diamonte
Poem worksheet.
Boys and girls, now that we have read three poems and dissected them. It is your turn to
practice. You can write your poem about anything you want to. However, they have to
follow the rules that diamante poems have. The worksheet will help guide you. I want
them to make sense. You may talk to your elbow partner about what you are writing
about and get some ideas. If you need help I will come around and help you! However, I
want you to use this time to be creative with what you write about. Lets get to work.
III. Assessment
Teacher will do a quick review about the seven lines of a diamante poem and what each
line has. The teacher will pass out a blank diamante poem with blanks but no clues
underneath.

Boys and girls, before we write our own diamante poems let us review what makes a
diamate poem so special. The first and last of seven lines are one words that are nouns.
These words are very similar. The second and sixth line are two adjectives. Line 2
describes the word in line one and line 6 describes the word in line 7. Line 3 and line 5
are three words that end in -ing that describe either line 1 and line 7. Then the middle
line, line 4 is four noun the first two describe line 1 noun. The last two nouns describe
subject in line 7. No talking. You are allowed to write on anything that you want just as
long as it makes sense and it follows the requirement. Good luck! (Transitions to
closure...)
IV. Closure:
As the lesson comes to a close, the teacher and class will recap what a diamante poem is
and what makes it so unique. They will as a class write one together. Than the floor will
open up for students to volunteer to read what they wrote. It will be turned into an open
mic type night.
Boys and girls, I am so extremely proud of your hard work! You are becoming great
poets! Now lets recap what we learned today about diamete poems. They are poems that
have seven lines usually in the shape of a diamond but does not have to be. There are
certain requirements for each line. The first and last of seven lines are one words that are
nouns. These words are very similar. The second and sixth line are two adjectives. Line 2
describes the word in line one and line 6 describes the word in line 7. Line 3 and line 5
are three words that end in -ing that describe either line 1 and line 7. Then the middle
line, line 4 is four noun the first two describe line 1 noun. The last two nouns describe
subject in line 7. Now as a class lets write a diamete poem together. The class will write
a poem together. Awesome, I love our poem we wrote. Now I want to open the floor up for
people to read their diamante poems that you all wrote. While your classmates are
reading their poems I want you to give them respect. There should be no talking while
other people are going. The students will take turns reading their poems. Great work boys
and girls! I am so proud of you!

Materials and Resources:

expo markers
white board
blank Diamante poem worksheet
Diamante poem worksheet

pencil
poems

Differentiation Strategies (including plans for individual learners):

The students who are in the red category can retake the assessment but have the words underneath
the blanks that will help them.
The ELL students will have a word bank of words to use and extra help when completing their
assessment.

Data Analysis:

Reflection:

Samford University
Design for Learning