UnitTopicandRationale

MyTopic

TheUnitIchosetoteachduringmystudentteachingsemesterwasaPoetryUnit.The

UnitwasthreeweekslongandwastaughtfromMay27April14 th.Foreachlessonduringthe

Unit,apoemwasselectedasthemainfocusforeach3040lesson.Idecidedtofocusonseven

typesofpoemstoteach.AfterItaughteachtypeofpoem,thestudentswerethenaskedtocreate

theirownversionofthepoem.TheseventypesofpoemIdecidedtofocusonthroughoutthis

UnitwerecalledaLimerickPoem,AcrosticPoem,Haiku,Cinquain,Couplet,SimileandFree

VersePoem.Inadditiontoteachingpoems,Iwantedtoteachthechildrenwhatpoemsaremade

upof.Forexample,allpoemsaremadeupoflines.Somepoemsarecomprisedofstanzas,as

wellaspatternsandrhymescheme.InthebeginningofmyUnit,IusedaTeachersPayTeachers

Poetrypacketthatdiscussedtheseconcepts.Eachstudentwasgivenapoetrypacketandpoetry

foldertokeeptheirpoemsin.

MyrationaleforchoosingtoteachaPoetryUnitwaschosenbecausethestudentswere

abouttotakeaStandardizedTestcalledPARCC(PartnershipforAssessmentofReadinessfor

CollegeandCareers)andIwantedtohelppreparethemforthistest. Althoughtherearenot

manyCommonCoreStandardsfor3rdgraderstoknowregardingpoetry,therewasoneparticular

standardthatstudentsneededtoknow.ThisstandardinvolvedknowingwhataStanzais.Oneof

the tests students take to prepare for PARCC, called iReady, has questions about stanzas,

coupletsandotherpoeticpatterns.ThisisthemainreasonwhyIchosetoteachaboutPoetry.In
additiontothis,Ipersonallylovepoetryandwantedtopassontheimportanceofcreativewriting

tomy3rdgradeclassroom.

Relevanceoftopictothecontentstandardsandwithinthecurricularsequence

MyUnittopiconPoetryisrelevanttoColoradosCommonCores3rdgradeReading,

WritingandCommunicatingStandards.ThestandardslistedbelowareaddressedinmyUnit:

2.1aiv.Describeanddrawinferencesabouttheelementsofplot,character,and

settinginliterarypieces,poems,andplays

2.1biii.Refertopartsofstories,dramas,andpoemswhenwritingorspeakingabouta

text,usingtermssuchaschapter,scene,andstanza;describehoweachsuccessivepart

buildsonearliersections.

AlthoughtherearenotmanystandardsassociatedwiththisUnit,therearestandardsthat

discusspoetryandwhat3rd gradersareexpectedtoknowregardingpoetry.3rd gradersmust

knowwhatastanzaisandtheymustbeabletomakeinferencesfrompoetry.Ispecificallytaught

theseconceptsatthebeginningofmyunitandreviewedtheseconceptsthroughoutmyUnit.

MyPoetryUnitwasathreeweekUnitthatwentfromMonday,March27Friday,April

14th2017.Eachdayfrom33:40pm,duringwritingblockintheclassroom,Itaughtapoetry

lesson.Therewasatotalofsevenpoemsthatweretaughtwhichincludedalimerickpoem,an
acrosticpoem,ahaiku,cinquain,simileandfreeversepoem.Eachofthesepoemswerechosen

tohelpstudentsmeettheCommonCoreStateStandards.Eachday,apoemwasintroducedtothe

studentsandthenmodeledtothestudents.Thestudentswerethenaskedtocreatetheirown

poemusingtherulesofthatspecificpoem.AfterthestudentsweredonewiththeirPoetryUnit,

theythenrewrotetheirpoemsontowhitepaperandaddedillustrationstothepaperwiththeir

poem.ThestudentswerethenaskedtoputthePoemsinaspecificorder.CourtneyandIthen

laminatedthepoetrybooksandbindedthemtogether.

Explainthesignificanceofthetopicglobally,personally,andspecificallyforthis

population

Thesignificance,aswellasrationalebehindthePoetryUnit,wastohelppreparestudents

forthePARCCtesttheywereabouttotake.Afterbeingapartofameetingwiththe3 rdGrade

teachers,aswellasInstructionalCoachandPrincipalinthebeginningofMarch,theteachers

were given some insight into what would be on the PARCC test. The Instructional Coach

mentionedthestudentswouldbetestedonafewpoetryconcepts,suchasstanza,acouplet

poem, as well as figurative language. This was why I chose to teach a Poetry Unit. The

significanceofthePoetryUnitwastopreparestudentstodowellonthePARCCtest.

Globallyspeaking,thisPoetryUnitwastointroducenewconceptstothestudentsand

helpthemthinkoutsideofthebox.WhatImeanbythisis,Iwantedthestudentstousetheir

creativitytocreatetheirpoems.SomeofthestudentshaveneverlearnedaboutPoetryandhave

neverlearnedhowtoreadPoetry.Itisimportantforstudentstounderstandonecanexpress
him/herselfinavarietyofwaysandpoetryisanotherwaytodothis.ThebigideaIwanted

studentstotakeawayfromthisUnit,isthatstoriescanbetoldthroughpoetryinathoughtful

way.

Personally,thePoetryUnitmeantalottome.IreflectedbacktowhenIwasin3 rdGrade

andspecificallyrememberlearningaboutPoetry.WhenIwasin3 rdgrade,Ilearnedaboutsome

ofthesepoemsandcreatedabookaswell.ItwasanexcitingtimeinmylifeandIthoughtthis

Unitwouldbeenjoyabletothestudents.

Whenthinkingaboutthepopulationoftheschool,aswellastheclassroom,Ibelievethis

PoetryUnitwillbehelpfultostudents.Itwillenablestudentstobecreative,moreawareof

themselvesandtheiremotionsanditwillhelpthembecomebetterwriters.