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Summer Burns

Dr. Ian Nolte

English 419

14 March 2020

Improving My Poetry Lesson Plans:

A Reflection on What Needs to Be Changed

My poetry lesson plan, while the smallest lesson plan of the semester, was the most

difficult lesson plan that I’ve had to complete thus far because of how I struggle with poetry.

Beginning with the grand idea for this lesson plan, my goal was to teach students the creation

process of poems as well as to teach students how to think in a more imaginative way. The

objectives and the standards are the first component to the plan itself because it demonstrates me

asking the students to grasp the fundamental items of poetry. I asked that students analyze two

forms of poetry in order to break it down and see it for what it was at a surface level; however,

that being said, I also asked that students to take time to compare the two forms of poetry in

order to see them for their creative components and the range in which the students themselves

may be able to take with their own writing. The standard chosen to fit within this day of lessons

is actually the most fitting standard I have been able to incorporate because it asks for students to

look at two pieces of writing in a comparative manner in order to look at their structure, the

meaning of the texts, and the style used by the author. To fit with these standards and objectives,

I chose to use “Jabberwocky” and “Windigo” because of how imaginative they are. Not only are

these great examples of imagination work, but it also is a great demonstration of what a more

experienced author does in relation to a less experienced writer.

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The second day of the poetry unit I asked that students be able to read and comprehend a

piece of literature with little to no assistance from myself, and that students create their own

poems by the end of the class period. The first objective is highly important in consideration to

the poem I am asking that students read alone: Shakespeare’s “Song of the Witches”. While this

poem is an easy read, Shakespearean language is deemed difficult for most students because of

the old English word choices and phrases that he used. The standard that I had to accompany

these objectives is the same as the day before as I am still asking that students analyze a piece of

poetry and compare it to that of their own creation. I chose this specific poem, as stated above,

for this day’s lesson because I believe it is important that students see a poetic aspect of

Shakespeare before they go in high school, and because the theme of imagination is maintained

within the piece itself.

Making changes to my work is not going to be hard with this lesson plan because, just

through reading through it as I reflect, I am finding things left and right that I deem important in

changing in order to maximize student achievement, and my achievement in teaching required

standards. My first change would be on day two for the standard. I originally have 8.8 in the

standard slot, but I believe 8.10 is a better fit because it is asking students to determine the

meaning of words and phrases. I think this is important not only with reading a piece, but also

with writing one as well. Students need to be able to see how much can come out of a single

word or even a single phrase that could save them from the lengthy descriptions they may try to

place within their poems. Another change that I will not be able to place within the rewrites of

these lessons is the addition of another day. While two days seems like enough time to cover the

basis of poetry, I feel like three days would just make it easier on students and provide students

with time to reflect on their own work. I also think that at the end of day two, instead of asking
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students to volunteer to read, what if it was a poetry café reading where students go to act as

though they were at an open mic, and they were able to make a day out of it. While these are

only ideas, I want to make changes because I see that there is potential for these plans, but they

haven’t quite reached that point yet.