Focused Poetry

Since April is Poetry Month, we thought a post about our focused poetry units would be the perfect way to kick off our new blog.

Although we have been using focused poetry all year long, we’ve been extra busy reviewing poetry elements in our fourth grade classrooms to prepare them for our state test that is quickly approaching. We know if we hate using the boring, old poems that the kids definitely despise them, which is why we decided it was time to become poets. Scary, right? Surprisingly, we aren't that terrible, or at least  according to our sweet kiddos.

Here is an authentic look inside our classrooms for a week in the life of our focused poetry. Keep in mind that each day is intended to be roughly 10 minutes--depending on the working speed of your students. It seems to move faster with the more practice they have.
We started off the week with a poem from our Spring Edition Focused Poetry, called Nola, a Noble Champion. 

Get the PDF of Nola, a Noble Champion HERE!

DAY ONE: 

We begin by giving each student a copy of the poem to glue in their interactive poetry notebook. Then we read aloud the poem together. Next we have the students read the poem again, but this time with a partner. We always emphasize that poetry is meant to be heard. Once they have finished reading the poem, they answer Day 1 - Elements of Poetry questions in their partnerships. This is a great way for us to actively listen to our students' conversations. We are also able to assess which students have misconceptions and correct those before it becomes a habit. Finally, we bring the class back together and discuss their answers. Day 1 is usually a quick discussion because of how black and white the questions are: 

Genre:
Type:
How many stanzas:
What lines rhyme:
Any figurative language?
Point of View:
Who is the speaker?

DAY TWO:
We revisit the poem, but this time they read through it independently. Then we project the questions for the day, which are about the author's purpose, tone, and theme of the poem. After they have had about 5-7 minutes, we bring them back together to discuss the answers whole group.

DAY THREE: 

Again, we revisit the poem focusing on grammar skills inside of it. This is a great way to cross over from reading to writing, which is important in fourth grade because it is a heavy writing year. We give them 3 minutes to notice any punctuation, spelling patterns, homophones, adjectives, and adverbs that they can find. Then depending on their success, we sometimes tell them which spelling pattern to look for or how many adjectives or adverbs they should be looking for. Then we discuss their answers whole group.

DAY FOUR:

This is our last day to visit the poem as a whole group. Today is focused on vocabulary. We have pulled out 3-4 words from the poem to have our students practice using context clues to determine the meanings. As always, we discuss their findings whole group and clear up any misconceptions about the meanings of certain words. We make sure to help them make connections with context clues because our students seem to struggle with that concept.

DAY FIVE:

On the last day, we have the students independently read and complete comprehension questions over the poem. These questions come from the points that we have discussed with them all week, so the kids should feel successful. However, it definitely shows who was and wasn't paying attention. (Haha)

We hope you and your kiddos enjoy using focused poetry as much as we do! We have a 3rd and 4th grade versions. Both grade levels come in single units (one month) or bundles (up to 4 months).

You can check out our 3rd Grade Bundle HERE or our 4th Bundle HERE! Don't forget to follow our store while you're there!