Phoetry

This week we started generating ideas for our 4th grade poets. One of our favorite poems that we have done for the last couple of years is PHOETRY.

It starts with a photo that inspires our little poets to write a poem. They loved getting to make so many choices about their poem selection (personalized learning).

We always try to start a new writing unit by generating ideas. Let's face it, you can't write unless you have something to say. We decided to ZOOM in on nature and have the students generate a list of items that interested them. So we spent some time discussing topics of interest inside of nature (animals, insects, land forms, weather, space, etc.) Then we had our students pick a topic of interest from their list. Next, they did a Google search for a copyright free image. We loved seeing all of the different topics chosen. Our students were excited, so it made writing poetry that much easier.

The next day they revisited their self selected images and set out to determine author's purpose (which was exciting for them since they were the author!), form of the poem, point of view, and speaker's perspective. Yay! Double dipping in reading and writing. HAPPY TEACHER DANCE TIME! Our students looked at us a little weird, but we answered with "You can't write a poem unless you know your purpose, RIGHT?" So, for example, if the student was writing to inform, they needed to include facts, if they were writing to describe, they needed to include awesome adjectives and provide imagery and so forth. Once they determined author's purpose, they selected first person P.O.V. or 3rd person P.O.V. and who the speaker was. Most students selected the speaker to be their topic of choice. For example, from the mountain's perspective or tiger's perspective. Now they only had to decide on the form of their poem (free verse or a rhyming pattern).

Now they were ready to start writing. One website we encouraged them to use was Rhyme Zone. It really helped our students with their rhyme pattern. Also, we gave them some slight parameters for their poems (at least 2 stanzas and at least 6 lines). Most of our students exceeded that for sure. After writing their poems in their writer's notebooks, revising, and editing, they created their final projects in PowerPoint. Yay! TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION.

We hope your students will enjoy this project as much as our did!