Title – Bio-Poem

By – Devin L. Dusseau

Primary Subject – Language Arts

Grade Level – 7

Michigan Curriculum Framework:

• ELA.2.MS.1: All students will demonstrate the ability to write clear and grammatically correct sentences, paragraphs, and compositions.
• ELA.8.MS.3: All students will explore and use the characteristics of different types of texts, aesthetic elements, and mechanics-including text structure, figurative and descriptive language, spelling, punctuation, and grammar- to construct and convey meaning.

Lesson Objectives:

A. Students will learn three misconceptions about poetry.

• Poetry must rhyme.
• Poetry must be beautiful and pretty.
• Nothing occurs in poetry because writing is predominantly descriptive.

B. Students will write a bio-poem about their historical figure.

Materials:

A. Paper

B. Pencil

C. Completed Graphic Organizer

D. Bio-poem worksheet

Anticipatory Set:

A. Mind Capture:

• I will begin saying, "Last we started our unit on historical biographies and today we are going to continue on our journey.
• Today we are going to use the information you gathered in the library the other day and combine biographies with poetry.

B. Bridge to Previous Learning:

• Students will use the information they gathered about their figure to write a bio-poem.
• As a class we will discuss what the students think of when they hear the term poetry, and I will build on their prior knowledge to teach of the misconceptions associated with poetry.

C. Statement of Purpose:

• Students will gain experience and develop their written communication and grammar skills, as they choose appropriate words to fill in their bio poem.
• Students will learn that there is more to poetry than rhyming.
• Students will take knowledge gained from one genre to apply it to another genre.

Instructional Input:

• I will begin by explaining that today we are going to use the knowledge they learned last week to write a poem about their historical figure.
• I will ask the students what comes to mind when they hear the term poem or poetry. After students discuss their feelings of poetry, I will explain that there are three common misconceptions about poetry.
• These misconceptions include that poetry must rhyme, poetry must be beautiful and pretty, and nothing occurs in poetry because writing is predominantly descriptive.
• I will explain that there are many different kinds of poems: list poems, free verse, concrete poetry ("picture poetry"), acrostics, haikus, etc. Although some poetry will rhyme or sounds pretty, it doesn’t have to. A bio-poem is one type of poem that does fit "normal" characteristics of poetry.
• I will then pass of the handout on bio-poems.
• I will explain that the students have the follow the format for a bio-poem by including information about their figure to fill in the blanks. For example, they will put their historical figure’s name for the title and go from there.
• I will go step by step through each of the lines in the poem. I will ask the students that if the traits they use to describe themselves, in line four, will be adjectives or adverbs.
• I will then give the students an opportunity for guided practice.

An Opportunity to Practice:

A. Guided Practice:

• Before having the students write their bio-poems about their figures, I will have them write a bio-poem about themselves for practice.
• Students will be given five-ten minutes to write their bio-poems. After they finish they will get out their "dance partner sheet" and go with their "swing" partner. Each student will then go over their poems with their partner.
• As students work on their poems, I will be available in case of questions.
• Once everyone has had the opportunity to talk to their partner, we will come together as in a large group. I will ask for a few volunteers to share their poems.

B. Independent Practice:

• Students will use the information they previously gathered to write a bio-poem about their influential figure.
• Students must follow the bio-poem format.
• Students will be given one class period to write their bio-poem.
• The poem is due at the beginning of the next class period.

Closure:

• I will end this lesson by asking students to write on their exit card one thing they learned from class today.

Assessment Strategies:

The teacher will assess the seventh-grade students understanding of the lesson through observations made during the class period. The teacher will walk around reading over students work and observing the students understanding of the writing activity. The teacher will also assess the students from their finished project.

Bio-Poems

Assignment: For homework you must write a bio-poem about the historical figure you chose for your picture book biography. You must illustrate the poem… think 3-D! Follow the format below. Your final copy must be typed or written in pen.

Title: First and Last Name

Line 1: First name

Line 2: Four traits that describe you

Line 3: Brother/ Sister of … (may substitute son/daughter of)

Line 4: Lover of … (Give names of three people or ideas)

Line 5: Who feels … (Give three feelings)

Line 6: Who fears … (Give three items)

Line 7: Who would like to see … (Give three items)

Line 8: Resident of … (Give city and state)

Line 9: Last name only

EXAMPLE:

Devin Dusseau

Devin

Mother, daughter, friend, teacher

Sister of Deanna, Denise, and Danny

Lover of Grace, flowers, and Michigan Football

Who feels pain, love, and excitement

Who fears failure, loss, and large spiders

Who would like to see Florence, Hawaii, and Brazil

Resident of Adrian, Michigan

Dusseau

E-Mail

Devin L. Dusseau

!