Poetry Instructional Program

Student: Student V Skill: Poetry Initiator: Lauren Ralph Context for Instruction: Instruction and assessment of student V will occur through whole group instruction during the fifth-period self-contained language arts class. The other four students will receive the poetry instruction and assessments as well, but data will only be recorded for student V in regards to this program. Overall, the program is already going to be adapted to the learning levels of the students within the classroom so no modifications or accommodations are necessary at this time. However, if problems arise, modifications and accommodations will be created on an individual basis. Skill Sequence: Language Arts Language Arts

Reading Reading

Writing and Oral Writing and Oral Language Language

Phonemic Phonemic Awareness Awareness Phonics Phonics

Comprehensi Comprehensi on on

Writin Writin gg Gramm Gramm ar ar Poet Poet ry ry Speech Speech es es

Fluency Fluency Vocabulary Vocabulary

Listenin Listenin gg and and Speakin Speakin gg

Plays Plays

Research Rationale: 1. Sweet Silent Thought: Alliteration and Resonance in Poetry Comprehension by Lea, Rapp, Elfenbein, Mitchel and Sinburne Romine

This article identified the effect of alliteration and repetition in poetry comprehension. The authors hypothesized that if they included lines of alliteration within the poems, students would recognize and remember the poetry more times than not. In order to complete their study, they used twenty-one free verse poems, constructing three versions of each. One version included an alliteration condition, one a different alliteration condition, and the last had no alliteration at all. In addition, the authors state they used twenty-four filler poems to provide negative cases for the recognition task. Therefore, students read through each poem randomly on a computer and were then asked comprehension questions as well as questions pertaining to if a certain word was featured in the poem or not. In this way, the authors were able to identify if students recognized what the poems were about and if the alliteration helped them to recall featured words. Overall, the results concluded that alliteration does in fact aid in comprehension of poetry. Students responded faster to poems that included alliteration than those that did not. Therefore, this idea of alliteration can be used within my poetry unit because of its ties to increased comprehension. I feel as though incorporating poems with alliteration will undoubtedly help students recall what they were about. If they are able to remember the alliteration words as triggers, they can then travel back to when they read the poem. Moreover, alliteration can also be used as a sort of accommodation with hard poems to comprehend. If alliteration is included in poems that are more difficult, it will make recognizing the ideas presented easier. Finally, alliteration is a necessary vocabulary term to know within poetry so it will not be of any trouble to teach the students about alliteration and use it within poetry instruction. Thus, alliteration incorporated within poetry instruction will assist the students in comprehension and recognition of text. 2. The Diversity of Poetry: How Trainee Teachers Perceptions Affect Their Attitudes to Poetry Teaching By Rita Ray This article focused on the teaching of poetry from the perspectives of educators. It identified with the notion that many teachers do not feel comfortable teaching poetry because they had bad experiences with it themselves. They see the importance of poetry and how it could relate to other subjects but were not keen on teaching it for many reasons. First, within the questionnaire, trainees specified they had a lack of knowledge about poetry. Also, teachers described how children were not interested in poetry, making it harder to motivate them to learn. Overall, the study went on to show each question from the questionnaire and how the teachers responded. The consensus was a negative outlook on poetry from the standpoints of teaching it as well as getting students to learn it. This article relates to my program because I have already seen the negative attitudes toward poetry within my students when I conducted my pre-test. They had preconceived notions about poetry that made them uninterested in the unit as a whole. I have no issues with poetry but I recognize that I may have less confidence knowing the students already detest the unit. Thus, this article helped me see the importance of creating an engaging unit that will encourage students to participate. I hope to be able to show students that everyone can be involved with reading and writing poetry. In her article, Ray cites four stages of poetry including covering poems with familiar settings, different categories, and a range of forms and styles. Thus, by individualizing instruction to the students interests but also paying attention to the different forms, styles, and time periods of poetry, I hope to be successful. If I am confident in my teaching and the students progress through poetry from the unit, it will be an achievement.

Program Objective: During language arts instruction, student V will complete a poetry post-test correctly matching 5/6 vocabulary terms with the correct definition. During language arts instruction, student V will complete a poetry post-test correctly recognizing 3/3 types of poetry when presented questions with multiple choice answers. Finally, during language arts instruction, student V will compose her own poem as part of a poetry pre-test earning at least 3s in each category within the rubric including ideas, format, and conventions. Generalization: Overall, the goal is for student V to become knowledge about poetry so she can correctly identify poetry terms, recognize different types of poetry, and compose her own poetry. As she learns the vocabulary, she should be able to generalize it to other activities and subjects such as reading. For example, one talks about metaphors and imagery within poems but those terms can easily be applied to a story as well. Therefore, a generalization concern lies with the ability of student V to use the learned skills in other settings. In order to account for such concerns, the strategy of teaching sufficient exemplars can be used throughout instruction. For instance, the vocabulary terms can be used during poetry instruction but also brought up when reading a novel or any piece of writing. In this way, the terms are generalized across different subjects and are further thought about and discussed. Overall, using the concept of teaching and providing examples in several dimensions, not just within poetry, will help to generalize the skills for the student. Rationale for Student: There are many different reasons for teaching poetry. First, it falls under the writing component of language arts, allowing students to gain writing skills. Furthermore, poetry is part of written and oral language and can be presented in many ways. Therefore, poetry can address reading, writing, and speaking skills. Because it is not a typical essay to write or book to read, students may be more motivated than for other assignments. In addition, poetry allows students to be creative and use their imagination. Overall, poetry encompasses skills such as reading, writing, and speaking which are critical to master throughout ones education. It is one way to improve written and oral language skills of students. Assessment Procedures: The assessment procedure for student V will consist of a poetry posetest at the end of the unit. The post-test will be identical to the pre-test, allowing for easy identification of what areas the student has improved in. The post-test will include six vocabulary questions in which the student will have to match the answer, three multiple choice questions asking the student to recognize different types of poetry, and a final part asking the student to compose a poem of her own. The student will be given as much time as necessary to complete the post-test. After completion, the test will be graded and the compilation of poetry will be scored using the rubric below. Data will then be recorded and graphed. In addition to the post-test, daily probes will occur through different assignments and activities. In this way, one can see if mastery of each type of poetry occurs or if more instruction is necessary. Rubric to grade poetry on post-test:

CATEGORY

Ideas

Ideas were expressed in a clear and organized fashion. It was easy to figure out what the poem was about. Includes a definite meter or rhythm.

Ideas were expressed in a pretty clear manner, but the organization could have been better.

Ideas were somewhat organized, but were not very clear. It took more than one reading to figure out what the poem was about. Shows knowledge of rhyming and meter but lacks incorporation of them into the poem. Writer makes 3-4 errors in grammar and/or spelling

The poem seemed to be a collection of unrelated ideas. It was very difficult to figure out what the poem was about.

Format

Incorporates some type of meter but does not completely flow together. Writer makes 1-2 errors in grammar and/or spelling.

Does not show any knowledge of meter or rhythm. Hard to identify as poetry. Writer makes more than 4 errors in grammar and/or spelling.

Grammar & spelling (conventions)

Writer makes no errors in grammar or spelling.

Score on Pre-Test

Score on Post-Test

Score

Date

Assessment Schedule: Once instruction begins, probe assessments will occur on a daily basis with different activities and assignments. Each day will consist of different activities in which work can be collected and graded to see what skills the student understands and what she may need more work with. In addition, a final project relating to poetry will be included within the

unit. Students will get options of poetry projects to complete and will have time in class during the week to work on it. Finally, the end of the program will include a poetry post-test identical to the pre-test in order to gauge how much the student progressed throughout the unit. Mastery of the poetry unit will occur when student V correctly identifies 5/6 vocabulary terms, 3/3 types of poetry, and scores 3s the categories of ideas, format, and conventions within her own poetry. Instructional Procedures: I plan to focus on a different type of poetry each week, including similar activities of listening to, reading, and writing poetry for each type. The order will be as follows; poetry introduction/vocabulary, haiku, free verse, lyric, blank verse, and the project/post-test. Attached is a calendar with the different activities I plan to utilize for my instruction as well as a sample lesson plans for a listening, reading, and writing day that can be adapted and specified for each individual day. The lesson plans can be generalized from one week to another with a different topic because the outlines of the weeks remain similar. Overall, each day will consist of a 25-minute lesson for poetry. Some days, such as Wednesdays and early release days noted on the calendar will include activities that can be done in a shorter amount of time. In general, each week will incorporate at least one listening, reading, and writing activity. For the listening days, instruction will take place by watching videos and discussing them. On reading days, the students will read poems and discuss them as a group. Finally, on the writing days, students will write poems on their own in conjunction with the activities listed on the calendar. The schedule for each day may differ some but should follow the routine of 1. Attention getter-getting students attention concerning the topic 2. Lesson- instruction about topic (example-what is lyric poetry) 3. Activity or probe- some way to gauge students understanding of topic When completing parts of the above instruction such as the vocabulary and lessons about types of poetry, a constant 2-second time delay strategy will be utilized. Steps for this process are as follows: 1. After question to student, wait 2 seconds. 2. If student V responds correctly before time is over, give verbal praise and move on to the next question. 3. If student V responds with an error before the time is over, tell her she made a mistake and provide error correction by giving her the correct answer. 4. If student V gives no answer before time is up, use a prompt to give her the correct answer. Example That was a good effort and I appreciate you taking the time to think. The answer was imagery. Lets move on to the next example. Provide verbal

reinforcement and praise to make sure the student stays positive. 5. Go through vocabulary or types of poetry using this procedure 6. Be consistent with time delay and use for all trials. It is important to note that the prompts will follow a most-to-least schedule and should be faded over time. As the student learns the material, less prompts will be needed and more independence should be given. Over the course of the week, the student will become more familiar with the type of poetry and will not need as much assistance. However, as the next week begins and a new type of poetry is brought it, more prompts may be necessary. Example: -Most prompts would occur during the examples when the student is unfamiliar with the given strategy -Less prompts would occur during the activity stage, allowing the student to become more independent -The least amount of prompts or no prompts at all will occur during the probes and assessments Reinforcement: Continuous positive reinforcement will be used to praise the student for participating in lessons as well as completing work independently. At this age, verbal praise goes a long way especially with students who are already struggling. Therefore, exclamations of Nice job! or Great work! along with simple statements such as Thank you for participating and I really appreciate your help will be sufficient to reinforce the student. In this way, student V will understand when she has correctly answered something in conjunction with the fact that her participation is highly valued. It is the hope that student V will participate more in class and become more successful with verbal praise to reinforce her. As of now, she is very quiet and reserved but has great ideas. Therefore, reinforcement will act as a way to motivate student V to participate and let her voice be heard. Maintenance: Once poetry skills are learned, they should naturally maintain themselves within the written and oral language component of language arts. The student will undoubtedly encounter poetry terms and different types of poetry within other language arts activities as well as in everyday life. In addition, as the student progresses throughout middle and high school, she will come across more poetry instruction. In this way, she will be able to use her maintained knowledge and build off of that when learning new skills. However, probes consisting of the vocabulary or different types of poems would be a good way to gauge if the student is retaining the skills. In addition, using the vocabulary in other ways such as within a story is another way to maintain knowledge. The student will not only remember the word and definition but will be able to tie it back to poetry. In the same way, teachers can incorporate poetry into assignments and projects in order to maintain knowledge. Instead of writing a paper, students can write or perform a poem. Therefore, the student should be able to remember skills without much assistance after the unit but there are many ways to address maintenance concerns as well.