Lessons for Writing Poetry Spanish Grade 2, CRM 3, Arcs 1-4 (4 Weeks of Lessons) Resources Needed for this Unit: Mentor Texts: Con el sol en los ojos = With the Sun in My Eyes, by Jorge Luján Gathering the Sun, An Alphabet in Spanish and English by Alma Flor Ada Todo es canción: antología poética por Alma Flor Ada Arco iris de poesía: poemas de las Américas y España por Sergio Andricaín Cool salsa, Bilingual poems on growing up Latino in the United States, Por Lori M. Carlson El himno de las ranas por Elsa Cross Por el mar de las antillas anda un barca de papel por Nicolas Guillen Las palabras que se lleva el viento por Juan Carlos Martín Ramos Word Choice Texts: Moon Rope: A Peruvian folktale = Un lazo a la luna: una leyenda peruana, by Lois Ehlert Dónde Está la oveja verde? por Mem Fox Dinosailors by Deb Lund Additional Resources: The Conferring Handbook by Lucy Calkins Poetry: Powerful Thoughts in Tiny Packages by Lucy Calkins and Stephanie Parsons (most lessons adapted from this resource) 6 + 1 Traits of Writing The Complete Guide for the Primary Grades by Ruth Culham NOTE: Adjust these mini-lessons and student writing times as appropriate for your students. Some lessons may take more than one day to complete.
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Day 7: Putting Music into Our Poems (Add Rhyme and Alliteration)
1. Tell students that, just like when we read a poem and put the music into it, we also have to do
the same when we write a poem.
2. Show students a poem that contains rhyme and alliteration. Read it aloud several times,
allowing your voice to rise and fall with the rhyme and rhythm of the poem.
3. Ask students what they notice about the words this poet chose. They will probably notice the
rhyme, but may not notice the alliteration (several words beginning with the same sound, to
create a musical quality.)
4. Tell students that the poet probably played around with the words numerous times to find the
music.
5. Show what you imagine a draft of that poem may have looked like (with boring, unrhymed
words.)
6. Then show them the second draft that has more music in it. Create a chart-“¿Como puedo
añadir música a mi poema?”
7. Have a draft of a poem you have worked on written on a chart for students to view.
8. Ask students to help you create rhyme and alliteration, to rearrange and add words, to create
more music in the poem.
Mini Lesson
Como puedo añadir música a mi poema…
Escribe el poema utilizando ojos de poeta.
Vuelve a leer lo que has escrito.
Escucha por la música en mis palabras.
Haz una lista de palabras que rimen con una palabra al final de una línea. Intercambia estas palabras que riman para crear un sonido musical.
Crea aliteración. Elije una palabra en el poema que realmente te agrade y que quieras mantener. Crea una lista de palabras relacionadas que comiencen con el mismo sonido. Intercambia estas palabras para crear sonidos en tu poema.
Elije los mejores lugares para pautas de línea.
9. Be sure to tell students that they do not need to make all their lines rhyme. This makes
writing poetry too difficult for primary children! If they just add 2-3 sets of rhyming words,
that will give their poems plenty of music.
10. Today, have students go back and revise a poem to add rhyme, alliteration, or line breaks and
to “add more music” to their poems.
Have students share how they have revised their poems to help the reader “hear the music.”
Refer to the chart: “¿Como puedo añadir música a mi poema?”
Day 8: Choosing Our Topics
1. Ask students to turn to a partner and talk about everything they have learned so far about
reading and writing a poem.
2. Remind students that, up until today they have been writing poems about small objects
around the room using their poets’ eyes.
3. Tell them that today they will begin to choose their own topics to write poems about.
4. Tell students that when we choose a topic, we need to pick something that gives us a big
feeling but is still a small moment.
5. Model going through this process for your students. (Ex. Well, I could start with something
small like a leaf or rock and see if I get a big feeling. Or think of something I have big
feelings about, like my niece Mia, and zoom in on one special moment. I remember when my
niece and I went to California together and she got in the pool for the first time and the smile
she had when she first felt comfortable and happy. If I close my eyes I can still see her face.)
Independent Writing
Peer Sharing
Mini Lesson
6. Add to your chart - Strategies Poet’s Use
7. With students, begin a list of topics you and the class have shared that gives all of you a big
feeling, but is still a small moment, such as read-aloud time, a favorite game played, writing
workshop…)
8. Tell students that today, after they finish up the work they started on the previous day, you
want them to begin drafting poems by picking their own small topics with big feelings.
9. Encourage them to create a running list of possible poetry topics.
Choose a few students to share what topics they chose to write about today and tell why they
chose them.
Independent Writing
Peer Sharing
Estrategias que los poetas utilizan…
Poetas ven con ojos de poetas.
Poetas escriben acerca de tópicos y experimentas con pautas de línea.
Poetas vuelven a leer sus palabras para añadir música a sus poemas.
Poetas encuentran un tópico que les den fuertes sentimientos.
Poetas encuentran un objeto, momento, o detalle pequeño para mantener ese momento.
Writing Conventions: Irregular Verbs Teacher should provide explicit instruction and modeling of the writing conventions during modeled and shared writing. In addition, teacher should keep anecdotal notes to guide further instruction in small group and individually. Irregular verbs can be tricky for young children. Provide lots of opportunities for them to play with words and explore the correct use of irregular verbs. Poetry provides a wonderful platform for this.
Day 9: Show, Don’t Tell
1. Tell students that today they are going to learn another strategy poets use to write poems.
2. Tell them that when we write, whether it is a story or a poem, we need to “show, not tell.”
For example, instead of writing, “I felt happy to see my mom.” I could write, “I kept
checking at the window. When I saw her car turn the corner, I yelled, ‘She’s here!’”
3. Point out to students that when an author “shows, not tells”, he uses his words to show the
things he did and the words he spoke to show how he was feeling.
4. Use a couple of your students’ examples to highlight how they showed their big feelings. If
the student is open to it, work through one or two examples to develop the concept of “show,
don’t tell.”
5. Share a few more poems and have students work in pairs to tell what big feeling each student
is showing.
6. As students continue to write poems, encourage them to show their big feelings to their
readers.
Allow time for students to share their writing. Be sure to choose good examples of “showing
feelings through words.”
Remember… when a student leaves a conference with you, they should go away feeling
confident, and wanting to write more.
Mini Lesson
Independent Writing
Peer Sharing
Conferencing:
Be sure to take time each day to conference with a few students. Here are a few possible conference questions.
¿Puedes pensar en un momento que mantiene el sentimiento fuerte el/la ______ que te da?
¿Son esos sonidos que escuchas?
¿Puedes ayudarme a ver lo que tu ves?
Share this poem with students to encourage them to think hard and often about the places where
they might find a poem.
Valentine for Ernest Mann by Naomi Nye You can’t order a poem like you order a taco, walk up to the counter, say “I’ll take two,” and expect it to be handed back to you on a shiny plate. Still, I like your spirit. Anyone who says, “Here’s my address, write me a poem,” deserves something in reply. So I’ll tell you a secret instead: Poems hide. In the bottoms of our shoes, they are Sleeping. They are the shadows Drifting across the ceiling the moment before we Wake up. What we have to do is live in a way that Lets us find them.
Writing Conventions: Pronouns Teacher should provide explicit instruction and modeling of the writing conventions during modeled and shared writing. In addition, teacher should keep anecdotal notes to guide further instruction in small group and individually.
Day 10: Choosing Amazing Words
1. Tell students that a powerful way to show our big feelings is through the use of strong words.
2. Show students a simple sentence such as, “It was a nice day.” Show students how to change
this sentence into clear examples of what made it a nice day. “The sun was shining. I felt the
cool breeze. A bird chirped in the tree.” Be sure to choose strong, vivid words as you work
through this example.
3. Tell students that, as you were rereading your own poems, you found some bland bits that
didn’t show the reader your big strong feelings.
4. Show a poem that you have written on chart paper and underline the sentence or phrase that
needs work.
5. Have students work in pairs or small groups to create better, stronger sentences or phrases.
Share ideas and revise the poem. Reread it, or have a student volunteer to read it aloud.
Discuss the impact the change(s) have on the poem.
6. Allow time for students to write. Encourage them to add strong sentences with vivid words or
to go back and find places they can revise their work.
Allow time for students to share their writing. Be sure to choose good examples of “showing
feelings through words.”
Mini Lesson
Independent Writing
Peer Sharing
Day 11: Hearing the Voices of Poetry
1. Tell students that today and tomorrow we are going to learn how to “play with different
voices” in our poems.
2. Congratulate students on choosing small topics with big feelings. Tell them that many
students have been getting frustrated, however. They choose a great topic, but, when they
write, it ends up sounding just like a regular story--not a poem.
3. Share an example of this. (I love my cat. So much! My cat is cute and fluffy.) Tell them this
sounds just like regular writing.
4. Offer to show them a way to make their writing sound more poetic. Tell them that some of
our poems are sounding too “talky.” (Just telling about the object.)
5. Show them one way to make their writing more poetic is to write as if they are talking to the
object or subject of the poem. (Siempre gritas miau. Cuando quieres que te acaricie. En mi
cama, te acurrucar, lindo, esponjadito.) Be sure to use the same topic on both examples.
6. Share another example of a poem lacking voice.
7. In pairs, have students discuss how they might change this poem to write it directly to the
subject.
8. Have students go back today and revise one of their poems so that it addresses the subject.
Encourage them to write their new poem directly underneath the old one.
Select some pieces of student writing to share with the class. The pieces should demonstrate
what you hope the children will all try to do.
Mini Lesson
Independent Writing
Peer Sharing
Voces del Poeta:
Dirije (habla a) al objeto- el poeta escribe al poema al ob jeto (ej. Sigue creciendo, pequeño tomate. Rojo y jugoso. Pequeño ahora, pero serás grande.)
Escribe con Urgencia- di la historia como si es muy importante y no puede esperar (El tomate pequeño, creció y creció. Lo ví ayer y ahora…enorme. Rojo. Jugoso)
Escribe en forma lírica- escribe con emoción, con tu corazón (Regué el tomate, en la mañana, por la noche, creciendo, creciendo, creciendo. Limpié las hojas, examine la tierra, lo moví al sol. Lo cuidé. Ahora es grade, rojo, jugoso.)
Day 12: Poet’s Voices (continued)
1. Remind students that yesterday, they learned a way to change their writing to make it sound
more like poetry.
2. Tell them that another way to revise poems is to make them sound very important (like an
emergency).
3. Tell them that some poems are like stories. One way to make them more interesting is to
write them as if you imagine running into a room, needing to tell your story very quickly.
4. Choose a poem and read it aloud in a quick and urgent manner. Highlight how the poet
wrote this poem in short, urgent-sounding sentences.
5. Another way words can be changed into a poem with poetic voice is for the poet to write as if
he is talking directly to you about his truest, deepest feelings.
6. Share an example of a poem that is full of heartfelt emotion.
7. Have your students practice with all three voices. Some may need to work with a partner and
take turns working on one person’s poem at a time.
8. Tell students that you want them to pretend they are writing about waking up and feeling the
sun. Tell them they could say it in a “story way” (I woke up. I saw the sun.), but that
wouldn’t sound or feel very poetic. Have them work with a partner to practice this by
revising the poem to have the speaker talking directly to the sun.
9. Then have them create a poem using their urgent, storyteller voice. (Pretend you rush to the
breakfast table and you can’t wait to tell how you felt the sun.)
10. Finally, have them practice using their lyrical voice (be sure to explain the meaning of
lyrical.).
Review the chart for Poet’s Voices. Then choose students to share ways they used different
poetic voices.
Mini Lesson
Independent Writing
Peer Sharing
Day 13: Finding the Right Word
1. Ask volunteers to help you list some of the strategies the class has learned for writing like
poets.
2. Tell them that another way to improve a poem is by finding the “perfect word.”
3. Show students a poem written on chart paper, but with a few words strategically covered.
4. Model that, as the poet was writing this poem, they probably came to a few spots where they
stopped to brainstorm the perfect word choice.
5. Read the poem aloud. When you come to the first covered word, create a list of possible
word choices. Choose the “just right” word and write it into the poem.
6. Have students work in pairs to create possible word choices for other missing words in the
poem.
7. Finish the poem with student word choices. Emphasize picking that “just right” word.
8. Add to the chart “Estrategias que los poetas utilizan” que poetas buscan por palabras
precisas.
9. Allow time for students to write and work on their poems. Remind them to focus on choosing
“just right” words to share their thoughts.
Allow time for students to share how they changed their writing to make it more precise.
Example of a Poem with Precise Words
Mini Lesson
Independent Writing
Peer Sharing
Mi mamá En mi lonchera Un jugo congelado Porque esta caliente hoy Envuelto en papel Así no se derretirá ¿Como yo nunca jamás la veo hacer esto?
Day 14: Finding the Right Word (continued)
1. Remind students that yesterday they learned another strategy that poets use: Searching for
just the right word.
2. Re-read yesterday’s poem with their “just right” words inserted into the poem.
3. Tell students that today, you want them to practice finding “that perfect word” by writing a
class poem.
4. Tell them you want to write a poem about an everyday object (i.e. pointer, chalk, eraser).
Have students talk with a partner, sharing observations about the chosen object.
5. As partners share out with the class, write their observations on chart paper.
6. Have them read the class list and, with their partner, choose two to three favorites. With the
observations they choose, have them experiment with finding the perfect words to make it
sound just right.
7. Have students read their shared poem about an everyday object to the class. If all students
write about the same object, writers will be able to hear how others tackled this difficult job
with the same topic.
8. Allow time for students to work on revising their own poems to make sure the words they are
choosing are just the right words.
Have students buddy up to share the “just right” word choices they have used in their poetry.
Mini Lesson
Independent Writing
Peer Sharing
Writing Conventions: Possessive Pronouns Provide explicit instruction and modeling of the writing conventions during modeled and shared writing and guided practice during writing conferences. Remember that the goal of explicit instruction is for students to independently utilize writing conventions. Teacher consistently reviews student writing and determines future teaching objectives.
Day 15: Putting Our Words Into Feelings
1. Tell students you are proud of the way they have been seeing things with fresh eyes.
2. Tell them that a poet doesn’t only see things with fresh eyes; they express their feelings so
their readers can see through those same eyes.
3. Share that good poets often don’t just “tell” their feeling (i.e. I am happy) but instead, say
their feeling is like something else. We compare our feelings to something else.
4. Share the poem “Inside my Heart”. Guide them through discussing what they think the poet
was hoping the reader would understand when reading her words.
Example of Poem with Feelings
5. Tell students to think of a time when they felt sad. Have them think about what lived in their
heart when they were sad. Have them share with a partner by saying, “When I felt sad,
inside my heart lived….”
6. Have students use the same strategy with a few other feelings (like happy, proud, angry,
lonely…)
7. Have children work on their poems, or revise previous poems, attempting to express their
feelings using comparison.
Choose students to share how they expressed their feelings in their poems.
Mini Lesson
Independent Writing
Peer Sharing
Inside my Heart by Zoe Ryder White
Inside my heart lives One birthday party Two jazz bands Three wrestling puppies Four dancing birds Five laughing babies
Day 16: Examining Our Poems for Feelings and Creating Similes
1. Ask student permission to use their poem…if no one “volunteers,” trade poems with another
teacher, or write a “student poem” yourself. Share one of these poems on chart paper. Circle
the simple statement of feeling that you will be working on.
2. Make a T-chart, writing the simple statement on one side and what the feeling can be
compared to on the other side.
Ex:
Sentimiento Comparación
Me siento triste -Cuendo un amigo se muda -Cuando mi mama dice no -Cuando mi mascota escapa
3. Choose the example that best fits the rest of the poem. Model changing this simple statement
by creating a simile in the poem.
4. Continue modeling through revision ideas for student’s poems. Circle the words and ask
students to think about what those feelings remind them of. Create similes to replace the
simple feelings statements.
5. Send students off to work today- trying to develop their feelings.
Choose students to share new ways they expressed their feelings in their poems.
Independent Writing
Peer Sharing
Mini Lesson Before today’s lesson… review your students’ work. Choose a few poems in which
students attempted to write their feelings but did so with simple statements such as “I felt
sad. I felt happy.”
Day 17: Comparing Poetic Ideas to Paint Pictures
1. Mention a few of the exciting observations you’ve made of the students’ growth as poets, and
their ability to express feelings with words.
2. Tell them that poets also express their ideas by comparing them to something else.
3. Show a chart comparing ordinary language to poetic language.
4. Have a few sentences written under the ordinary language section, with nothing in the
“Poetic” column. Have students work in pairs or trios, practicing by writing them in more
poetic language.
5. Allow time for students to review their own poems, and practice turning some of their own
ordinary statements into poetic language.
Choose students to share ways they used poetic language in their poems.
Ordinario Poético
El árbol es verde.
La noche asusta
El árbol es como un fuego artificial explotando.
En la noche, mi malos sueños viven.
Mini Lesson
Independent Writing
Peer Sharing
Teacher Tip:
Over these days, provide time for students
to practice reading their poems aloud.
Emphasize finding the music in their poems.
Have them read their poems multiple times
until it is just right.
Day 18: Choosing Poems for Publication
1. Ask students to think back over their work as poets during the last few weeks.
2. Point out that it’s time to be thinking about publishing their work to share with others.
3. Using your own writing notebook, model going through and rereading the poems and
selecting favorites. (Don’t actually read them all aloud--read just one or two as examples.)
Tell students you want them to choose at least 5 of their own poems to edit for publishing.
4. Tell them to choose poems that are their best models of poetic language... poems that share
through poet’s eyes, include big strong feelings, use poetic language, precise words and so
on.
5. Tell students to star their chosen poems.
6. Provide time for students to read through the poetry in their writer’s notebooks, and to
choose at least 5 to prepare for publishing.
7. Spend this time circulating and guiding students through this process.
8. Also provide time for students to ask for feedback from their peers on poem choices.
Use this time to discuss how students chose poems and allow time for the class to help struggling
peers make decisions.
Mini Lesson
Independent Writing
Peer Sharing
Day 19: Editing our Poems
1. Tell students that now that they have chosen poems to publish, it is time to edit them.
2. Remind students that when we edit, we fix our writing to make it readable. Show students a
few lines from one of your student’s poems. Remind them that when we edit, the first thing
we do is reread the writing slowly and carefully.
3. Model rereading the lines very slowly and fixing any errors (not better wording, but actual
errors) you see as you go. Say aloud the type of corrections you are making (fixing spelling,
putting in punctuation) as you do it. If you’ve taught any blends or spelling patterns, pay
specific attention to correcting those, along with whatever specific writing conventions you
have worked on during this unit.
4. Create a chart “Editando nuestra poeía” for student use.
5. Show a few other lines of a poem. With the editor’s checklist available, have students edit
those lines with a partner.
6. Talk about the editing the students did.
7. Provide time for students to edit their poems. Remind them to reread the poem, thinking
about only one editing item at a time, (i.e., Read the poem to make sure all the words are
there. Then read the poem again to make sure words have spaces between them, lines begin
with capitals, etc.)
Mini Lesson
Independent Writing
Menú de editar para la poesía
Asegúrate que todas las palabras estén allí.
Asegúrate que la palabras tengas espacion entre ellas.
Asegúrate que todas las letras se dirijan a la dirección correcta.
Todas las palabras de la pared de palabras estén correctamente deletreadas
Toda la puntuación esté correcta (puntos, signos de interrogación y exclamación, comas)
El uso de las mayúsculas sea el correcto
Reglas y patrones de deletreo sean correctos
Day 20: Celebrating Our Poetry
Today students will celebrate the hard work they have put into writing their poems.
Be creative and make sure students feel the excitement. Teachers may decide to get together
with other classes and have a poetry reading with live musicians, berets, and snapping.
Lucky Calkins suggests placing poems around the school in appropriate places (i.e recess poem
on the jungle gym) and going on a poetry walk with guests.
Enjoy the day and provide feedback for you and your students’ hard work!