Peeling Back the Layers, Grade 6, Jane Wright by Robin Doherty

[Title of Unit] Peeling Back the Layers

[Content Area/Course and Grade(s)] English Grade 6 [Summary of Unit] This is a unit designed to get students to feel comfortable with poetry. Teaching students to â&#x20AC;&#x153;peel back the layersâ&#x20AC;? of a poem, rather than analyzing the poem at once, will be less burdensome and students will not dread this genre. This unit will take 2-4 weeks.

Stage 1 Desired Results

ESTABLISHED GOALS

Transfer

R.1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it. Cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions from the text. R.4 Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative and figurative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone. R.5 Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot.

Students will be able to independently use their learning to… Analyze a poem in small steps and write a well developed paragraph analyzing the subject and tone.

T Meaning UNDERSTANDINGS U ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS Q Students will understand that… -how is the author’s use of language linked to -authors use diction, detail, comparisons, and tone and theme? imagery to give their readers a certain feeling -what effect does the literary device have on about the thing or event they are describing. the meaning of the work as a whole? -authors use sound devices, figurative -are poetic elements found in prose as well? language, imagery, and syntax to develop a certain tone in a poem.

Acquisition Students will be skilled at… S -recognizing figurative language and sound devices -selecting words based on connotation and diction -identifying the speaker, audience, purpose, occasion, and theme of a poem.

R.6 Answer higher level multiple choice questions (applying, analyzing, ecaluating and creating)

Stage 2 - Evidence Evaluative Criteria

Assessment Evidence

-identifying sound devices -identifying figurative language -connotative meaning of words

CURRICULUM EMBEDDED PERFOMANCE ASSESSMENT (PERFORMANCE TASKS) PT 1. Read the poem “The Witch” by Jack Prelutsky. 2. Paraphrase the poem. 3. Focus on locating examples of sound devices (alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhyme and rhythm) and marking up the text. 4. Locate figurative language (similes, metaphors, personifications, etc) and mark them in the poem. 5. Annotate the passage for patterns in diction and connotation. 6. Find patterns of imagery within the poem. Identify each image as sight, sound, taste, smell and touch. 7. Determine the tone of the poem using evidence to support your choice 8. Write a well-developed paragraph identifying the overall subject of the poem and tone. 9. Answer higher-level thinking multiple choice questions on “the Witch” . OTHER EVIDENCE: OE Students can copy the style of a poet whose work they have studied. TPCASTT SOAPSTONE

Stage 3 – Learning Plan Summary of Key Learning Events and Instruction 1. Brainstorm with the class “What makes a poem engaging?” List ideas on the board. 2. Read Bruce Lanksy’s poem “Predictable”. What that poem engaging? Identify and label figurative language in the poem: similes, metaphors, alliteration, rhyming, imagery, etc. Discuss the purpose of this poem. who was the audience? the occasion? the tone? the theme? the subject? Complete a SoapSTONE sheet as a class.

3. Read Jack Pretlusky’s poem “The Witch”. Students will paraphrase the poem. Read the poem line by line and label the sound devices: alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhyme and rhythm. Read the poem again, this time labeling the figurative language: similes, metaphors, personification. 4. In notebooks, define connotation, denotation and diction. Generate a list of words for “good”. Place words on a chart based on positive/negative/neutral connotation of the word. 5. Students will annotate the poem for patterns in diction and connotation, making notes in the margins. 6. Students will make a chart with the five senses. In pairs, they will identify images that belong under each heading. Did these images form any patterns? 7. Reading the poem again, the students will find the 5 complete sentences and 5 dependent clauses. Label the prepositional phrases and infinitive phrases. 8. Students will determine the tone of the poem and support it with evidence from the poem. 9. Students will write a paragraph answering the questions: what makes a person scary? why do people fear witches? What harm can people do “with a word or two”? At the end of the paragraph, students are to state what “The Witch” teaches readers about life. 10. Answer higher-level thinking skill multiple choice questions.