Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Rewrite of Critical Narrative into Free-Verse Poem Format

Lesson Plan is being written as you read this.  To be finished soon.  Aloha, Tamara.

19 comments:

  1. Aloha, Tamara

    14 June 2011
    Rewrite of Critical Narrative into Free-Verse Poem Format

    I am sorry that I had to miss your presentation this afternoon. The meeting I attended lasted considerably longer than I expected.

    I look forward to learning more about working with poetry and other creative modalities of writing in the coming days.

    Mahalo nui loa for sharing your knowledge and your skills as an author with us!

    jeanne

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  2. Tamara,
    Your lesson on metaphors and X of Y really simplified the idea of creating metaphors. I synthesized the story of my mother down to three line haiku without even trying to do it. I was please with the final results after you helped me rearrange the lines. Your presentations are always so riveting and usable with my students. Thank you very much for your lesson.

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  3. Very well done!!!!! A role model to look up to...through POETRY!!!! yes 3xs over.
    14 June 2011
    Rewrite of Critical Narrative into Free-Verse Poem Format
    the affect was powerful. the three parts of Sound Rhythm and feelings powerful!!
    I want to try this in Kindergarten!!
    Fantastic job.

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. Dear Tamara,
    June 14, 2011
    Metaphor X of Y

    I enjoyed reviewing this type of metaphor. This structure is very powerful in writing and allows students to literally burst with creativity while teaching them the precision of effective word choice. I felt empowered when I came up with choice phrases that exemplified this pattern.

    Your modeling technique was effective because the content came directly from students’ writing, thus establishing relevance. I think this technique could be applied in nearly any type of poetry.

    Sincerely

    Jessica Dahlke

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  6. shawna said...
    Dear Tamara,

    I feel so lucky to work with you! I felt so scared trying to write poetry but I love hearing it and hope to get better at it!

    One best practice that I saw today was direct modeling. You showed us before you expected us to do it ourselves. You also walked around and gave us feedback and encouragement.

    I really want to try to use this lesson on teaching poetry. I definitely think I will start by teaching the metaphors with my third graders. Figurative language is a big standard in third grade and I think this will help them get it for testing as well as grow into little poets.

    Thanks again!

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  7. 6/14/11
    Metaphor

    Dear Tamara
    I really enjoyed your lesson on metaphor. As a learner I felt supported in the way that you presented the information. I really enjoyed the challenge of making a x or y metaphor into my re-write of my narrative.

    Best practices:

    review/more information on what a metaphor and specifically an x or y metaphor is.
    teacher model finding metaphor
    whole group model of metaphor
    individual work time where you circulated and helped us where needed giving positive constructive responses
    end of lesson sharing and discussion of how to continue using metaphors in writing.

    I could use this lesson, especially its format in any of my writing lessons. I’d like to incorporate more poetry into my writing this next year and the 3 things of what poetry is, feelings, sound, rhythm, will really help me to help my students become better writers and especially writers of poems.

    Thank you again! I’d love to hear about what all 18 types of metaphor are.
    Jessie

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  8. June 14, 2011

    Teacher Tamara,

    Thank you for sharing your wonderful lesson with us! You made poetry so fun and easy. Sometimes I get very frustrated when people mention poetry since I feel like I’m never doing it right. The way that you presented how to take small pieces of our writing and put it into poem form while adding in a metaphor was very doable for me! I actually felt accomplished and proud of my poem after. Which is rare.

    You exhibited good teaching practices in the process. I enjoyed how you started the lesson doing a whole group practice with the help of Shawna’s piece. It was a great way allow for us to learn the content in a non-threatening way. Once it was time for all of us to do our independent work, I liked how you walked around and helped us, making sure that we were adding in the x of y metaphor and making sure to give specific feedback about our work. It was very meaningful.

    I can see using this lesson with my students. Possibly not in the poem form, but taking the good teaching practices you showcased and making sure to use them with my own students.

    Thanks,
    Kristi

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  9. Dear Tamara,

    I really enjoyed your poetry lesson though I must admit that poetry has never been an area that I had much interest in. My experience with it was limited to writing rhyming poems which I must admit I did enjoy as a child.
    I thought the Xof Y metaphor portion of your lesson was very enlightening, though I would like a follow up on it to remember for using the technique in my future teaching.
    I also liked the way you taught us to highlight key phrases and then use them as a starting point for writing or composing our own poems. I had never seen that technique demonstrated but it opened up a whole new way of writing and teaching poetry for me. It made me feel that I too could be at least a little successful with my attempts to write poetry.
    Your entire lesson was a classic example of best practices right from the beginning when you introduced it, encouraged active participation and practice, and then reviewed it at the end. You broke the task into reachable chunks that guaranteed all students would have success and gave productive feedback along the way.
    Good job! I thank you for providing such an enlightening experience with me and giving me lots of “food for thought” in my future teaching.

    Aloha,
    Patti

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  10. 6/14
    Metaphor X of Y

    Aloha Tamara,

    I really enjoy sharing our work together and I think your writing is beautiful. I definitely see the poet in you in your writing.

    About the lesson. I really like the idea of categorizing metaphors in the forms you have. It seems to make it easier and more accessible for adults and students to grasp. Including a metaphor in writing becomes less intimidating and therefore students will be more likely to experiment and try it out in their own writing.

    The best practices I saw demonstrated in your lesson is how you upped the ante by asking us to include alliteration for one of the metaphors we created.

    I think the idea of creating metaphor does not have to be limited to English. I think it would be a great idea for other contents to use the idea of creating metaphors for some of the concepts or ideas discussed in class. For instance photosynthesis might be seen as the plant of the sun or something more creative.

    Thank again for adding to my lesson bank.
    Marissa :-)

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  11. Aloha Tamara
    June 14th, 2011
    Rewrite of Critical Narrative into a Free Verse Poem
    The lesson made me feel as if I needed to finish my Critical Narrative. I was excited to attempt to use a metaphor in my writing. So before I started my free verse poem I attempted to finish my critical narrative. I am still working on it. My writing is a challenging process. :)
    Best practices:
    student input
    gave positive feedback
    active lesson
    Other contexts
    I think this lesson could be used as a way to help writers add detail in a variety of genres. When you came by my desk you said something to the akin of the right word can paint a picture and the right metaphor can paint a thousand pictures.
    Thank you, Tamara for sharing your passion and your art with us.
    Aloha, Cecilia.

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  12. Aloha Tamara,
    6/14/11
    Rewrite of Critical Narrative into Free-Verse Poem Format
    Thank you for this lesson! While I love poetry, I am always quick to denounce my own abilities to write poetry. Your description of the ‘mystic factor’ of poetry certainly rang true to my ears. However, you modeled a teachable process that I felt successful using. Thank you for helping me feel more confident in writing poetry.
    You provide wonderful positive reinforcement, and modeled the ‘I do, we do, you do’ approach to teaching. You also conferenced with students and used guiding guestions to help them find their way through the process.
    While working on my poem, I wondered how transposing the process would work. What if students read poems and then used the poem to develop a narrative? It would also be interesting to have students transform a study guide into a free form narrative – a practice in distinguishing trash from treasure.

    Thank you for sharing this lesson, Beth

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  13. Dear Tamara,

    June 14, 2011
    Rewrite of Critical Narrative into Free-Verse Poem Format

    I really enjoyed your explanation of metaphor. It was a lot of fun playing with words to try and get the right feeling. I also liked how you took Shawna's narrative and turned it into a poem by pulling out the most important pieces. It made me feel like I could write a poem out of anything. What a fun way to take something simple and make it into something creative!

    It was helpful for you to walk us through the whole process using Shawna’s narrative as an example. It gave me a much clearer idea of what was expected. It was also nice to have you roaming the classroom giving feedback and answering questions.

    This lesson could be applied across the curriculum by taking non-fiction texts and using those materials to create a free verse poem. Students could write poems about snakes, weather or stars. They could write poetry about the civil war, the constitution or an election. You could even make a poem about a current event by teaching students to pull out important ideas and list them in free verse form.

    Fantastic job!

    Robin

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  14. aloha e Tamara,

    your lesson on x of y metaphor was maika'i loa. i just want to mahalo you on the process:

    1. worked the whole class together w/ a visual

    2. kept it simple w/ more examples, calling on each individual to share, continued to use chart so all could see

    3. needed to explain/clarify again, did so w/o judgement

    4. when we worked our own pieces, you gave individual +feedback

    mahalo nui loa, beatrice

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  15. Aloha and Mahalos Ladies for playing poetry yesterday. I learned a lot too
    since that was the first time I tried this lesson! It worked out very well!
    What I learned is the process allows one to convert a narrative piece into
    free-verse poem format. I'm wondering if the reversion of the process:
    from poetry into narrative will work also?
    Here is the lesson plan in two or more parts since HTML won't accept more than 4,000 characters at a time.LESSON:
    REWRITE OF CRITICAL NARRATIVE INTO A FREE-VERSE, NARRATIVE POEM FORMAT by Tamara Wong-Morrison (6/14/11)

    Rationale: Students need to find the rhythm in their writing. Narratives by
    new writers often lack rhythm because they are focused on the
    story. When a writer distills one’s narrative piece into a free-verse
    format, the “internal” rhythm and the sound of one’s voice intensifies.
    Also, when a writer knows how to create and use an X of Y metaphor, one’s writing becomes more creative because, “A picture paints a
    thousand words, but the right metaphor paints a thousand pictures.”
    (Daniel Pink)
    .

    Core Standards: CONVENTIONS IN WRITING & SPEAKING:
    MAKE EFFECTIVE LANGUAGE CHOICES:
    Gr. 3 Use words for effect.

    Gr. 4:
    a. Maintain consistency in style and tone.
    b. Choose words and phrases to convey ideas precisely.

    Gr. 5:
    a. Expand, combine, and reduce sentences for meaning,
    reader/listener interest, and style.

    Gr. 6:
    a. Vary sentence patterns for meaning, reader/listener
    interest, and style.

    Gr. 7:
    a. Choose words and phrases that express ideas concisely,
    eliminating wordiness and redundancy.

    Gr. 8:
    a. Use verbs in the active and passive voice and in the
    conditional and subjunctive moods to achieve particular
    effects.

    Gr. 9-12 standards to be included later.

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  16. Part 2: Lesson, Rewrite:Performance Indicators: SWBAT (student will be able to!) convert narrative piece into a free-verse (narrative) poem format by
    highlighting, specifically chosen excerpts from
    narrative.
    SWBAT cut-and-paste these excerpts and re-space
    or align these into free-verse poem format.
    SWBAT identify free-verse poem format.
    SWBAT identify rewrite of narrative into new form
    as a “Found Poem” teaching strategy.
    SWBAT create and use an X of Y metaphor form to
    enhance, emphasize an excerpt or image.
    SWBAT revert rhythm and sounds from poem form
    into narrative forms of writing.
    SWBAT create and use Core Standard for grade level.

    Assessments: Formative: Peer and teacher comments on drafts.
    Summative: Rubric (to be developed) on FINAL version.

    Instructional Component & Development (50 minutes total):

    15 minutes
    (Explanation/ Teacher explains schedule: 15 minutes instructional,
    Discussion) 25 minutes rewrite, and 10 minutes to pair-and-share.
    T. asks students “What three things are in every poem?”
    T. writes correct answers on board when students have identified them: meaning/feeling (“Disguised words from the heart—Robert Frost), sound (sound of words strung in sequence: “Words are sacred. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little” – Tom Stoppard, playwrite), and rhythm!
    T. elicits discussion on which of these three is the
    most important. Answer: All three things are equally
    important. Some will argue that sound or rhythm are
    more important because they will elicit meaning/feelings faster than meaning/feeling without
    specific sound and/or rhythm..
    T. asks for a student author to share his/her narrative piece by slowly reading aloud the piece.
    Before student author reads, T. asks student-audience to listen carefully for the words-lines-excerpts that are significant-important-memorable.
    T. tells student audience to raise their hands when
    they hear the memorable excerpt.
    T. will write-note excerpt on board that a lot of students
    have identified by raising their hands.
    T. tells students that these selected excerpts will be
    realigned, re-spaced into a free-verse poem format
    that does not have strict end-rhymes or meter.

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  17. Part 3: Lesson, Rewrite
    T. says that after the student-audience has identified the
    awesome excerpts, the author of narrative piece will add an X of Y metaphor to enhance the poem.
    T. models creating an X of Y metaphor by writing on
    board, “Sea of ______” and asks students to fill that
    metaphorical sea with anything BUT things that are
    actually found in the sea.
    T. writes student suggestions on board, i.e. Sea of stars,
    sea of surprises, sea of sorrow NOT sea of starfish or
    sea of water because starfish and water are found in
    the real sea, not the metaphorical sea.
    T. tells students that metaphors create magic because
    they create things that can only happen in our imaginations. Yipee!
    T. jumps up and down and acts crazy while students
    wonder what’s going on.

    25 minutes
    (Selection Activity/ T. asks student-author to slowly read piece.
    Focused Engagement) T. writes-notes excerpts on board that audience has
    identified as significant by raising their hands.
    Student-author continues slowly reading piece.
    T. continues writing significant excerpts until the
    entire narrative is completed.
    T. asks student-author to re-read the free-verse
    poem.
    T. asks audience to identify places in the poem where
    the author could insert an X of Y metaphor,
    i.e. “A metronome of disppointment” (Mahalo Jessica)
    “An oasis of pain” (Mahalo Beth)
    T. suggests that author may use suggested metaphors.
    T. tells students that they are the FINAL EDITORS of their writing and suggests that they READ ALOUD their piece THREE TIMES and listen for their “internal” rhythm.

    10 minutes
    (Closure) T. asks students to pair-and-share their free-verse
    poems.

    Extension Activities: Students post a blog with their narrative piece and
    rewrite of it in free-verse poem form. Peer reviewers
    create Venn Diagram comparing/contrasting both.
    Students select a poem and convert it into narrative form, i.e. “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost is converted into narrative format.

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  18. 6/15/2011 Lesson Adjectives
    Aloha ahi ahi ‘ia kakou Tamara---

    Mahalo nui loa for making the light shine on yet another writing skill that I can improve. It is very cool to hear your explanations of why certain adjectives work and why some do not. I’ve come to realize these strategies in isolation are exciting and fun. My students will love your lessons and exercises. Your lessons lead to many other variables like pictures, animations and word lists for my special needs learners. See the list of words that I will be able to work with to begin to excite my students with.
    I can’t wait to start this lesson ! You are my:
    Fevered breath Dry tears
    Glittering smiles Devastated tears
    Crunchy showers Butterscotch ocean
    Jinxed washing machine Rainbowed mountain
    Frothy bougainvillias Candied book
    Gorgeous machines Fevered dream
    Chomped furiously Sweet labor

    Mahalo nui loa---Doreen

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  19. Aloha Tamara,
    6/15/11
    Revision
    Thank you for another great metaphor lesson. Metaphors have been a confetti unicorn for me, but thanks to your skills in presenting the method in such a fun and manageable way; my Amazonian avoidance is being conquered. (I’m trying!)
    I appreciate the best practices you implemented throughout your lesson; positive role modeling, positive reinforcement, guided instruction, and the ‘I do, we do, you do’ approach.
    These simple processes are definitely something I can use to teach metaphors. I really can!
    Thank you for another excellent lesson I can add to my favorites,
    Beth

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