I will begin my unit in the month of April, which is designated as poetry month. The unit will be taught in the library for four weeks with the children coming to me three days a week. The students will be introduced to the concept of poetry by demonstrations from their teacher and myself. They will be exposed to various rhythms and nursery rhymes that they are familiar with, in order to build their confidence in the use of words to express their feelings emotions. The initial sessions will last about an hour while subsequent sessions may be shorter as they will be use for producing. To help the students to get acquainted with each other, they will be taught how to write an acrostic poem to describe themselves. The poems will be shared and posted on a bulletin board for all to view.
Subsequent lessons will follow about families and what makes up a family. Students will interview their families to learn about their relatives. The information that they acquired will be used as a springboard to learn the culture and traditions of the families that make up the population of the classroom. Books will be shared about family members, such as
Daddy Poems
by John Micklos Jr. Explorations of family and traditions will lead to the study of the surrounding community. This will be accomplished through the reading of poems and books pertaining to communities.
The students will explore the surrounding community of our school and express what they learned by making a diorama showing what they saw and compose a poem that will tell what they saw. These will be displayed in the library for other to view.
The study of Kwanzaa will be approached in a similar manner. Students will research the origins of this holiday by using resources that are available in the library. They will demonstrate what they have learned by writing poems explaining what the holiday is and why it is celebrated.
In April, the students will compile all of their poems into a book and will share their favorite ones during a hot chocolate party to help celebrate Poetry Month. Other classes and parents will be invited to hear the poetry. The students will also participate in a poetry program that will be put on for the whole school by Mrs. Martin and Ms. Sutherland's classes.
