Lesson Plan 1 – Introducing Poetry
These lesson ideas are designed to be applied within any unit of study. For explanatory purposes, I will model them here with food vocabulary.
--- Create a master list for teacher of unit vocabulary, broken down into nouns – masculine and feminine; expressive phrases; add-ons (
un peu
,
beaucoup
, etc.)
--- Create a master list for teacher of previously-introduced vocabulary that will be important in this unit. Although invariably a student will (pleasantly) use something you didn't anticipate, still try to anticipate the most likely candidates so that you can have support sheets for students who struggled with those prior phrases as well as craft opportunities for students who mastered those phrases to realize that they can be applied in this new context.
--- Introduce and practice vocabulary according to methods familiar to students, emphasizing word sounds
--- Students categorize vocabulary with graphic organizers. Some suggestions:
--- Masculine / feminine / nouns that start with a vowel so you have to memorize gender rather than remember
le
/
la
--- Phrases that express like / dislike (use happy/sad faces to categorize)
--- Themed, as in these foods are fruits, these are vegetables, etc.
--- These graphic organizers will be used to write the poems, so depending on your goal, you will choose different end poems and so different graphic organizers.
--- In some cases, you may wish to introduce a poem that uses this vocabulary, in others, it may put students in a frame of mind to produce something more complex than what we are going for. Each unit will lead to different potential poems, and each class is different as far as what will work. In general, if you can find a children's song/poem or something that is very simple, then introduce it here. Otherwise, introduce the somewhat more complex poems between units or within units for which you are not asking students to write poetry, to keep the distinction clear between poems written to convey depth of meaning and those written to explore vocabulary and aid in memorization. I have found that many Surrealist poets, with their bent towards nonsense and incongruity, often keep their poems simple. Of course some Surrealist poem topics are very much inappropriate for the middle school classroom, so read carefully!
--- Introduce a poem form and have students experiment with creating poems, using graphic organizers as a starting point
--- You can have students pair and share poems, offering corrections, suggestions, and acknowledgment of what works well. Students can do rewrites based on student and teacher feedback. The class can create a new poem based on pieces of individual poems. Students can recite for the class.
Sample resources:
A poem using end-rhyme that would go well with a food unit:
Pomme et Poire
by Luc Bérimont
[http://www.les-coccinelles.fr/lienpage1/poesies/pommeetpoire1.pdf]
For a variety of songs and poems for children about food, see this website [http://troispetitstours.over-blog.com/article-22486263.html]
Lesson Plan 2 - Mon Petit Chat and Assonance
Poem:
Mon Petit Chat
by Maurice Caríme http://ecprim.lefuilet.free.fr/c.htm#carememonpetitchat
Type the poem out in the largest size print that will allow you to have the whole poem on one sheet. Distribute two copies of the poem to each student.
Before
reading the poem aloud, have students underline all the words that
look
like they rhyme, just from looking at the spelling, on one copy. Although I have clustered the rhyming words in the list below, students will simply underline spelling-rhymes as they go without differentiation (8).
-
J'ai / sais / jamais; chat / nougat / chocolat / rat; Orange / mange / étrange / Solange; petit / dit / grandit; aimant / Tante.
Then have students highlight the part of the word that rhymes; now they should color-code according to similar rhyme sound.
-
J'
ai
/ s
ais
/ jam
ais
-
ch
at
/ noug
at
/ chocol
at
/ r
at
/ Or
a
nge / m
a
nge / étr
a
nge / Sol
a
nge / aim
a
nt / T
a
nte
-
pet
it
/ d
it
/ grand
it
Ask for observations students can make about the rhyme in this poem. Give them a little wait time, but if they seem stuck, ask them to identify the rhyming sounds and ask guiding questions around these ideas: that the
ah
sound is used much more than the
ay
and
ee
sounds, that there is more rhyme in the last words/syllables in each line, that it is the same
ah
rhyme in those last lines. Next, if a student hasn't already steered the conversation this way, ask if there are any other words that also match any of those three rhyme sounds and after class discussion, have students circle those rhyme sounds in the highlighter that matches the rhyme.
-
ah sound: ç
a
/ l'
a
ppelle / p
as
/ pourqu
oi
/ j
a
mais
-
ee sound:
n
i
/ sour
is
-
ay sound: no more, but there are some….
-
eh
sounds:
c'
es
t / étrange /
ai
mant /
et
Students may not get all of the rhyme sounds at this point. That is fine. Coax them a little, allow them full opportunity to find them, but don't force it, as they may discover the rest when the poem is read aloud. Only now should you read the poem aloud to students. Be sure to enunciate and repeat it several times. Then ask if there are any words to be added to our rhyme groupings and make the additions according to the past procedure. Have students use the clean copy to clearly highlight all the similar rhyme sounds (using the draft copy as a guide). On a poster that can then be hung on the wall and added to, list all the different ways to write each of the sounds in the poem.
-
ah sound:
at
/
a
/
as
/
oi
-
ee sound:
it
/
i
/
is
-
ay sound:
ay
/
ais
-
eh sound:
es
/
é
/
ai
/
et
-
Ask why
chat
, for example, is pronounced
shah
and not
shatt
. [As indicated earlier in the unit, I emphasize the concept of silent final consonants, so this question can be asked with confidence that it will be answered correctly. Although I do speak in French about
les consonnes finales silentes
, I introduce the concept of "silent final consonants" in English, and I regularly ask that question in English, always emphasizing the rhythm inherent in the phrase, so that students connect the (difficult) concept with a particular sound (
SI-lent FI-nal CON-so-nant!)
, which helps them remember the concept.] Here be sure to mention the difference between stressed and unstressed vowel sounds, so that students recognize that
appelle
starts with the
ah
sound but that it is not stressed as in
AH-pell
but rather unstressed as in
ah-PELL
.
Finally, students can now practice the poem line by line via choral repetition. Lead them in over-enunciating each vowel sound. Have fun with this! Here you could break students into five groups (
ah, ee, ay, eh,
and "other") and have the class read the poem part by part; also, students can stomp or clap in accordance with each rhyme sound as the recite.
Lesson Plan 3 – Experimenting with Rhythm
This year, my 5
th
graders learned a repetitive French children's rhyme called
Un éléphant se balançait
. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_poetry] Students broke themselves into groups, and I asked them to practice the song, which they had memorized, according to whatever rhythm they wanted. The tune that was included on the website was difficult for me to remember, and I knew they could come up with something better than I could! This was a fairly accidental moment that led to a great new process. Each group brought such enthusiasm and originality to the verses that students were so excited to weave them all together. They enjoyed seeing what their classmates had done with the same song they themselves used. These multiple renditions of a piece can be a powerful motivator, creating a process that honors each student's unique strengths and gifts. Here the drummer and the dancer find a way to shine alongside the aspiring actor, the young girl who likes to play clap games and the student no one knew could sing so well.
As long as classroom procedures and expectations are clearly set, you can let students break into groups, get a little loud, and do their thing! Be sure to give students a warning when their noise level rises too high or their focus starts to turn from the task at hand. But by warning, I don't mean an enthusiasm-squashing
waarr-ning
, but rather a kind and gentle reminder, allowing students the opportunity to develop an understanding of where boundaries are for this type of task as well as to make positive decisions in order to meet expectations. Of course, if boundaries continue to be crossed, then the activity must end for the day, but do clearly re-explain to students your expectations and that as a class you will try it again tomorrow. I like to think of it as being "firm yet forgiving," so that if expectations are not met after a few chances today, then we move to something else more structured, but we can certainly try again tomorrow with the proverbially clean slate.
This process will continue over a number of days (regardless of behavior) and you can decide if it will be a concentrated, fully focused time, or if you will spread it out over a longer amount of time by using partial class periods.
After a degree of brainstorming and practice time has passed, let students know that they will be performing for the class. It is important to stress that this is a work-in-progress, and that there are still going to be lots of things that need to be ironed out. That this is a feedback practice and not a finished performance. The goal is to de-stigmatize the idea of performing in front of the class, so if we perform when no one is polished and perfect, we can start to get more comfortable with performing and each other. Instruct students about the difference between constructive feedback that is specific and helpful versus subjective opinions and criticism. I like to remind students that the goal is improvement, so comments need to be not only specific but also considerate. Vague comments like
That was great!
or
I didn't like it!
don't help anyone know what in particular was successful or unsuccessful, what exactly worked or did not and why. And vague negative comments just make people feel bad. Maybe some people make some improvements from simple criticism, but the best improvements are made when specific guidance and feedback is given. It is important that students learn that they need not agree with or "like" everything, but that they share feedback considerately and respectfully, with the goal always to offer guidance that will help the student improve. I model this heavily and consistently, as it is not necessarily intuitive for students.
In culmination, students can perform their variations, either in class, for another class, or at an event to which parents are invited.
