Fivetowns College Dix Hills, NY 11746 LESSON PLAN WORKSHEET April Wells Teaching Language Arts Poetry 4 th Grade Candidate Course Subject/Theme Grade Writing Punny Foems! Based on Runny Babbit A Billy Sook by Shel Silverstein Note: This lesson will be introduced during April in honor of Poetry Month and right in time for the Easter Bunny! 1) Lesson Objectives: a. Students will develop their own poetic expression b. Students will learn and appreciate poetry c. Students will self-direct the learning of new vocabulary words d. Increased phonemic awareness 2) New York Standards: Language Arts Standard 2: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response and expression. Students will read and listen to oral, written, and electronically produced texts and performances, relate texts and performances to their own lives, and develop an understanding of the diverse social, historical, and cultural dimensions the texts and performances represent. As speakers and writers, students will use oral and written language for self-expression and artistic creation. Standard 4: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views. Art Standard 1: Creating, Performing and Participating in the Arts. Students will actively engage in the processes that constitute creation and performance in the arts (dance, music, theatre, and visual arts) and participate in various roles in the arts. Standard 3: Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art. Students will respond critically to a variety of works in the arts, connecting the individual work to other works and to other aspects of human endeavor and thought. 3) Readiness or Prerequisites: a. A basic knowledge of what poems are. b. An understanding of rudimentary poem structure and flow. b. Many students may have already been introduced to Shel Silverstein s poetry which can also be helpful in this lesson, however it is not required.
4) Motivation: a. I will announce that tomorrow will be OPPOSITE DAY! (examples below) - I will give out answers and have the students come up with the questions - They will draw a pictures with their opposite hand - I will have them sit in the seat opposite from their normal one - They can eat dessert first at lunch 5) Resources: a. The book, Runny Babbit A Billy Sook by Shel Silverstein b. Punny Foems handout for publishing their final drafts c. Runny Babbit Talk handout d. Several dictionaries e. A thesaurus f. Different color paper (pastels for spring if possible) g. Audio recordings of some of Shel Silverstein s poetry h. Markers, crayons, and colored pencils i. Students own Writer s Notebooks 6) Lesson Development: Day 1 a. I will begin with rousing curiosity and excitement with the students preparing them for a most unusual lesson. b. Before I show the cover or any of the illustrations, the students will be invited to listen to the opening poem in the Runny Babbit book where it explains how to translate Runny Babbit talk. The following will be read aloud: Way down in the green woods Where the animals all play, They do things and they say things In a different sort of way Instead of sayin purple hat. They all say hurple pat. Instead of sayin feed the cat. They just say ceed the fat. So if you say, Let s bead a rook. That s billy as can se, You re talkin Runny Babbit talk, Just like mim and he.(p.4 & 5). c. Following this poem will be a full class discussion. I will ask them what they think a spoonerism may be. I will initiate a conversation about what this poem could possibly mean and what it may imply for the rest of the book. I will encourage the students to think and discuss this opening poem together and share ideas about what they ve heard. I will also read it another time or two because it is quite a shock to the ears the first time this style of writing is heard. d. After the discussion, I will read another poem from the billy sook (one of the simpler ones) and write it down on the sketch paper on the easel. I will ask the students to help me figure out what the poem really says by working together to switch the letters around in order to decode the words. We will
do this a time or two depending on how quickly the students begin to understand the concepts. e. I will also have the students clap out the rhythm of the poems, showing them poetry structure and flow. We will take turns trying to clap out the rhythms in groups as well. Day 2 4 f. For the next activity, the students will be directed to get into groups of about 3 or 4. I will have a teacher s helper pass out the Runny Babbit Talk handout. The students will be able to compete this activity in their groups as they discuss the possible combinations to decoding and forming Spoonerisms g. After the students complete the handout I will briefly go over the answers. h. When writers workshop begins today. I will announce to the students that we will be writing our own Pilly Soems. i. The students will be directed to their usual writing groups where I will assist and scaffold them through the writing process. The following tasks will be covered: Choose one poem from Runny Babbit and copy it into your writer s notebook, then translate it into normal English on the opposite page. Rehearsing 1. In order to create your own Pilly Some, we will use the writing process. Begin to brainstorm different ideas that you would like to write about. It could be a favorite animal, sport, activity or food that sparks your interest. DO THIS IN REGULAR ENGLISH! 2. Jot down any ideas and sentences you can think of. Revising 3. Arrange your poem in the way you would like. Move things around, add and/or delete lines. Dictionaries and Thesauruses will be made available for students to look up words for spelling and rhyming purposes. Editing 4. Since we are creating Pilly Soems, our spelling is not going look right but we will use the patterns we learned from reading Runny Babbit poems and from completing the Runny Babbit Talk handout. We will also look at where the poem should rhyme and how the rhythm might make a difference. At this stage we will transcribe the English poems the children wrote into Runny Babbit Talk poems! This is where the magic happens and they see how their poems have turned into Punny Foems Publishing 5. The students will be given a Punny Foems publishing handout. They will be asked to copy their finished poem on the lines provided and then draw a picture of their Pilly Some in the blank space beneath the "soem". The students will then get together with their groups and share their Pilly Soems with each other. These "soems" will finally be displayed on a bulletin board outside the classroom door in honor of Poetry Month.
Day 5 i. Students will be encouraged to create group skits based on their favorite Runny Babbit Poems and share them with the class. 7) Interdisciplinary Connections: a. Art Students will be drawing pictures based on their own poetry. b. Music Students will listen to songs and poetry by the author of Runny Babbit. They will also work on rhythm and tempo by clapping out poem structure. 8) Adaptations: a. Students who need more guidance during this lesson will benefit from the writing workshop, where I will work with the students one on one. They will also be able to utilize the word-wall in order to help them create their poems. b. The group activities will also help students learn from each other as they give each other ideas for possible rhymes and poem ideas. c. Students who are more advanced will have full creative liberty in their poems. Many of these students will also be encouraged to get together with their groups to act out some of the Runny Babbit poems, simultaneously getting the lower level students involved physically. d. Students who are higher level will be able to access a thesaurus to find more interesting words. 9) Closure / Conclusion Day 5 i. Students will be encouraged to create group skits based on their favorite Runny Babbit Poems and share them with the class. 10) Application: a. Many processes in Writer s Workshop will be guided and scaffolded. b. When students create their own poems this will be independent work. c. Students will also be encouraged to read more of Shel Silverstein s poetry and other works for children such as: - A Light in the Attic - Where the sidewalk Ends - The Giving Tree - Falling Up - The Missing Piece - A Giraffe and a Half d. These works will be made available in class during and after this lesson for the students to explore and take home to read. 11) Assessment / Evaluations of Student Learning: a. Students will be assessed on the class discussions and group work. b. Students will be assessed on their Writer s Notebook poem translations. c. Students will be assessed during Writer s Workshop.
d. Students will be assessed on their final Pilly Soems based on the following criteria: - Creativity of ideas - Flow and structure - Use of more interesting words - Rhyming ability 12) Self-Reflection: a. Do the students have an appreciation of this interesting style of poetry? b. Are the students able to create their own unique poetry because of this lesson? c. Did the students work productively and efficiently together? d. Are the students becoming more interested in other works by Silverstein? e. Did the students learn new vocabulary words? f. Was this lesson interesting and fun?