Lesson Plan

Michael A. Wilkinson

EDCI 505: Teaching Writing K-12 NIWP SC12

Professor Duvall

March 19, 2012

Lesson Plan: Personification Poetry

Grade: 6^th

Time: 90 minutes

Materials: paper/tablet, pencil, and the Frayer Model formative assessment sheet, sample poems, and dictionaries

Directions:

1) The teacher gives the definition of personification and asks students if they can give examples. The teacher reads a few samples of personification poetry and asks students to identify where personification has been used in the poems.

2) The teacher informs students they will be writing their own personification poem entitled, “What am I?”.  Students will go on a walk outside and be asked to pick an inanimate object (and write it down). They are to be thinking of what human-like characters they can give it (and write them down). They are to keep their object a secret.

3) Students will return to class and write a poem (for 20 minutes) about their object. Teacher instructs students to use artistic license- humor is good & descriptive language.

4) Students read their poems out loud and students try to guess what inanimate object they are. Students and teachers discuss language used to personify and redirect/clarify any incorrect understandings as needed.

5) Individually, students fill out the Frayer Model sheet (formative assessment). Students may use the dictionary to define the word “personification” on the Frayer Model.

Modification/Adaptations: students may draw a picture in place of writing their poem and verbally deliver the personification, students may draw a picture to illustrate their poem, lengths of poems may vary depending on student ability, some students may need to work with the teacher one-on-one and/or or in a small group setting to complete the writing portion, some students may require more time for completion

This lesson plan can be changed for lower level grades by having students act out their object and/or just illustrate their object as it personifies human-like characters instead of writing. Student may also work in a partnership or groups in order to act out their personification. The teacher will introduce & share personification poems that have illustrations accompanying them for lower-level grades. These illustrations will be posted on the wall for students to access while they are drawing or preparing to act out their object.

Common Core Standards Addressed:

Language- vocabulary acquisition & use

Reading- reading literature (poetry)

Speaking & Listening- poem deliver & audience

Writing- range of writing

The following workshop learning was implemented in this lesson plan: Common Core Standards, poetry, and formative assessment