Lesson 3

By the end of the lesson, ESOLs will:

1. Describe a series of different examples using similes and metaphors.

2. Write a sonnet on a topic of their choosing incorporating words and phrases from their heritage languages

By the end of the lesson, ESOLs will demonstrate increasing proficiency in the performance of the following functions and their forms:

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Functions:

1. Breaking apart words by their syllables to analyze the meter of a poem.

2. Writing with examples of figurative language and sound devices.

3. Incorporating heritage languages in their poetry.

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Forms:

1. Students will draw a line (“|”) between syllables of a word when counting the feet found in a line of poetry (“Shall| I| com|pare| thee| to| a| sum|mer’s| day”)

2. Students will create a series of similes and metaphors to describe a various collection of events and situations.

3. As students review their poems, they will select at least three English words or phrases that they will replace with their heritage language (“Instead of: ‘The sun woke me up at 6 in the morn,’ they can say: ‘At 6, the sun shouted Buenos dias.”)

By the end of the lesson, ESOLs will demonstrate an understanding of the following vocabulary words:

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Content

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Personification

• Alliteration

• Assonance

• Foot (poetry)

• Syllable

• Rhyme Scheme

• Stanza

• Sonnet

• Quatrain

• Couplet

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Academic

• Annotate

• Analyze

• Translate

Special Cross-Cultural Considerations for ESOLs: Although the vast majority of our students (six of the eight students in total) are from the Philippines, it is important that we make some inclusion for all of our English Language Learners. Thus, as students create sonnets of their own today, they will be required to incorporate some of their own language in the poetry they write.

 

Materials: A PowerPoint presentation which contains another sonnet for students to analyze along with directions for today’s activity and a worksheet which students will use to create their own sonnets. 

 

Lesson Sequence
 

MOTIVATION: At the beginning of the class period, to verify students’ understanding of poetry analysis, I will provide students with one more sonnet which I created. As with our previous poems, students will determine the rhyme scheme and meter of the poem, as well as look for any forms of figurative language and sound devices used in the poem.

 

PRESENTATION: After students have finished their poetry analysis as for the Bell Ringer activity, I will provide students with directions for today’s poem project. Students will be creating sonnets of their own on a topic of their choosing, but to ensure that students are accurately following the structure of a sonnet, I will provide them with the rhyme scheme and structure found in typical, Shakespearean-style, sonnets. We will then have students practice analyzing a few examples of some sonnets to determine that the structure is followed. In addition, I will highlight a few examples where the poem could benefit with some usage of figurative language and sound devices. After we practice analyzing one of these poems together, we will move to the practice activity.

 

PRACTICE/APPLICATION: After our discussion, I will start off by having students independently analyze a poem for themselves. In addition to making sure that the sonnets they analyze follow the metrical and rhyme scheme requirements imposed on the sonnet form, I will also highlight a few examples of places where students can exercise adding their own figurative language and/or sound devices to the poem. Additionally, I will select two phrases which they will substitute for a similar phrase in their heritage language. I will remind students that they should continue to follow the structure and rhyming pattern of a sonnet in these examples.

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After students are finished, I will ask them to share these poems, in which I will use to formatively assess their understanding of this week’s unit. Once finished, students will then be asked to write their own sonnets. On top of following the structure of a sonnet, they must include two examples of figurative language or sound devices of their choosing as well as incorporate a phrase from their heritage language somewhere in the poem. I will observe the class to ensure that students’ questions concerning the activity are resolved. Once students are finished drafting, I will ask them to share their poems with a partner to ensure that the structure is being followed, and then they will present their finished poems to the class. This will serve as a summative assessment for this unit, allowing me to understand their understanding of how to analyze a poem and to demonstrate their ability to use this understanding to craft poetry of their own.

 

EXTENSION: If it is clear that students have deficits while completing this activity, there are a couple of activities that I will provide for them. Firstly, I will have several more examples of sonnets they can analyze, following the same method as before. Additionally, if students need help creating their own examples of figurative language and sound devices, I may provide them with a supplemental designed to help them practice creating their own examples of these.