February 23-26

1. Miss Catherine’s Class
February 23-26, 2015

2. Objectives
Life in Expression…
What do we already Know
What do we Want to know?
What is Art?
Is it only paintings? Or sculptures?
Can it include music?
Does it have to provocative to be considered to be art?
Reading Workshop
Who considers poetry to be art?

3. Life in Expression…
What do we already Know?
Do you think this unit might be about art?
Any kind of art or does it need to include expressive art?
What is expressive art?
What do we Want to know?
Does anyone know what type of art creates a revolution?
What is a revolution?

4. What is Art?

5. What is Art?
Is it only paintings? Or sculptures?
Can it include music?
Does it have to be provocative to be considered to be art?
Who considers poetry to be art?

7. Readers of Poetry…
…pay attention to the structure of poetry to notice how this
affects the meaning.
Today we are going to begin our study of poetry!
Poetry is an amazing genre made up of different subjects,
forms, and structures.
There are poems for everyone—and during our study, let’s
all be on the lookout for poems that you connect to or really
love.
Today we are going to get to know the poetry books that we
will be reading and studying in this unit.

8. Reading Workshop
We are going to read several different poetry anthologies (or
collections of poetry) and poetry books as we become more
enchanted readers of poetry.
Let’s start our work today be reading some of the poems
from the collection, The Place My Words Are Looking For.
As we read, let’s think about two questions:
1. What is the poem about, or what is its subject; and
2. How does the poem look on the page?

9. Reading
Workshop• Let’s start with
“The Sidewalk
Racer” p. 9 by
Lillian Morrison.
• Before we read
this poem, turn &
talk with your
partner about
what you think
this poem might
be about.
• Who would like
to share their
idea with the

10. Reading
Workshop
• Let’s also
consider how it
looks on the
page.
• What do you
notice?
• What is the
shape of the
poem?
• What about the
lengths of the
lines?
Read poem out

11. Reading
Workshop
• Now, what do
you think the
poem is about?
• Let’s turn to
“Enchantment” p.
69 by Joanne
Ryder.
• Based on the
title, what might
this poem be
about?
• What do you
notice about how
this poem looks

12. Reading
Workshop
• Now let’s turn to
“What I
Remember
About 6th Grade”
p. 47 by Mark
Vinz.
• Turn & talk to
your partner
about what this
poem might be
about.
• Now let’s talk
about how this

13. Reading
Workshop
• Stanzas are what
we call lines of
text grouped
together in a
poem.
• We can tell
where each
stanza begins
and ends from
the white space
on the page.
Read the poem.
• Now what do you

14. Reading
Workshop
• We’ve made
some
observations
about the
subjects and the
appearance or
structure of
poetry.
• We noticed that
poets choose
how they use the
white space on
the page, how

15. Reading
Workshop
…how they break
their lines to create
meaning, and how
they group their
lines into stanzas.
• We also noticed
that poets write
about a range of
subjects.

16. Reading
Workshop
• We will continue
to think about
these elements
as we move
forward with our
study to help us
build our
understanding of
poetry.

17. Reading Workshop
We are also going to explore the structure of poetry.
We are going to examine how a poem’s stanzas help
organize the meaning of a poem and develop meaning
across the poem.
We have already discussed how some poems are
organized into stanzas.
A stanza is like a paragraph in prose—it is the division of a
poem consisting of a number of lines. (like a chunk of text)
In a poem, each stanza builds on the next to develop the
idea across the poem.
In turn, as readers of poetry, our thinking about a poem
grows as we read from stanza to stanza.

18. Reading Workshop
Watch me
as I read,
“Black Hair”
p. 83 by
Gary Soto
and discover
how each
stanza adds
to my
understandi
ng of the
poem.
After each
stanza, I will

19. Reading Workshop
Now that I
have read
the poem
and done
some
thinking
about each
stanza, I
step back
and see how
I can put
these pieces
together to
help me
think about
the poem as
a whole.

20. Reading Workshop
I can now
see the
admiration
the young
boy has for
the baseball
player, a
fellow
Mexican.
This binds
the speaker
and the
player
together.

21. Reading
Workshop
Now you are
going to
have the
chance to do
the same
thing…while
reading
“Spring
Thaw” by
Mark Vinz,
examine
each stanza
to see how
they each
build

22. Reading
Workshop
You and
your
partners
should read
each stanza,
talk about
what it
means, and
record it on
your charts.
Read the
first stanza
together and
write down
the ideas
presented.

23. Reading
Workshop
Ask, “What
does this
stanza mean?”
Let’s share
your
thinking.
Now move on
to the next 2
stanzas and
do the same
thing.
Then ask
yourself,
“What is the
overall
meaning of the

24. Reading Workshop
As readers of poetry, we understand that poets use stanzas
to group their ideas and build meaning in their poems.
This is so important to keep in mind when we read poetry,
because it helps us organize our thoughts and examine a
poem’s meaning.
Let’s examine other structural elements of poetry.
We are going to read some poems and analyze how the
structure of the poems helps build menaing for us as readers
of poetry.
A poem’s structure is like the architecture of a building.
Just as architects pay attention to the number of stories a
building has and the placement of doors and windows, poets
pay attention to the elements of poetric structure: lines and
line breaks, stanza, and the use of space.

25. Reading
Workshop
As readers of
poetry, it is
imporant that we
consider how
these structural
elements
contribute to the
overall meaning of
the poem.
Let’s read
“Happiness Poem”
from Locomotion
p. 73 to examine
its structural

26. Reading
Workshop
Watch me as I
read “Happiness
Poem” and make
observations about
the elements of
structure on the
chart.
Read the entire poem
aloud.
The 1st things I
notice are the lines
and where they
break.

27. Reading
Workshop
These lines are
rather long and
they break at
unexpected times.
I also notice that
there are no
stanzas.
Notice also that
there is very little
white space on
this page.
This poem takes
up a good deal of
the page, so it is

28. Reading
Workshop
Now I step back and
consider: What effect
do these structural
elements have on the
overall meaning of
the poem?
The long lines, lack
of stanzas, and lack
of white space make
me read the poem as
just one long thought.
There is a sense of
urgency or
importance about
reading to the end.

29. Reading
Workshop
Now that you have
listened as I talked
through my thinking
about the meaning
behind structural
elements, you are
ready to think about
structure on your
own.
“Can I Please” &
“What do you think?”
will be posted on the
blog tonight, so take
this chart home to
complete based on
those two poems

30. Reading
Workshop
As readers of poetry,
we understand that
structural elements
create meaning in
the poems we read.
We will continue to
pay attention to these
elements as we
move forward with
our study.

31. What is Art?
The Starry Night by
Vincent Van Gogh--
1889
• Does anyone know
anything about
Vincent Van Gogh?
• Do you know that he
died while in an
institution because
the world thought he
was crazy?
• How about the
meaning of this
painting?
• This was a view from

32. Is this Art?
The Persistence of
Memory by Salvador
Dali (a.k.a. The
Melting Watches)
1931
• Interpretations
suggest that Dalí
was incorporating an
understanding of the
world introduced by
Albert Einstein's
Special Theory of
Relativity.

34. Why is this art?
The Scream by Edvard
Munch 1893
• Considered to be the
Mona Lisa of present day
art…there were actually 4
versions of this painting
done (one in pastel) and
this one was sold at
Sotheby’s Auction House
in NYC in 2012 for over
$119 million!
• Is it the price tag that
makes it art? Or the
expression on the

37. Does this Express Life?
http://youtu.be/8O7heJ5ILvM

39. Writing Workshop
http://youtu.be/j7uTcYvoEbU
When poetry is read aloud, we can identify its features, form
and function.
Poets write with a variety of intentions in mind.
This poetry unit will focus a great deal on intention, allowing
you to come together to identify and understand poetry on a
new and more comprehensive level.
The more experience you have reading and hearing poetry,
the more prepared you will be to explore and write poems of
your own.
Remember that poetry is written to be read and the
experience of reading poetry and responding to it naturally
is crucial to appreciating and internalizing it.

40. I-Pads
Explore the Art Apps and choose 3-4 pieces of art that
you are then able to explain in a note you can send to
me, how the piece of art may have made you
feel…which emotion it touched on as well as what
message you feel the artist may have been trying to
convey or send when creating the piece of art.

41. Writing Workshop
The second reason we take the time to explore, enjoy and
respond to a genre as readers is motivational.
Developing an appreciation for poetry and poets will help
entice you guys to want to learn how to do it yourselves.
Poetry is a celebration of the beauty of language and
expression.
Let’s use these clothes pins to display our poems as we
write them…let’s celebrate your poetic creations.
Draw pictures to go with your poems that match the subject
or the inspiration that may have led to the creation of them.
Create poems and give them as gifts to your family, friends

42. Writing
Workshop
Everyone
should now
turn to “Tips
for Reading
Poetry Aloud.”
I’d also like to
distribute
poems to each
group…any
volunteers?
“Foul Shot” or
“Absolutes”

44. Writing Workshop
Choral
readings are an
excellent way
to teach
important read-
aloud skills and
to notice the
effects of voice,
tone, volume
and pace.
Let’s begin by
reading out
loud, “Into the

45. Writing Workshop
Next, let’s read,
“Diving
Beetle’s Food-
Sharing
Rules.”
Always
remember that
before reading
a poem, you
must first read
the title of the
poem and
acknowledge