Mini Unit on Poetry

Last week we spent time planning with Mrs. Kneeland about ideas for our poetry unit.  We brainstormed which types of poetry would work best for our idea of  adding "beat/rhythm" to our poems so we could "jazz" it up with some sunglasses and berets.  After doing some discussing, we decided that before she came to our class, we would teach some basics of poetry and begin with free verse.  The students have been listening to us read poetry and then writing their own poetry.  We gave the students a variety of poems to read and then they decided which poems they enjoyed reading the most and why that poem stood out to them as one they liked best.  We discussed a few different types and then started writing.  We wrote a shape/concrete poem, which they all liked to create because it was a picture and it was a very comfortable way to get them writing poetry.  We also wrote a cinquain poem which helped the students review adjectives, nouns and verbs.  We are looking forward to adding rhyme to our poetry and then eventually beat/rhythm.