Poetry portfolios: Using poetry to teach reading and writing
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=152
A lesson plan for grades K–2 English Language Arts
Students learn to read and write when they have an active interest in what they are reading and writing about. This ReadWriteThink lesson supports students’ exploration of language and writing skills as they read and dissect poetry. Through a weekly poem, students explore meaning, sentence structure, rhyming words, sight words, vocabulary, and print concepts. After studying the poem, students are given a copy of the poem to illustrate and share their understanding. All of the poems explored are then compiled into a poetry portfolio for students to take home and share with their families. To further connect home to school, a family poetry project is suggested.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
English Language Arts (2004)
Grade 1
- Goal 1: The learner will develop and apply enabling strategies and skills to read and write.
- Objective 1.01: Develop phonemic awareness and demonstrate knowledge of alphabetic principle:
- count syllables in a word.
- blend the phonemes of one-syllable words.
- segment the phonemes of one-syllable words.
- change the beginning, middle, and ending sounds to produce new words.
- create and state a series of rhyming words that may include consonant blends (e.g., flag, brag).
- Objective 1.02: Demonstrate decoding and word recognition strategies and skills:
- generate the sounds from all the letters and appropriate letter patterns which should include consonant blends and long and short vowel patterns.
- use phonics knowledge of sound-letter relationships to decode regular one-syllable words when reading words and text.
- recognize many high frequency and/or common irregularly spelled words in text (e.g., have said, where, two).
- read compound words and contractions.
- read inflectional forms (e.g., -s, -ed, -ing) and root words (e.g., looks, looked, looking).
- read appropriate word families.
- Objective 1.01: Develop phonemic awareness and demonstrate knowledge of alphabetic principle:
- Goal 3: The learner will make connections through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
- Objective 3.03: Discuss unfamiliar oral and/or written vocabulary after listening to or reading texts.
Grade 2
- Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
- Objective 2.01: Read and comprehend both narrative and expository text appropriate for grade two by:
- determining purpose (reader's and author's).
- making predictions.
- asking questions.
- locating information for specific reasons/purposes.
- recognizing and applying text structure.
- comprehending and evaluating author's decisions and word choice.
- determining fact and opinion.
- recognizing and comprehending figurative language.
- making inferences and drawing conclusions.
- Objective 2.01: Read and comprehend both narrative and expository text appropriate for grade two by:
- Goal 3: The learner will make connections through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
- Objective 3.04: Increase oral and written vocabulary by listening, discussing, and composing texts when responding to literature that is read and heard. (e.g., read aloud by teacher, literature circles, interest groups, book clubs).
Kindergarten
- Goal 1: The learner will develop and apply enabling strategies to read and write.
- Objective 1.01: Develop book and print awareness:
- identify the parts of books and function of each part.
- demonstrate an understanding of directionality and voice-print match by following print word for word when listening to familiar text read aloud.
- demonstrate an understanding of letters, words, and story.
- identify the title, name of the author and the name of the illustrator.
- Objective 1.02: Develop phonemic awareness and knowledge of alphabetic principle:
- demonstrate understanding that spoken language is a sequence of identifiable speech sounds.
- demonstrate understanding that the sequence of letters in the written word represents the sequence of sounds in the spoken word.
- demonstrate understanding of the sounds of letters and understanding that words begin and end alike (onsets and rimes).
- Objective 1.01: Develop book and print awareness:
- Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
- Objective 2.03: Use preparation strategies to activate prior knowledge and experience before and during the reading of a text.


