Slipsliding poetry

Students will work with a partner to write an original piece of poetry to express information learned about the rain forest and an animal that lives in that habitat. Students will share their poems by creating a multimedia slide show.

A lesson plan for grade 4 English Language Arts and Information Skills

By Angela Hodges

Learn more

• Alta Vista Image Search This site provides a search tool for students to find an image (s) for their project.
• The Amazing Picture Machine This an additional site where students can search for images to include in their slide show.
• How to Cite Sources Classroom Connect website to help students cite Internet resources.

Related pages

• The life cycle of a seed: This lesson integrates science into the language arts block. Students will read about plant life cycle events and then write their own books about the life cycle of a plant.
• Penguin paradise: Students will demonstrate their understanding of how to communicate statements of information through the composition of a one paragraph summary about a penguin.
• Too many pets, too few homes: Students examine the problem of pet overpopulation both in the United States and in North Carolina. Students will learn about the importance of spaying and neutering in combating pet overpopulation.

Related topics

• Learn more about English language arts, biology and life science, science, and writing.

Help

Please read our disclaimer for lesson plans.

Legal

Learning outcomes

Students will:

• identify and describe specific rain forest animals and their habitats from their research
• use the knowledge gained from research to create an original poem on a rain forest animal by choosing the Diamonte, Haiku, Cinquain, or Pyramid forms
• illustrate their poem by creating a multimedia slide show

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

5 hours broken up over several days

Materials/resources

• science textbook
• encyclopedias on CD ROM
• library books on rain forest animals

Technology resources

• computer with internet access
• printer
• presentation software with slide show capability such as Apple Works, HyperStudio or Power Point
• commercial encyclopedia CD ROMs
• scanner
• digital camera

Pre-activities

Students will need to have knowledge of or to have studied:

Science

• rainforest
• basic needs of animals

Computer skills

• basic computer skills including drawing, using the internet, and word processing
• use of presentation software to create slide show
• use of scanner and digital camera

Information skills

• gather, organize, and use information
• research skills
• credit sources of information

Various handouts and internet websites will supplement instruction.

Activities

1. Define the different forms of poetry and read examples of poetry forms orally to the class. Student complete the following worksheets.
   • Diamonte
   • Haiku
   • Cinquain
   • Name/Acrostic
   • Pyramid
2. Introduce students to the slideshow component of the lesson plan. The slide show will consist of one slide per line of poetry form chosen. Slide show requirements:
   • Slide one will be a title page to include the name of the animal and image of animal.
   • One slide will have a sound clip.
   • One slide will have a quicktake movie clip.
   • The next to last slide will have a digital camera picture of you and your partner.
   • The last slide will have references and cite resources.
3. Students will be asked to work cooperatively in groups of two.
4. Students will research the animal assigned to them using textbooks, library reference books, encyclopedias, and internet sites. The following internet sites may be helpful for student research:
   • The Belize Zoo. Online version of Belize Zoo with over twenty species of animals.
   • Welcome To the Rain Forest. This website was created by fourth graders in Ms. Todd’s class at Sharon Elementary School in Statesville, North Carolina.
   • Zoom Rainforest. A website all about the rain forest.
   • Rain Forest Web. World rain forest information portal.
   • Animals. Tropical rain forest animals.
   • Rain Forest facts. Rain forest activities from ABC Teach.
5. Students will also locate a sound file of their animal, if available, from the internet or electronic encyclopedia.
6. Students will locate a picture of their animal, if available, from internet or electronic encyclopedia.
7. Students will either draw an illustration or choose a graphic or clip art to illustrate their poem.
8. Students will locate a Quicktime movie of their animal, if available, from internet or electronic encyclopedia.
9. Students will cite sources of copyrighted materials and images. Use the following website: How to Cite Sources to review or teach how to cite.
10. Students will select a poetry form to write about the rain forest animal or word chosen. Assist students in writing poems.
11. Students will create a slide show that illustrates their poem and present the final product to class.

Assessment

Students will be assessed on the content of the slide show through a multimedia rubric. This Microsoft Excel spreadsheet version was developed by Carolina McCullen at MidLink Magazine. Just put in the scores and they will be totaled for you. The form also provides for self-evaluation, as well as teacher-evaluation. I adapted this rubric to suit the needs of this lesson plan. This rubric will identify A, B, C, or D work.

Supplemental information

Comments

Other ways I have used this lesson plan:

I have used this lesson plan with teachers for staff development training. This was a ten-hour workshop.

This lesson can be adapted and used with most grade levels. The fourth grade science curriculum lends itself to the use of this lesson to study animals. In addition, both fourth and fifth grades study poetry.