Introduction	Task
Activities	Process
Links	Evaluation
Conclusion	Teacher Page

Introduction

Keep a Poem In Your Pocket

By: Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

Keep a poem in your pocket

and a picture in your head

and you'll never feel lonely

at night when you're in bed.

The little poem will sing to you

the little picture bring to you

a dozen dreams to dance to you

at night when you're in bed.

So---

Keep a picture in your pocket

and poem in your head

and you'll never feel lonely

at night when you're in bed.

 

Beatrice Schenk de Regniers is giving us some wonderful advise with her whimsical poem. Poetry has been around for a very long time. Reading poetry can give the reader great joy. Writing poetry can be even more exciting! Are you ready to learn more about poetry and maybe compose you own poems? Poetry is a fascinating genre of writing. Let's take a journey into the world of poetry!

 

The Task

To learn all about poetry and then produce your own poems!  

Culminating Activities

Publishing of Poems:

You will publish the poems of your choice on an on-line Poetry Site.

You will create a poetry book using Easy Book Deluxe software.

You will create a class poetry book and use a multimedia program, such as, PowerPoint, HyperStudio or mPower to showcase your class poetry book.

HyperStudio Poetry Stacks

See examples of HyperStudio Poetry Stacks completed by students!

If you need the HyperStudio Plug-In, you can download it at:

http://www.hyperstudio.com/resource/hsplugin/plugin.html

First Stack	Second Stack
Third Stack	Fourth Stack

Poetry Contest:

The poems that you write will be submitted into the School Poetry Contest. Some of the poems could advance to the District, State and/or National level.

 

The Process

Check out this wonderful PowerPoint Presentation created by Pat Cheniae, a teacher at Esperanza Elementary. It will give you some great information about poetry!

 

Poetry in Motion

Now you will read lots and lots of poems to get ideas of what type of poems you would like to write. You will read Poetry books from the library, read poetry on-line via the Internet and listen to poems on tape.

Next you will visit Scholastic's "Writing with Writers" on the Internet. The Jack Prelutsky Poetry Site and the Karla Kuskin Poetry Site have lots of ideas on how to create poetry. While at the sites, you will read the steps on creating poetry and try out some of the ideas.

Now it's time to try you hand at some poetry. You can compose your rough drafts on the computer using a word processing program, such as, AppleWorks or Microsoft Word or write them out by hand in a poetry journal.

Go through the Six Traits of Writing to help you compose your poems.

1. Ideas-the heart of the message, the main point

2. Organization-the internal structure

3.Voice-evidence of the writer behind the message

4. Word Choice-the vocabulary or terminology

5. Sentence Fluency-the rhythm and flow-how it plays to the ear

6. Conventions-the mechanical correctness of the piece

• After you have completed, at least, 5 poems, share them with a buddy for feedback.
• When you are satisfied with your poems, you will create a book of poems using the Easy Book Deluxe software.
• Then choose your favorite poem to be submitted to one of the on-line poetry sites and submit it.
• Each student's favorite poem will be submitted to the school's poetry contest. Winners of that contest will be submitted to the District poetry contest.
• The class will turn their favorite poems into a multimedia presentation. The class will create a story board of how they would like the poems presented in the multimedia program.
• After the story board is completed, the class will design their multimedia presentation on the computer following these guidelines:

  All cards/slides in the presentation should contain:

  • Navigable buttons, appropriate backgrounds, graphics, and readable, edited text.
  • Title slide that contains the name of the slide show.
  • Slide for each poem.
  • An author slide that tells a little about the members in your class along with digital photos of each member.
  • The multimedia presentation will be shown at a Faculty Meeting and at Parent/Teacher Conferences.

   

  

  Internet Resources

  There are a lot of resources on the Internet that can help you in your Poetry Quest. Here are some of the sites that you might find helpful! Check them out!

  The Internet Poetry Archive:

  The University of North Carolina Press joins the UNC Office of Information Technology in publishing the Internet Poetry Archive. The archive will make available over a worldwide computer network selected poems from a number of contemporary poets.

  Jack Prelutsky's Poetry Site:

  Explore the world of poetry writing with Jack Prelutsky. You can submit a finished poem to this site and get a certificate with your poem on it, signed by Jack Prelutsky.

  Karla Kuskin's Poetry Site:

  Karla Kuskin has lots of ideas to help young writers become poets. Finished poems can be published online.

  Poetry for Kids:

  Kenn Nesbit shares his poetry and ideas for creating poems.

  ISLMC Poetry for Kids:

  The Internet School Library Media Center (ISLMC) Poetry for Children page includes, forms of poetry, poetry e-text sites and bibliographies for poetry.

  Poetry for Post:

  Poetry Post features poems submitted by students from around the world...poems to read and a place to post poems online.

  Process of Composing Your Own Haiku:

  This is a resource on how to compose Haiku poetry.

  Favorite Poem Project:

  A wonderful poetry project! Famous people share their favorite poems through audio and video.

  Project #37: Poetry:

  Lots of information on different forms of poetry. This site also includes an extensive list of different poetry sites.

Evaluation

Rubrics:

To make the evaluation process more meaningful, the students should develop their own rubrics for evaluation.

See examples:

Product Rubric

Process Rubric

Reflections on the WebQuest:

Students should write in a journal their reflections on the whole process of writing poetry as they take the journey through this WebQuest. Some questions you might want to answer in your journal are:

• What did you think of poetry before you started this Quest?
• How did you feel while you were composing your poems?
• Did you find the process of writing poetry easy or difficult?
• What type of poems do you like the best?
• Did you model your poems after a certain poet's style?
• Who is you favorite poet?
• How has your impression of poetry changed after you completed this quest?

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have worked very hard to complete this WebQuest. In the process of doing this Quest you have learned a lot about poetry but most of all...you have become a poet!

 

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