Title: The Music of Poetry

Author: Erica Adams

Grade: 3rd

NE Standards:

4.1.5 By the end of the fourth grade, students will identify characteristics of different types of text.

Student demonstrations:

Distinguish among common forms of literature such as poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.

Compare the use of fact and fantasy in historical fiction with other forms of literature.

Objectives:

  1. The students will read poetry.
  2. The students will read poetry and clap hands to its rhythm.
  3. The students will make up a rhythm for 2-3 lines of the poem using non-pitch instruments and present this to the class in groups.

Materials: copy of poem, two non-pitch instruments per group

PROCEDUES

Anticipatory set: discuss the rhythm of poems and what is does for them. Does it make them more interesting or boring? Talk about the rhythms of poems that we hear every day in songs. What would songs sound like if they we spoken without rhythm? Try it.

Vocabulary: rhythm and any new, unknown words in the poem

Activities:

  1. Arrange the students into equal groups.
  2. Have groups read and clap rhythm of the poem together.
  3. Assign lines of the poem to each group.
  4. Pass out instruments and have students make up accompaniments to their lines of the poem.
  5. Have each group present their lines of the poem consecutively.

Provisions for special needs:

Closure: Ask student if the rhythm of the poem was equal or unequal and how that affected the flow of saying it and playing the instruments. What made the poem unequal?

Assessment: Did the students participate in the activity and in class discussion.

References: The Lesson Plans Page, by Eileen West

Reflection: (on back of page)