Weekly Agenda: April 2-6

Tuesday, April 3
Mini-Lesson: Object Poem
Independent Portfolio Drafting Day
HW: None

Thursday, April 5
Mini-Lesson: Terza Rima
Independent Portfolio Drafting Day
HW: None (Remember: First Draft Deadline is next Wednesday, 4/11)

Weekly Agenda: March 19-22

Tuesday, March 20
Mini-Lesson: Sonnet
Independent Portfolio Drafting Day
HW: None

Thursday, March 22
Mini-Lesson: Object Poem
Independent Portfolio Drafting Day
HW: None (unless you are not on pace to meet the April 11th first draft deadline)


Have a wonderful, relaxing Spring Break!

Weekly Agenda: March 12-16

Monday, March 12
Mini-Lesson: Villanelle
Independent Portfolio Drafting Day
HW: None

Wednesday, March 14
LATE START
Mini-Lesson: Sestina
Independent Portfolio Drafting Day
HW: None

Friday, March 16
Mini-Lesson: Sonnet
Independent Portfolio Drafting Day
HW: None

Weekly Agenda: March 5-8

Monday, March 5
Volunteers share poems
Unit Portfolio work time:
- select three poems that represent your best work from the unit
- thoroughly rethink and revise the 3 poems
- type and print poems
- staple or bind together, along with the first drafts of all 3
HW: Finish Unit Portfolio (due Wednesday)


Wednesday, March 7
Portfolio DUE
Poetry Readings
Introduction to Poetic Forms Unit
Activity: Found Poems
HW: Complete found poem

Weekly Agenda: February 27 – March 2

Tuesday, February 28
In-class Journal Exercise: Choose an object, person, place, event, etc. Write 3 short
poems about it, each from a different voice or tone. Vary diction, too, if you
can. For instance, you could choose to sound like three very different people.
Poetic Device Quiz #1
Introduction to Imagery (handout to add to packet)
- Vocabulary
- Concrete vs. Abstract language
- Practice: Writing imagery-rich descriptions → poetry
- Example: “Sorting Laundry”
HW: Journal Prompt: Describe or portray a relationship through a series of specific sensory images (the more senses, the better)

Thursday, March 1
Review Imagery
- Read and discuss “A Time Past”
Introduction to Symbolism and Theme
- vocabulary
- Examples: “The Road Not Taken” and “Fire and Ice”
- In-class Journal Prompt: Just as Frost did with the “road” and “fire and ice”, select an object and shape it into a symbol representing something bigger or deeper. Your poem should turn the object into something more than it once was, and suggest a theme or message through it.
HW: Select 3 poems to revise as a unit portfolio grade. All should be medium-length or longer; they need to make up a substantial reflection of your work over this six weeks, and should demonstrate your efforts and mastery of poetic devices. The portfolio will be accompanied by a one-page reflection on the pieces included. Start working on your revisions this weekend.

Weekly Agenda: February 21-24

Wednesday, February 22
Volunteers share rhythmic poem
Review Meter
- “When I Was One-and-Twenty”
- “Song of the Powers”
Device Review
Partner Device Hunt: Find one example of each listed term in the poetry in our packet. Be sure to quote the relevant lines and explain why it is an example of the term.
HW: Select one of the poems we’ve read so far that either sparked your imagination, resonated with you, raised questions, or that created a sense of enjoyment or frustration (i.e. that had some effect on you worth talking about). Name the poem and write a brief summary of what you interpreted it to mean. Then, write an analysis of why that poem had an impact on you – in other words, what choices did the poet make as a writer that proved to be “effective” on you as a reader.
- Begin reviewing for Tuesday’s vocabulary quiz.

Friday, February 24
Volunteers share
Intro to Voice, Tone & Diction
- Vocabulary
- Read and discuss “Grass” and “Civilian” – analyze voice, tone, and diction
- Practice: Describe a scene from the angle you select; use voice, tone, and diction accordingly
- In-class Journal Prompt: Choose an object, person, place, event, etc. Write 3 short poems about it, each from a different voice or tone. Vary diction, too, if you can. For instance, you could choose to sound like three very different people
HW: Complete prompt. Review vocabulary for a Tuesday’s poetic terminology quiz.

Weekly Agenda: February 13-17

Monday, February 13
Volunteers Share
Definitions: Denotation & Connotation
Example: “Cross” (packet)
Writing warm-up: Pick a word that you know has multiple meanings. Grab a dictionary, look it up, and write them down. Then, write a poem with that word as the title, which somehow manages to define that word creatively, addressing all its major denotations AND its personal connotations
- Brainstorm
- Example
- Volunteers share
Introduction to rhyme and stanza
- Define “stanza” and types of stanzas
o Couplet, tercet, quatrain
- Define “rhyme”, “rhyme scheme” and “internal rhyme”
- Examples: “Woman Work” and “Narcissus and Echo” (packet)
HW: Write a skeltonic poem on the topic of your choice.

Wednesday, February 15
LATE START
Volunteers share skeltonic poems
Review types of stanza
Review perfect rhyme
- Example “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” (packet)
Define “slant rhyme”
- Example “The soul selects her own society” (handout)
- Journal exercise: Write a poem using slant rhyme about yourself, written in 3rd person. Try to see and think about yourself like someone else might
HW: Bring in 3 or 4 random news story or magazine article headlines for 2/17

Friday, February 17
Introduction to rhythm and meter
- Vocabulary
- Types of meter
- Intro to basic scansion – marking stressed and unstressed syllables
- Examples: “Stopping by Woods…”; listen to “Eleanor Rigby”
- Scansion on “Eleanor Rigby”
In-class Journal Prompt: Take a headline from a newspaper, magazine etc. and make it the title of your poem. Be sure to reference where you found the headline.
HW: Finish journal prompt, if necessary