Brief Description

Knowing that many students often see poetry as “boring”, a unique way to “hook” students is to give them the opportunity to be a published author on the Internet. Seeing other students’ work, and having the opportunity to share theirs with such a large audience, students feel “famous” which can be highly motivating. After reading and analyzing several poetry formats, students will write poems in these different styles. They will then choose the poem they want to work on for submission to an Internet Publishing site.

Standards and Frameworks

Technology Standards

• 1T-E1. Communicate about technology using developmentally appropriate and accurate terminology
• 1T-E2. Demonstrate increasingly sophisticated operation of technology components
• 3T-E1. Use formatting capabilities of technology tools for communicating and illustrating
• 3T-E3. Publish and present information using technology tools
• 4T-E2. Use technology tools for individual and collaborative writing, communication publishing activities to create curricular related products for audiences inside and outside the classroom

• W-E1.Use correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and usage, along with varied sentence structure and paragraph organization, to complete effectively a variety of writing tasks

Academic

1. Students will read and analyze structures of at least three poetry forms.
2. Students will create a minimum of three poems, each written in a different format.
3. After selecting the poems they wish to publish, students will follow the writing process (draft, peer edit, revise, teacher edit, final copy) to prepare them for publication on the Internet. The final poem should meet the criteria given to the students from the chosen rubric. (See assessment)

1. Using Microsoft Word in the classroom or computer lab, students will demonstrate their word processing skills by typing their final poem.
2. Students will demonstrate their ability to navigate a student publishing website in order to successfully submit their completed poems

• Keyboarding skills are advantageous, as are ability to edit and save work to a disk or to a server.

A variety of poetry forms, such as Cinquains, Haiku, Concrete Poems, etc. (I have found Poetry, by the Interact Company, to be an excellent source of ideas and examples.)
Dictionaries, Thesauruses
Computers with word processing and Internet access

Accommodations for Special Needs

• Students may work in pairs or small groups.
• Students may dictate their poem into a tape recorder, or to an adult or peer helper.
• Students may wish to choose a shorter poetry form.
• Bilingual or Limited English Proficient students may write a poem in their native language.
• Gifted students may be challenged to look at more complicated poetry formats, as well as encouraged to create their own patterns and forms.

1. Choose three or four poetry forms that you would like your students to try, and find several examples of each. (Though the “Visual Pattern” or “Shaped” poems are wonderful, they are probably not the best choice, because you want poems that are easy to type and submit online.)
2. Introduce one of the forms you have chosen to your students by reading the examples. You may also find that printing out a few examples for each student to have is very helpful, because they can see that poetry is not about writing in paragraphs, but in lines and/or stanzas.
3. Discuss the “rules” for the form of poetry you have introduced. You may want to post these so your students have an easy reference. (I’ve found that asking students to keep a Poetry Journal is also valuable, because students can access it whenever they choose.)
4. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each form of poetry you want your students to try.
5. After students have completed several different poems, ask them to choose a favorite to revise for publication.
6. After each student has chosen a poem to revise, each will need to spend time preparing a final draft for submission. You may wish to “cluster” the children by the type of poem they have chosen to work on, and have each group peer edit.
7. If you teach in Amphitheater School District, review the Internet Acceptable Use Policy http://www.amphi.com/~technology/aup.htm,  making sure it has been signed by the child’s parent/guardian and the student. In addition, obtain permission to publish using the Amphi District Publishing permission form, which you can access at http://www.amphi.com/~technology/k5.htm, for K-5 students, and http://www.amphi.com/~technology/612.htm, for grades 6-12  If you are in a different district, be sure to follow the rules/guidelines for Internet Use and Publishing.
8. Review Internet safety with your students. Advise students not to give out personal email addresses, but to use the school’s or teacher’s email address.
9. You will want to visit the two following sites, and decide to which you would like your students to submit their poetry. Both are relatively simple to access/use.

Choice One: CRUNCH – An online ‘zine http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/crunch/ Once you access the site, go to the “How To Submit” link, so you know and understand the site’s guidelines. To submit the poems, you will need to click on the “Show-Off” link, and submit from there.

Choice Two: KidsWWWRite -http://www.kalwriters.com/kidswwwrite/index.html Once you access this site, click on the “Write” link, and follow the very clear directions from there.

Academic Objectives will be assessed using one of the following scoring rubrics:

• The first one, http://www.bcsd.k12.ca.us/cipd/Chris%20Poetry%20rubric.pdf, could be used and/or adapted for Primary and Intermediate grades.
• The second, http://www.ubishops.ca/gse/Q.E.P.%20Units/poetry_west_rubric.htm is really best for older children (Intermediate+)

Teacher Name: Karyn Vick
Site: Walker
Date Submitted: November 12, 2002