Pirate Poetry

Goals:

  1. The students will compare and contrast the pirates in two poems using Venn diagrams. By doing this, the students will also understand how to use Venn diagrams.
  2. The students will learn about another form of literature: poetry.
  3. The students will create a poem about pirates.

 

Resources:

  1. Poetry anthology books that have poems about pirates can be used. Two examples of poems from poetry anthologies are:
    • "Derelict" from The Sea, Ships and Sailors: Poems, Songs and Shanties by Young Ewing Alison (Viking Press, 1967)
    • "The Pirate Don Durke of Dowdee" from Just for Fun by Elva Smith and Alice Hazeltine (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., 1948)
  2. Paper
  3. Pencils or Pens
  4. Venn diagrams or a compass to make one

 

Time:

The entire lesson should take between 2.5 and 3.5 hours. Steps one through three will require about 1 hour. Steps four and five will take between 1 and 2 hours. Step six will take about 30 minutes to accomplish.

 

Procedure:

For teachers who are not familiar with Venn diagrams, the following few lines and pictures present a brief background with these diagrams. Venn diagrams can be used to record similarities and differences. A blank Venn diagrams looks like the following picture.

The following picture shows what the parts of the Venn diagram mean.

The letters A and B are arbitrary titles to the circles. These can be replaced by any title you want for the circles. Similarities and difference are recorded in the Venn diagram. For example, information similar to both poems is placed where the two circles intersect. Attributes exclusive to A will be placed in the circle labeled A, but not in the center. Attributes exclusive to B will be placed in the circle labeled B, but not in the center. Attributes found in neither A or B should be placed outside the circles.

  1. Select two poems for students to compare and contrast or have the students find two poems of their choice pertaining to pirates.
  2. Since poetry is a good form of literature to be read aloud, it may be beneficial for the students to have the hard copies of the poetry and then the teachers can read the poems aloud to the students.
  3. After reading the poemsit would be a good time to discuss the poems' meanings and clarify any student's questions.
  4. Have the students find similarities and differences between pirates in the two poems by using a Venn diagram. Direct instruction may be needed to describe to students how to use a Venn diagram to record similarities and differences. During this direct instruction, two major aspects should come to the forefront: intersection and union. The intersection is where the two circles overlap. The union is everything in A or B or both.
  5. Using the information in the intersection of A and B (the center of the Venn diagram), give students time to create a poem about pirates. Students should include their own ideas.
  6. Students can share their poetry by reading it aloud to the rest of the class. During this time, the students who read their poems should also tell the class which parts of the poem are from the similarities to the two initial poems that they included on their Venn diagram.

 

Assessment:

  1. Each student will show their understanding of using Venn diagrams. (Criteria for success - Students will find at least three common threads between both poems (the intersection of A and B), three aspects exclusively mentioned in A and then B and three things not mentioned in either poem. This completed Venn diagram will be turned in after the student's poetry has been completed.)
  2. The students will write in their journals about poetry's attributes and the value of poetry. (Criteria for success - Students will include in their journals some of poetry's qualities and what the value of poetry is at their school, city or in the United States. Any other topic of interest may also be included by the students.)
  3. Each student will create a poem using the similarities of the two poems found in the intersection of A and B. (Criteria for success - Each student must turn in a poem about pirates including at least two similarities from the Venn diagram along with other information left to the students imagination.)

 

Curricular Strands and Major Concepts:

  1. Literature Arts - Writing poetry about pirates.
  2. Math - Using a Venn diagram to compare similarities and differences among pirates.

 

Possible Extensions:

  1. Invite a poet to speak to the class about writing poetry.
  2. Allow students to do a poet study to find the titles of other poetry that poet has written along with any personal information that may be beneficial to the reasons the person started to write poetry.




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