KatieKwok

C&T4133
3/8/16

Writing Workshop2nd Grade

Teaching Point: Poets see the world using his or her 5 senses and use this
sensory imagery in poetry.
Connection
Students, before I get to our writing lesson today I need to tell you about
my subway ride to school this morningEvery morning, I take the subway
from 125th station all the way down to 2nd avenue, and everyday I think to
myself, This is so boring! There is NOTHING beautiful about riding on this
subway. But then, I started thinking about our new poetry unitand I
thought about the ways some poets see the world around them, often
turning something like a boring, ordinary poetry unit, into something
extraordinary. And do you know what happened, when I began using my
poet eyes? I could suddenly hear the CLUNK, CLUNK, CLUNK of each wheel,
almost like a beat of a song (also use body to show movement), I could feel
the smooth, cool metal pole gripped tightly between my hand; and see the
flashes of light as we passed each station59th, 7th ave, 42nd stI was
seeing the world like a poet, using my 5 senses to describe the subway
ride!
Teach
Today Im going to teach you that poets see the world using his or
her five senses and then use this language in poetry.
Just like during my subway ride, when I realized I could use my five senses
to make an ordinary experience come to life, poets also use their five
senses to make their poems more beautiful and interesting as well. Today
we will study Zoe Ryder Whites poem Pencil Sharpener, and see how she
used her five senses in this poem. Do you think someone could write a
poem about this object, and make it come to life? (nod head, ask students
to thumb-up or down) Im wondering toobut I have a feeling, if Zoe is
using her 5 senses, she may just make something ordinary like a pencil
sharpener, pretty extraordinary First, Im going to show you how I find
the 5 senses in Zoes poem and then how I would record these words in our
poetry organizer (poem and organizer are written on chart paper, look
exactly the same as what the students have). Read poem to students,
pause, reread emphasizing to students the parts that use sensory
descriptions. Wow, I am noticing that Zoe has used a few of her senses, Im
thinking about how she used touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing in her
poem. I notice Zoe has used a description of 100 bees which helps me
see, envision what the sharpener might look like and even sound like
thats either a very larger sharpener or a very small and crowded
sharpener! I will write 100 bees in See. Oh, I am also noticing the word
Buzz which is an onomatopoeia word! We all know onomatopoeia is a
sound word, so I will record this in Hear. Im looking at the rest of my
organizer and I can see how Zoe didnt use every sense. Thats ok, because
she probably wanted to focus on a specific part of the pencil sharpener to
bring it alive! Students, did you notice howI went through the poem, like

KatieKwok
C&T4133
3/8/16
a detective, searching for the poems use of 5 senses? I thought about how
each line might show me a different sense, and then I recorded the word or
sentence in the organizer? Now I can see how and where this poet used her
five senses!
Active Engagement
Now you try it! I am going to pass out another poem by Zoe Ryder White
called Inside My Heart, and I want you to read the poem like a detective,
recording all of the 5 senses words and descriptions in your organizers!
Read the poem with your shoulder partner and work together to find the
different senses in the poem! Okay class, lets come back together and
share what we found! What were some of the things Zoe
saw/heard/smelled/tasted/touched? Write down student shares. Students
provide examples, there is some debate about whether jazz band is a
Hear or TouchWell, what do you think? Could it be both? Ill write it in
both categories, since sometimes a word can show us many different
senses, how fun is that! Now we have used our detective moves to see how
Zoe used her 5 senses in her poetrywere there any senses she didnt
use? Taste!! Youre right, but I bet since weve now become experienced
at detecting 5 senses in other poets writing, we could probably write our
own now! Take 30 seconds to think of a taste that might fit in Zoes heart,
what taste is important to you? Write it in your hand, write it in the sky,
whisper to your partner! Fabulous! Excellent work today poets, I can tell
you are ready to start using your five senses in your poetry!
Link
Poets,asyougointoyourindependentwritingtoday,thinkabouthowyouwilluseyour5
sensestobringthesubjectofyourpoemalive,usethegraphicorganizertohelpyou
brainstorm.YoumightchoosetomodelyourpoemafterZoesPencilSharpenerorInsideMy
Heart,youmightthinkofsomethingfamiliarlikeasubwayride,oryoumightrevisitthe
topicsatthefrontofyourwritingfolders.Askyourself:howcanImakemyordinarytopic
interestingusingmy5senses?

KatieKwok
C&T4133
3/8/16

Reflection
Since utilizing the workshop structure in both reading and writing, I
have noticed significant improvement in the structure of my lessons, my
ability to get closer to a succinct and digestible teaching point, and give the
kids more time to practice the teaching point, rather than learn how they
might use it. It is always a struggle for me to be concise, to use language
that brings my students to a very particular and useful skill, without going on
a wild, wordy tangent. While I do not think this lesson quite captures the
simplicity I have aimed for, I have done my best to model my lesson after
ones I have seen in class and in Lucy Calkins Writing Workshop curriculum
bends. What I find so inspiring about the lessons I have read and watched, is
the classroom teachers ability to combine anecdotal experiences,
shared/interactive writing/modeling of skills, and a crisp teaching point, that
sets-up students for success in their own writing.
My intention with the writing lesson I taught was to provide students
with a shared repertoire of poetry as well as introducing students to the
concept of writing descriptive poetry using sensory language. Many of my
students initially did not understand how this could be done; I conducted
some research the week prior to my lesson, to see what prior knowledge I
would have to work with at the launch of our poetry lesson. While many
students felt comfortable writing poetry, their vocabulary and usage of 5
senses in poetic verse felt confined and limited. What better way to learn
how to write sensory poetry, then to study from a published poet! Students
can learn to elaborate in their writing by studying a shared storytelling piece
(Calkins, 2015, pg. 28). By using Zoe Ryder Whites poems, I was able to
show students what I meant by 5 senses poetry, help harvest those poems
for juicy details, and essentially, set those students up with 1) a writing style
to model their own poetry from 2) examples of words they can use in their
own poetry 3) a critical lens to investigate poetry (their own and other
authors) for meaning and 4) strategies to discuss reading and writing;
Calkins addresses this marriage of literacy as, writing is the best possible
venue for teaching children the relationship between meaning, syntax, and
phonics because when a child writes the meaning is their own, (2015, pg.
32). While this was not my explicit teaching point, it was a conscious move I
made as a teacher, to nail home to students how poets use sensory
language.
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KatieKwok
C&T4133
3/8/16
In terms of the success of the lesson, I found the majority of the
students were quite successful at identifying sensory language in Whites
poetry. I was surprised when they began debating whether one word
belonged in a different category of senses; I myself had not thought as
deeply about the context of the words and perhaps how words have different
meaning depending on ones experiences. I think I take for granted what I
know as fact and was careless in considering that my knowledge is neither
the consensus nor right; it is merely a perspective that is used to facilitate a
wider discussion within the classroom. I have found when I disregard an
answer, since it does not match my perceived conception, whole group
discussion ends quickly afterstudents no longer feel relevant or safe to
participate. It was also interesting to see how the students justified their
categorizations, I saw the emergence of readerly and writerly talk
students speaking from experience as a both readers and writers. To me, this
showed transference of many lessons within our classroom, as well as an
understanding of sensory language when used in poetry. To see how students
use this lesson in the future, how they apply what they studied and learned
in their own writing, will be the next step.