Lesson 5: Analyzing Romantic Poetry

School and Classroom Context

Course Name/Grade Level
Length of Lesson
Planned Date of Lesson
Description of setting,
students, curriculum, and
any other important
contextual characteristics
English 12
85 minutes
Monday, Nov. 5
My classroom exists within a Culpeper high school with a student
population of 1,188. 63.8% identify themselves as White, 18.3%
Hispanic, 12% Black, 3.8% two or more races, 1.9% Asian, and
0.3% American Indian. 35.6% of the student body is eligible for
free and reduced lunch. Approximately 5.8% of students have
limited English proficiency and 9.5% have exceptionalities. I
teach Honors English 12 with 29 students. I have 11 girls and 18
boys whose racial demographics are roughly equal to the
distribution of the whole school. None of my students have IEPs,
and none of my students are English Language Learners.

12th-grade English is a traditional British Literature course. We

are in the middle of our third unit on the English Restoration, the
18th-century, and Romanticism. Today’s lesson will prepare
students for their next summative assessment--a slides
presentation on a Romantic poet of their choice.

Objectives (UKD format)

SWBAT:
Know:
K1 Students will know how to apply the “Outside In” method of poetry analysis to a Romantic-
era poem.

Do:
D1 Students will be able to methodically analyze a Romantic era poem, focusing on tone and
theme.

SOLs:
12.4 The student will read, comprehend, and analyze the development of British literature and
literature of other cultures.
b) Analyze how authors use key literary elements to contribute to meaning and interpret
how themes are connected across texts.
d) Interpret the social and cultural function of British literature.
h) Use critical thinking to generate and respond logically to literal, inferential, and
evaluative questions about the text(s).

Methods of Assessment
 Diagnostic
Title of assessment tool:
“Outside In” Analysis of
“Holy Sonnet 10” by John
Donne
Criteria:
● Student methodically
analyzes the poem
using the “Outside
In” method
Formative
Title of assessment tool:
“Outside In” Analysis of
“Ozymandias” by Percy
Shelley
Criteria:
● Student methodically
analyzes the poem
using the “Outside In”
method
Summative –10/18
Title of assessment tool:
Romantic Poet Slides
Presentation
Students will ultimately be
assessed later on their ability to
analyze Romantic-era poetry
by examining one Romantic
poet’s work in a slides
presentation.

How data will be used: How data will be used: Criteria:

● Students’ ● I will determine ● Student methodically
performance on this whether more or less analyzes the poem
assessment will scaffolding is needed using the “Outside In”
inform how I based on students’ method
approach the performance ● Student examples
following lesson ● I will develop a better biographical and
● I will know to check understanding of what historical context of the
in with individual kinds of responses to poet/poetry
students who expect based on
struggled a lot with student work How data will be used:
the diagnostic and ● Data will be used to
will address pervasive How students will receive assess students’
struggles in a whole- feedback: progress toward our
class setting ● Generalized verbal Unit 3 essential
feedback directed to questions and learning
How students will receive whole-class objectives
feedback: ● Written feedback on ● Scores will help
● Students will receive handouts students gain a better
whole-group verbal understanding of their
feedback on how own progress in English
verbal collaboration class
went ● I will gain a better
understanding of how
successful my methods
have been in guiding
students toward
meeting the learning
objectives

How students will receive

feedback:
● Individualized written
feedback on rubrics
● Generalized verbal
feedback directed to
whole-class
Procedures/Instructional Strategies
Each step should have bolded heading that identifies the activity, and then is followed by the
teacher scripting, student and teacher actions, and a description of the activity.
[Note: Any words that represent what I would say directly to students appear in italics.]

Beginning Room Arrangement:

[Changes in this arrangement that become necessary later will be noted in the plan]

We will be in the library since there is SOL testing in our room.

1. [5 mins] Welcome/greeting/announcements

Slide will be up giving students initial instructions.

Hello, all! Please read the slide and make sure you have your notebook. You may sit wherever
you like for now. Once you’re settled, please get started on your warm-up.

2. [10 mins] Warm-Up (Freewrite) and Share

Warm-up prompt: Can the ideas of people in power can last forever? Are there some that
disappear more easily than others? Explain.

Go ahead and finish up. Talk with the people around you for two minutes about what you wrote.
Make sure you get an idea out in case I call on you!

[I will walk around the room as students talk and listen to their conversations, checking in and
letting students know that I might call on them specifically]

Okay, [so and so] what did your group talk about? … What about [so and so’s] group? What did
you all talk about?

3. [5 mins] Review of the “Outside In” Method

Today we’re going to be looking at a Romantic poem by Percy Shelley using the Outside In
method. Since it’s been a couple weeks since we’ve read poetry using the “Outside In” method,
let’s review how to apply this method for a few minutes.

[I will write “1-4” on the board and will ask students if they can recall each step of the process,
asking guiding questions and giving hints along the way if needed.]

Going through each step and re-reading the poem several times is a great way to go into depth
with your understanding of the poetry and pace yourself as you analyze. What questions do you
all have about this method?

4. [30 mins] “Outside In” Analysis of “Ozymandias”

[I’ll use the document camera and annotate the text with students as we apply the Outside In
method together]

We’re going to analyze this poem together. Before we begin, you need to have four different
colors in front of you--you can share with a partner. Instead of doing each reading on a separate
page like we did last time, this time we’re going to do all of our readings on the same page but
using different colors to annotate with each reading.
First we need to complete our “outside” look. Who can remind me what things we should
observe in this first look at the poem? [title, author, prompts, form, shape, length, etc]

Great--work with the people around and see how many different things you can note about the
“outside” of the poem--things that stand out without reading the text. Hint: you might consider
your warm-up as a “helpful prompt” in addressing this poem.

[I’ll walk around and monitor students’ progress and plan to call on groups who noticed
important details. After calling on them, I’ll mark on my own text using the document camera so
everyone’s on the same page.]

Okay, let’s move into our first reading of the poem. What do we call this reading again? [Surface
reading] Great, and what do we look for in a surface reading? [speakers, “plot”]. Good, so this
first reading is just for comprehending what’s literally happening in the text--avoiding any
analysis for this first reading.

[I’ll read the text]

Work with the people around you to try to decode what’s literally happening here. [We’ll go
over this as a whole class but they’ll work through it on their own first]

[We’ll read the text two more times and go through the same process where the interacting
with/annotating of the poem will be done in pairs or small groups with whole-group clarification
at the end]

5. [15 mins] Introduction to Romantic Poet Project

[Have students come pick up project packets]

We’re going to transition into talking about the next project you’re working on. The reason we
worked with a Romantic poem to start today’s class is because you’re going to be completing a
presentation examining a Romantic poet over the next week. You’ll choose a Romantic poet to
study, research their biographical and historical background, and analyze one of their poems
using the “Outside In” method like we practiced today. Each day this week, you’ll have a
different component of this project due so that you can pace yourself accordingly. Today, you
need to decide whether you want to work individually, with a partner, or in a group of three and
choose the poet you’d like to research. When you get that far, you need to begin conducting
research of the biography of your poet.

[Before they begin working, I’ll go through each page of their packet with them]

6. [35 mins] Independent Work on Research

[Students will work independently or in their pairs/groups on their initial research. I’ll monitor
their progress throughout this time]

Differentiated Instruction to accommodate one or more of my profiled students:

(This is where you identify specific aspects of this lesson which have been differentiated in order
to address the needs of one or more of your profiled students—identify them by name)
I’ve scaffolded several parts of this lesson to meet the needs of all of the diverse students in my
class. For example, warm-up creates space for higher-performing students, like HK and KB to
expand upon their thoughts independently and in-depth.

I’ve also scaffolded the poetry analysis for students who struggle significantly, like RB and DB,
with this kind of work.

Materials Needed (list):

- Projector - different-colored pens for annotation
- Computer - Chromebooks/computers
- Document camera

Materials Appendix: (e.g., supplementary texts, Ppts, overheads, graphic organizers,

handouts, etc.)
Appendix A: Google Slideshow
Appendix B: “Ozymandias”
Appendix C: Romantics Era Poetry Project