Working with Poetry

5th grade

Poem:

Lawson Inada: A Nice Place

Outside the rest home,

resting in his
wheelchair in the shade,

my father said:
"This is a nice place."

And I couldn't tell

if he meant

the rest home

in general,
the shady space
with the birds
chirping, fountain
flowing, spring
breezes blowing,

or the world.

Vocabulary Words Chart:

Word Origin Definition

Resting From Middle English To rest; not active
Shade From Old English A shadow or area of
darkness

Chirping From Late Middle English (Of a small bird or insect)

make a short, sharp, high-
pitched sound.

Fountain From Late Latin A thing that spurts into

the air.

Flowing From Old English Hanging loosely and

gracefully.

Breezes From Old Spanish A gentle wind

Blowing From Old English (of wind) moving creating
air current.

Activity: Read and Discuss

The class will read the poem together twice in the classroom. After they read the
poem, the teacher will show them the chart shown above with the vocabulary words
and discuss the words and definitions with the students. They will do this for 10
minutes.

Once this is done, the students will play a game where they have to match the
vocabulary word with their definitions. In this game, the vocabulary words will be
written on the board and the teacher will read the definitions to the students. When
the teacher is done reading the definition, students have to match the vocabulary
word to its meaning by raising their hand and saying which word they believe
matches the definition.

For example:

The vocabulary words will be written on the board.

The teacher will read the definition:

Teacher: This is something you do when you are not active or doing anything.

The student will raise their hand and say any vocabulary word they think matches
the definition.

After the students finish the game, the teacher will divide the students into two
groups. In these two groups, students will discuss how they think the vocabulary
words they discussed previously helped them understand the poem more. They will
talk about this for 10-15 minutes and then both groups will share their thoughts with
the class. By discussing their ideas together, students will hear different points of
view and eventually the class will reach a common idea of what the poem is about
and what it means.