Lesson Plan (Secondary)

Lesson
Curating Cascade Poems Date: Monday 2nd of September Year level: VCAL Senior Literacy
title:

Lesson Duration of
Topic: Poetry Collections 2nd last 110 minutes
Sequence: lesson:

General capabilities or
Content descriptions & AC
Discipline Learning areas (AC) Strands & sub-strands (AC) cross-curriculum priorities
Curriculum codes
where relevant (AC)
links:
Senior Reading and Writing Learning Outcome 1 Writing for Self-expression
Literacy Skills
Senior Oral Communication Learning Outcome 1 Oracy for Self-expression

Lesson rationale:

In this lesson, student will be working toward editing and producing a collection of expressive texts while exploring the conventions and literary devices typical to a specific poem
type.

Students background knowledge: Learning objectives:

Students have already curated five collections of poetry in this unit. This lesson is focused
Students should be able to use language and tone appropriate to the text’s purpose, as
on introducing cascade poetry, and how to write one. This builds on their knowledge of
well as employ literary devices of a cascade poem to convey emotions.
rhyming schemes, rhythm and poetry conventions.
Teacher focus: Learning environment:
Students will be in their usual classroom. The room is large and open, which allows the
During this lesson, I will be focusing on encouraging student motivation and building
students to work independently and comfortably. The learning environment will be left as
relationships with the students.
is, to ensure students feel safe in a familiar setting.
Resources: Assessment strategies:

• Task worksheet: Writing your own cascade poem By the end of this lesson, students should be able to know how write cascade poems.
• Task worksheet: Curating the new collection They should have also submitted their poems to the class collection. In this process,
• List of student names students should also be able to collate and assemble their classmate’s work into a
• Google doc: Cascade poem curation cohesive book.

Swinburne University of Technology

 Approx.
Stage of lesson Pre-service teacher’s actions Student actions/tasks
time

Before class begins, I shall try and greet the kids in the morning to
establish their mood and motivation. This will also build
relationships with the students.
Joel shall introduce the class and the content we will be covering in Students should be listening and engaging in the interactions that
the lesson. are being read to the class.
8:45am I shall hand out worksheets that describe what cascade poems After this, they should start writing their poetry. Students will need
Stage 1: Introduction
are, and reading it with the class. laptops and worksheets to guide them towards completion of the
I will work on maintaining student engagement and comprehension project.
during the explanation of the tasks.
Late-comers should refer to the worksheet that I will place near the
entrance of the class

During this independent student working period, I shall be assisting

students with the writing of their poems. I will need to prepare
prompting questions that incite themes and topics that are
accessible to them, in order for them to write a poem. I shall also
9:00am Students shall spend the majority of this lesson working on their
Stage 2: Body of lesson use this time to assess their motivation and excitement for my
upcoming unit. cascade poems.
To cater for individual differences, I shall move to each student If the students have finished their cascade poems, they should then
independently in the class. copy it onto the google doc for the student curators to edit and
finalise.
To draw the lesson to a close, I shall be reconvening with the When students have completed this, they are free to work on their
student curating team to assess the progress of the collection. ALL individual poetry collection or continue their poet posters.
STUDENTS MUST HAVE A FINISHED PIECE BY 10:00.
10:00am
Stage 3: Conclusion I will assess student learning through the completion of the class
cascade poetry collection. THIS COLLECTION WILL BE PRINTED
BY THE END OF CLASS

Evaluation:

My initial plan to greet the students in the morning did not eventuate as some students had arrived early. I then decided to go into the classroom and talk to the students as a whole
about their weekend, and their motivation for the class. Joel did not introduce the class as we both decided that I could lead the class form the beginning
Although all students completed the task, it was to varying degrees of successfulness. Some students struggled to understand the structure of the poem and wrote a poem to their
own liking. The worksheet was not used by all students, but considerably helped those who did. There were no major modifications in this lesson as things went accordingly to plan.
An aspect of the lesson that could be better improved would be the introduction and instruction for the students. The opening of the lesson was well received, but needs
reevaluation to be efficient for both myself and the students.

Follow up:

Next time, I would like to offer different examples of cascade poems that could extend their understanding. I would also like to demonstrate an example on the white board.

Mentor teacher feedback: Pre-service teacher reflection on mentor feedback:

Refer to mentor note: Observation of Jacky’s First Class: 2nd September, 2019 Emphasise on the lesson objective and tasks more clearly.
Swinburne University of Technology
Observation of Jacky’s First Lesson: 2nd September, 2019

THE START: 8:45AM (9 students present)

Handed out sheets at the start

Asked students what a Cascade poem is – Georgia responded.
Explained what a Cascade Poem was – tried to get Shaemus to read.

How could the start be set up more effectively?

- More on the board?
- More examples?
- Anything else?

Walked around to each student individually to check in with students whether they were
clear or not on the task.

9:00AM – 10:00AM: Students working on Poems

Jacky walking around to each student and checking on their progress.

Bending down to their level.
Having rich conversations with each student (2-3mins)
Students are working productively to complete poems.

10:00AM: Ready to print?

 Lesson Plan (Secondary)
Lesson
Curating Individual Poem Collections Date: Thursday 9th of September Year level: VCAL Senior Literacy
title:

Lesson Duration of
Topic: Poetry Collections Last Lesson in Unit 110 minutes
Sequence: lesson:

General capabilities or
Content descriptions & AC
Discipline Learning areas (AC) Strands & sub-strands (AC) cross-curriculum priorities
Curriculum codes
where relevant (AC)
links:
Senior Reading and Writing Learning Outcome 1 Writing for Self-expression
Literacy Skills
Senior Oral Communication Learning Outcome 1 Oracy for Self-expression

Lesson rationale:

In this lesson, student will be working toward editing and producing a collection of expressive texts.

Students background knowledge: Learning objectives:

Students have already curated five collections of poetry in this unit. This lesson is focused
on assembling a collection that showcases their writing over the entirety of the unit. This
builds on their knowledge of rhyming schemes, rhythm and poetry conventions.
Teacher focus:
During this lesson, I will be focusing on encouraging student motivation and intellectual
engagement with the students.
Resources: What resources will you need to have prepared?
• Task worksheet: Curating your own collection
• Coursework Completion: Progress/Marking Sheet
• Poetry Ideas/Inspiration
Students should be able to use language and tone appropriate to various poem
conventions, as well as employ literary devices to convey emotions and themes
Learning environment:
Students will be in their usual classroom. The room is large and open, which allows the
students to work independently and comfortably. The learning environment will be left as
is, to ensure students feel safe in a familiar setting.
Assessment strategies:
By the end of this lesson, students should be able to demonstrate their learning of
different types of poetry in their new collection. In this process, students should also be
able to collate and assemble their work into a cohesive and printed book.

Swinburne University of Technology

 Stage of Approx.
Pre-service teacher’s actions Student actions/tasks
lesson time

Instruct students that they are finishing their individual poem collection in
this class. This will be printed for the students by the end of the class.
Students should be listening and engaging in the interactions that are being
I will begin the class by writing up a time schedule for the lesson on the
read to the class.
Stage 1: 8:45am board to set up an expectation for the class. Late-comers should refer to
After this, they should start writing their poetry. Students will need laptops
Introduction the worksheet that I will place near the entrance of the class.
and worksheets to guide them towards completion of the project.
I will also inform the students that I will be going around to check their
progress through the coursework.

During the independent student working period, I shall be assisting students

with the writing of their poems. I will need to prepare prompting questions
that incite themes and topics that are accessible to them, in order for them
Stage 2:
9:15am to write a poem. I shall also use this time to assess their motivation and
Body of Students shall spend the majority of this lesson working on their individual
excitement for my upcoming unit.
lesson poetry collection.
To cater for individual differences, I shall move to each student
independently in the class. If the students have finished their collection, they should then present it to
myself or Joel for a final okay.
Particular students will finish early, so I will allow them to have “free-time” if When students have completed this, they are free to work on any
they have completed all their required coursework. I will check on this as I incomplete coursework.
move through the classroom.
Stage 3: 10:00am
Hopefully, students will have completed their poem collection for printing at
Conclusion
the set time. If not, I shall print the booklets and give it to the students at
their next class.

Evaluation:

This lesson went according to plan. There were no hitches in the lesson flow; all students finished on time. In the next lesson, I would like to work on the students and their
motivation.

Follow up:

Next time, I will call students up to the front of the classroom to present their work to me. Going to the students individually was great for giving them help, but did not make for
efficient time use.

Mentor teacher feedback: Pre-service teacher reflection:

See attached: Observation of Jacky’s Second Class: 5th September, 2019 Could I hand out the sheets in a more efficient way?

Swinburne University of Technology

Observation of Jacky’s Second Lesson: 5th September, 2019
VCAL Senior Literacy: Time Capsule

Writing on the board to explain what the goal for today is.
Handed out sheets to students.
Used students’ names when addressing them.

Spoke to Kris who arrived late.

Explanation was clear – students were very energetic (the nice weather?)
Walked around to each individual student.

Good conversations with each student.