Mystery Poems

1. Grade Level: 1st grade

2. Standard(s)
• CC.1.2.1.B: Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
• CC.1.2.1.J: Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading, and
being read to, and responding to texts, including words that signal connections
and relationships between the words and phrases.
• CC.1.3.1.F: Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings
or appeal to the senses.
• CC.1.4.1.B: Identify and write about one specific topic.
3. Essential Question:
• How can I use my 5 senses to write about something?
• How do descriptive words help the reader?
4. Objectives
• Students will create a poem using their 5 senses to try and describe a chosen
object.
• Students will listen to others’ poems and try to guess what they are trying to
describe.
5. Materials and Equipment
• Poetry example
• Poetry template to display
• Final poem sheet
• Grading rubrics
6. Procedures –
• Introduction
¨ Say to the students, “Today we are going to be writing a poem! You have
all been collecting poems throughout the school year, and now it is your
turn to write one. The best part about this activity, is that your poem is
going to be a mystery to the rest of us! You are going to have to write a
poem that helps us guess the object that you are trying to describe.”
• Anticipatory Set/Activating Learning Strategies
w “In order for all of us to guess the object that you are describing, you will
have to describe it well. One way that we describe things is by using our 5
senses. Who knows what our 5 senses are?”
w Have students respond. Students should help you come up with the list,
sight, touch, taste, sound, and smell. As the students say the different
senses, write them up on the board for the student to refer to later in the
lesson.
w “Great job! These senses help us explain an object to someone. We are
going to look at a poem together that is explaining an object using the 5
senses.”
¨ Sequence of Lesson
¨ Teacher model –
Ø Pull up the poetry example.

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 Ø Read the poem to the class.
Ø “After listening to our poem, what do we know about this object?”
Students should respond with details from the poem (there are waves, it
smells salty, there is salt water taffy, it is warm and breezy, and there are
dolphins.)
Ø “If we look at this poem, we see key words that tell us what sense they are
using. What could some of those words be?” Students should respond with
hear, smell, taste, feel, and see. As students point them out, underline
them.
Ø “So now that we have looked deeper at this poem, who wants to guess
what I could have been describing?” Let students guess. The correct
response should be “beach!”
¨ Guided practice –
Ø Pull up the poetry template on the Smartboard.
Ø Say, “Now that we read my example, we are going to work together to
create a 5 senses poem. We need to decide what we want to write about.
Does anyone have any ideas?”
Ø Let students give ideas. If no one volunteers, use summer.
Ø “Great! Now that we have our topic, we need to brain storm what we are
going to write. Lets think about how our topic tastes, smells, feels, looks,
and sounds like.”
Ø Brainstorm with the students and write down what they are saying on the
white board. When finished, say, “Great brainstorming! Now we need to
make our poem! Our first line in the poem is I hear ______________.
What can we put in the blank?” Let the students respond and then write
down what they say. Keep going with this until all 5 lines are filled.
Ø After you finish, choral read the poem together.
¨ Independent practice –
Ø Pass out the final poetry handout as well.
Ø “Now that we have looked at an example and have written one together, it
is your turn to start writing! I want you all to take a few seconds and think
about something you could write about. I want you to choose something
you can describe well and that you can feel, taste, smell, hear, and see.
Now I want you to start thinking about words you can use in your poem. I
am going to come around soon to check what you are writing about and let
you know if it is a good topic. I also gave you a piece of paper that I want
you to write your poem on. Make sure to follow the template from the one
we did together (point to the example on the board). You need to write
ALL 5 senses! When I say go, you may begin”
Ø Say go and let the students begin working. You should go around to the
students and ask them what their topic is so that you can check to see if it
will work for the assignment. If they are struggling to come up with a
topic, give them some examples.
Ø You should walk around and help the students as needed. If students are
stuck, help them brainstorm ideas and help them put it into words.
• Closure/Summarizing Strategy:

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 w When the students are done, (Give them 10 minutes) have a few of the
students volunteer to share their poems. Have the students stand up and
read the poem. The other students should pay attention and try to guess
what the person is talking about.
w Say, “You all did a great job with this! I loved hearing your descriptive
words! Remember that when we are trying to explain or describe
something, we need to use details to help the reader understand what we
are writing about.”
• Assessment/Evaluation
w Collect the poems and grade them using the rubric below.
w Check to make sure the students were followed the format, stayed on
topic, and used grade appropriate grammar in their poems. Also check for
neat handwriting!
7. Special Considerations
• Early Finishers
w If students finish early, they can draw their object in the box at the bottom
of the paper.
w The students can then glue on a flap so that when people finish reading
their poem, they can flip the flap to check their guess.
• Remediation
w If a student is struggling, you can have them complete a graphic organizer
while they brainstorm ideas. This additional step will help them organize
their thoughts and make it easier to complete the final poem.
• Enrichment
w Students who are doing well with this, can continue by working on
descriptive writing. This activity/genre is a great introduction for students
to start thinking about describing things and how we appeal to different
senses. Students can keep going with this concept by writing paragraphs
about an event or object using their five senses to describe it.
• Special Accommodations
w For students who struggle with writing and phrasing, I can provide them a
template with prompted lines. The prompts would include the following…
• I hear ______________
• I smell ____________
• I taste _____________
• I feel _____________
• I see ______________
w For students who struggle with staying on task, they can utilize a task card
that will allow them to move a clip through the writing process. As the
student completes each stage of writing, they will move their clip so that I
can check in and see where they are quickly.
References:

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/grades-1-2-poetry-lessons/

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 Mystery Senses
Poem

I hear waves crashing down

I smell salty water all around
I taste sweet salt water taffy
I feel a soft, warm breeze brush by
I see dolphins in the distance splashing
around
 Let’s Make one
Together!
Topic: ________

I hear ________________________

I smell ________________________

I taste ________________________

I feel _________________________

I see _________________________
Mysterious Senses
Poem

_____________________________

_____________________________

_____________________________

_____________________________

_____________________________
 Poetry Rubric:
Topic: student focused on
the same topic throughout
the poem (1 point per line)
____/5
Format: student kept the
same format as the sample
poem (1 point per line)
____/5
Grammar: Student applied
grade-level grammar rules
and spelled word wall words
correctly
____/4
Handwriting: student wrote
with neat and clear
handwriting
____/4
Total: ____/18
Poetry Rubric:
Topic: student focused on
the same topic throughout
the poem (1 point per line)
____/5
Format: student kept the
same format as the sample
poem (1 point per line)
____/5
Grammar: Student applied
grade-level grammar rules
and spelled word wall words
correctly
____/4
Handwriting: student wrote
with neat and clear
handwriting
____/4
Total: ____/18