ALEX Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2015] (7) 5 :

5 ) Analyze how a drama's or poem's form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning. [RL.7.5]

[ELA2015] (7) 11 :

11 ) Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. [RI.7.2]

[ELA2015] (7) 7 :

7 ) Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium (e.g., lighting, sound, color, or camera focus and angles in a film). [RL.7.7]

This lesson is an internet-based inquiry into the Virginia Tech Massacre and Nikki Giovanni’s poetic response. This lesson ties informative reading and inquiry with the craft of poetry and the role of poetry as catharsis. Students will also understand firsthand the  difference in reading a poem and the experiencing it as a public performance.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2015] (6) 8 :

8 ) Differentiate among odes, ballads, epic poetry, and science fiction. (Alabama)

[ELA2015] (7) 5 :

5 ) Analyze how a drama's or poem's form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning. [RL.7.5]

[ELA2015] (8) 8 :

8 ) Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new. [RL.8.9]

[ELA2015] (8) 9 :

9 ) By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of Grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently. [RL.8.10]

This interactive activity challenges students to write haikus, free verse, limericks, and more.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2015] (6) 1 :

1 ) Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. [RL.6.1]

[ELA2015] (6) 22 :

22 ) Write informative or explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. [W.6.2]

a. Introduce a topic; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison or contrast, and cause and effect; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. [W.6.2a]

b. Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples. [W.6.2b]

c. Use appropriate transitions to clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts. [W.6.2c]

d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. [W.6.2d]

e. Establish and maintain a formal style. [W.6.2e]

f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from the information or explanation presented. [W.6.2f]

[ELA2015] (6) 23 :

23 ) Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences. [W.6.3]

a. Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and introducing a narrator, characters, or both; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically. [W.6.3a]

b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters. [W.6.3b]

c. Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another. [W.6.3c]

d. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to convey experiences and events. [W.6.3d]

e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events. [W.6.3e]

[ELA2015] (6) 42 :

42 ) Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. [L.6.6]

[ELA2015] (7) 2 :

2 ) Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. [RL.7.2]

[ELA2015] (7) 5 :

5 ) Analyze how a drama's or poem's form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning. [RL.7.5]

[ELA2015] (8) 4 :

4 ) Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts. [RL.8.4]

[ELA2015] (8) 39 :

39 ) Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or phrases based on Grade 8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. [L.8.4]

a. Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word's position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase. [L.8.4a]

b. Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., precede, recede, secede). [L.8.4b]

c. Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning or its part of speech. [L.8.4c]

d. Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary). [L.8.4d]

This classroom resource is an engaging lesson plan from ReadWriteThink that allows students to explore how writers use sensory imagery as a literary device to make the text more meaningful for the reader.  The lesson begins with the students using all of their senses to describe known objects such as pasta, chocolate, or grapes. Students first feel and listen to the object, in a bag, before taking it out of the bag to look at, smell, and taste it. They then use at least three senses to write a poem about the object they've described.  Next, they evaluate how this literary device functions in Pat Mora's poem “Echoes.” As students read this poem, they look for sensory images and write an explanation of how these images contribute to the meaning of Mora's poem. Finally, students think about how sensory images work in their own poems and then make appropriate revisions to their work.  The resource includes links to student interactives and printable handouts.