Poetry Is Fun?

A WebQuest for 3rd Grade (Writing & Language Arts)

Designed by Anna Modrow

amodrow@dentonisd.org

 

 

Introduction

What is a poem? Is it anything that rhymes? Does it have to rhyme to be poetry? Can you just stick words together and make a poem? Are there rules? What about rhyming stories, like those written by Dr. Seuss; is that poetry? Why or why not?

Task

We are going to explore some types of poetry and come up with our own definition. Then we can compare it to definitions that are published. We will also create poems of our own. They can be like those we have studied, or something new.

Process

Step One: Go to this link: Love That Dog Excerpt and read the first chapter of "Love That Dog." get with a partner and discuss why you think what Jack wrote is or is not poetry.

 

Step Two: Go to the link in Seussville that has the Catalog. On the Catalog page, click on the Quote Maker van and read the parts of Dr. Seuss' books. Click on it several times. Talk with another partner and decide whether or not you think his books are poetry.

 

Step Three: Dracula At this website, you can read a poem written by author/illustrator, Adam Rex. Read this and share your thoughts with a friend. This poem comes from a book titled: "Frankenstein makes a sandwich: and other stories you're sure to like, because they're all about monsters, and some of them are also about food. You like food, don't you? Well, all right then."

 

Step Four: On Shel Silverstein, click the link for Shel's Books. From there click on Falling Up and watch and listen to the animation of the poem: The Toy Eater. Share you thoughts with a classmate.

 

Step Five: Giggle Poetry is a website that offers "hundreds of poems to read and rate." After going to this site, site on a link for a poem and decide if it is worth sharing with a friend. Are there poems your parents would think are funny? Would your teachers? Or are they only funny for kids?

 

Step Six: Acrostic Poems From this site, explore the link on the left side in the resources box that says Acrostic Poems for Children. Next click on the ABC Word List. It can help you with making your own acrostic poem. Clicking on Acrostic Poem Interactive is a fun way to make up your own poems. Make one and print it out. You can use your name or some other word you like.

 

Step Seven: Diamante gives a good explanation of how to make a diamond shaped poem. Diamante Interactive is an interactive way to make your diamante poem.

 

Step Eight: Try a Haiku poem. This website lets you play with words. You can also have the website create a poem for you. You are welcome to copy the one you see when you click "make one for me," or you can change the words around. Have fun!

 

Evaluation

Poetry Is Fun Evaluation sheet - Answer the questions below and follow the directions.

 

1) Jack, a character in the book, "Love That Dog," wrote responses to the poetry his teacher read to the class. I think he did/did not write poetry because...

 

2) I think Dr. Seuss' books are/are not poetry because...

 

3) After reading Adam Rex's poem about Dracula, I would/would not like to read the rest of his book because ...

 

4) After reading a poem by Shel Silverstein, I told a classmate ...

 

5) About the Giggle Poetry website: Are there poems your parents would think are funny? Would your teachers like them?

Or are they only funny for kids?

 

6) Attach your acrostic poem or poems to the back of this sheet.

 

7) Attach your diamante poem.

 

8) Attach your original Haiku poem, or the one the website made for you.

 

Conclusion

After following the steps in this WebQuest, you have learned many things about poetry. It comes in different forms and types. Some come from different cultures. Poetry can be funny, silly, scary, sad, emotional, and a great way to express yourself. It can be fun to play wit words and make nonsense poems.

There are many more types of poems and poetry. Try NetTrekker and Google and other search engines to find more. Ask your local librarian about poetry and browse through the 811s section of your library and see what is available there.

If you enjoyed silly, funny poems, try authors like Roald Dahl, James Marshall, Alan Katz, Jack Prelutsky, and Bruce Lansky. A poem by Walter Dean Myers was the inspiration for the book, "Love That Dog." What can poems inspire you to write? Try reading Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Carl Sandburg, William Shakespeare, and Emily Dickinson. Find out how just the right word can say more than a whole sentence.

Credits

Adam Rex

 

ed.Helper.com: Diamante

 

Giggle Poetry

 

Google

 

Lists of Poets - Famous Poets and Poems: http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets.html

 

NetTrekker

 

PBS Parents - Creativity - Ideas & Exploration - Haiku / PBS

 

ReadWriteThink: Lesson Plan: Acrostic Poems: All about me and my favorite things

 

Sharon Creech: Love That Dog

 

Seussville

 

Shel Silverstein

 

Poem examples, by Anna Modrow

Acrostic:

WEATHER

Wet and windy

Each day in spring

As temperatures rise

Thunder is sometimes

Heard

Even as lightning strikes it

Rumbles over the hills.

 

MODROW

Modrow, the maniac librarian, an

Oddball, off the wall

Dramatic, enthusiastic

Reader, will

Often spin you tales,

Wordy though they may be.

 

Diamante:

Winter

frigid, icy,

skating, slipping, sledding,

only during this season can you go -

swimming, sunning, picnicking,

sweltering, sweaty,

Summer

 

Haiku:

We wake with the sun

My dog and I walk as one

Neighborhood sleeps on