A
WebQuest for 3rd Grade (Writing & Language Arts)
Designed
by Anna Modrow
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?
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.
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!
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.
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.
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