• create a poem (and a portrait, with the art teacher) that describes the face and life of someone for whom he/she cares.
  

   

Per class

• Sample 1  (View)
• Sample 2  (View)
• Sample 3  (View)

• Transparencies:  Sample 1
  And “My Grandfather” portrait poem / Student work on transparencies, if possible; if not, put samples 2 and 3 and portrait poems “Travis” and “My Cousin Charity” on transparencies

• Chalkboard or whiteboard and chalk or markers

• Sample Portrait Poems  (View)

Per Student

• Figurative Language Worksheet  (View)
• Portrait Poem Rubric  (View)

• Photograph used for creating portrait, provided by each student
  

• Digital photos of portraits or the portraits themselves

• Pencils

• Paper

Not Specified

• Indicators  (View)

• portrait - A drawing, painting, or photograph of a person, especially the person's face
• figurative language - A word or phrase that compares one thing to another and is not literally true
• simile - A poetic device that compares two things as being similar to one another
• metaphor - A poetic device that compares two things, and one becomes the other
• personification - A poetic device that gives human qualities and abilities to nonliving things

Set-up Directions:

The photograph or a color copy of the photograph that was used to create the portrait should be used each day. The teacher needs to bring to class one copy of the children’s book, Grandpa’s Face by Floyd Cooper, eighteen Sample Portrait Poems, and a Portrait Poem Rubric for each student. The teacher needs to have already created a set of lists on paper that serve as the graphic organizer for the teacher’s poem, which will be reproduced during class on the chalkboard or whiteboard.

Teacher Presentation & Motivation:

Select an illustration of a face in Grandpa’s Face by Floyd Cooper. Students and teacher will orally complete the set of lists created by the teacher, to which he/she is referring, by discussing the appearance, traits, life experiences, relationship of the character to another in the story, and character’s legacy.

Activity 1 - Reading Grandpa's Face

As you read aloud, ask students to think about a comparison of the face in the photograph they hold in their hands and the face in the illustrations of Grandpa’s Face. Do before, during, and after strategies as you read aloud the book, showing the illustrations. These strategies will include making a connection to the text from prior knowledge and experiences before reading, skimming the text to search for connections between and among ideas in the text during reading, and paraphrasing the main idea of the text after reading. Following the reading of the book have students think, pair, and share their thoughts on the comparisons of the photographs the students have and Grandpa’s illustrations in the book. For this exercise have all students think by themselves for one minute, then pair up with a neighbor to share their thoughts for one minute each, and then share their thoughts with the whole class for several minutes. Distribute Portrait Poem Rubric and discuss project with whole class.

Activity 2 - Picking Apart a Portrait Poem

Students will read samples of portrait poems then mark, code, and describe the meaning, structure, and sound of the portrait poem they selected. Individually or in pairs, according to students’ interpersonal or intrapersonal intelligences, students will circle the figurative language (similes, metaphors, and personifications) in each poem and box the literary devices (alliteration, assonance, end rhymes, internal rhymes, onomatopoeia, repetitions) that create sound and rhythm, and label the structure of the poem (free verse or limerick), and then write a brief analysis of the meaning of the poem. Ask students to select one line with a simile, metaphor, or personification in it that they think is inspiring and explain why it is.

Wrap Up:

Students will read the poems aloud and share their thoughts. Then orally, briefly describe a portrait poem, according to their observations and analyses.

Set-up Directions:

Students provide the photograph or a color copy of the photograph that was used to create the portrait. The teacher needs to bring to class eighteen Sample Portrait Poems and the Portrait Poem Rubric for each student. The teacher needs to have already created a set of lists, which will be reproduced during class on the chalkboard or whiteboard. Students will use their own notebook paper for their self-designed set of lists.

Teacher Presentation & Motivation:

Based on yesterday’s reading of Grandpa’s Face, have students discuss how they adjusted predictions previously made (now that they know the story).

Activity 1 - Modeling for the Portrait

Following a brief review of the Portrait Poem Rubric, the teacher will model and think-aloud as he/she brainstorms then records lists of descriptions of the person’s appearance, qualities and traits, life experiences, relationship to self, shared experiences with self, and legacy of a person in his/her life.

Activity 2 - Poetic Transformation
Students will then brainstorm information about the person to be featured in their own portrait poems and place the information on their self-designed webs. The teacher will then model work on the Figurative Language Worksheet, and the students will finish the worksheet for homework.

Students will make lists on their own paper under the following headings: appearance, qualities and traits, life experiences, relationship to student, shared experiences with student, and legacy. Then the student will brainstorm and list as many descriptions of the person as possible. The teacher will distribute the Figurative Language Worksheet, then introduce, and model the process of converting a sentence into a line of poetry, which is outlined on the Figurative Language Worksheet. Examples of student work are included with this lesson plan.

 

Wrap Up:

Students will share their lists and one conversion of a sentence from the set of lists to a simile, metaphor or personification. The teacher will lead a discussion that answers the daily challenge question.

Set-up Directions:

Students need to have the photograph with which they are working. The teacher needs to have handy the eighteen Sample Portrait Poems and the portraits labeled “My Grandfather,” “Travis,” and “My Cousin Charity”. Each student should also have his/her Portrait Poem Rubric. The teacher needs transparencies of student work that was turned in before classes that day so the teacher could have an opportunity to make transparencies of student work. The teacher will also have transparencies of Samples 1, 2, and 3 and the poems, “My Grandfather,” “Travis,” and “My Cousin Charity.”

Teacher Presentation & Motivation:

Present the three portraits and have the students write one sentence that describes the face/person in each portrait. Then present the three poems that share the names of the portraits. Ask students to think, pair, and share the difference between the sentences they just wrote and the poems written about the same people.

Activity 1 - Prose to Poetry

Following a brief review of the Portrait Poem Rubric, the teacher will show transparencies of Samples 1, 2, and 3, as needed, then using the transparencies of student work the teacher will model and think-aloud how to improve the student work of converting prose to similes, metaphors, and personifications. The transparencies of student work will be revised and edited by the teacher or the poet whose work is being edited, at the overhead, with suggestions from students. Thesauruses can be very useful in this step of the process.

Activity 2 - Lines of Poetry to Poem

The students will compare the transparencies of Samples 1, 2, and 3 and the portrait poems “My Grandfather,” “Travis,” and “My Cousin Charity.” This step of the process for creating a portrait poem is about developing the meaning of the poem. Now they take their ideas from the Figurative Language Worksheet and new ideas to tell something real about the person they have chosen to honor with a portrait and portrait poem. The poem can’t be just a string or list of similes, metaphors, and personifications. Though they most certainly have meaning, they are also important for their imagery and sounds. The poem has to mean something to the poet. Help students see that the possibilities of showing their styles, through the ways they express themselves in their writing, are endless. The teacher may or may not continue to model the writing of his/her own poem. If students are feeling stymied at this point, I would go ahead and model this step to show “the water’s fine, jump in.” By thinking aloud you are also showing them no one writes a final copy with the first draft. They will play with their poems until they feel they have their best work.

To express meaning with their poems, they can organize the poem by way of the person’s face itself, from the top to the bottom of the face, beginning with memories and ending with a quotation. It can start with the person’s childhood in his/her eyes and end with the person’s wrinkles on the skin, which they earn from having lived a long, full life. The poem can’t just describe facial features without focusing on the landscape within the person being described (the person’s story, qualities, and/or traits). All of these approaches and more, providing the person is described vividly with purposeful figurative language, will yield wonderful poems. Ask students to prepare to read to the whole class by reading their poems aloud to a partner.

Wrap Up:
Students share the progress on their first drafts with the whole class (as many as time allows) Class discusses the process of being able to get to this stage in the creative process. The teacher will lead a discussion that answers the daily challenge question. The first draft needs to be finished for tomorrow’s class.

 

Set-up Directions:

Students need the photographs with which they have been working, Portrait Poem Rubric, Sample Portrait Poems, and feedback from their “praise, question, and polish” session to evaluate their poems and work on their final copies during lesson four. The teacher needs new transparencies of students’ first drafts that were turned in before classes that day so the teacher could have an opportunity to make transparencies of student work. The teacher will also have the Sample Portrait Poems available for students to consult. The teacher will need a system for conferring briefly with as many students as possible during this lesson. The teacher will also need time to record “praise, question, and polish” entries on students’ Portrait Poem Rubrics before lesson five.

Teacher Presentation & Motivation:

Return to sentences written during this time on Day 3. In small groups designated by the teacher, turn one sentence into a line of poetry that has meaning, sound, and figurative language. Share lines of poetry with whole class.

Activity 1 - Praise, Question, and Polish for the Portrait Poems

Following a brief review of the Portrait Poem Rubric, the teacher will model editing transparencies of a few students’ first drafts. The teacher will model and think-aloud how to improve the first drafts of these students. At the same time, she will be modeling the “praise, question, and polish” process for providing immediate feedback to students and recording the entries on the students’ Portrait Poem Rubrics as she thinks aloud and completes the brief process for the few. Then the teacher will set up a system for meeting briefly with students as they also complete a brief peer editing session using the “praise, question, and polish” process.

Activity 2 - Polishing and Producing Your Portrait Poem

As students complete their peer editing and teacher editing sessions, they will begin their final copies. Final copies will be due at the end of the fifth lesson, which follows. You may want to provide soft music for this phase of the creative process. It can be a huge distraction if they don’t like your selection of music, though.

Wrap Up:

Students share the progress on their final copies briefly, quietly with a partner, so as many people as possible can still meet with the teacher. The teacher leads a discussion that answers the daily challenge question. Finish class by reading aloud the work in progress of someone demonstrating concentration and purpose during this lesson. Final copies are due at the beginning of lesson five from students who completed peer and teacher editing sessions.

Set-up Directions:

Students use the portraits, Portrait Poem Rubric, Sample Portrait Poems, and feedback from their “praise, question, and polish” session to finish the evaluation of the first draft, produce the final copy of their poems, and finally present their final copies during lesson five. The teacher needs to return students’ completed Portrait Poem Rubrics and first drafts at the beginning of the class. The teacher will also have the Sample Portrait Poems available for students to consult. The teacher will need a system for having students present their final copies while other students are writing their poem. Portraits may be handy online if digital photos were taken of them when they were made with the art teacher. If there is room to hang them somewhere in your classroom or in the school, they make a stunning display.

Teacher Presentation & Motivation:

The teacher will read his/her own poem or a student’s poem in two ways: effectively and ineffectively to prepare for Activity 1. To read the poem effectively, the teacher will use expression, appropriate speed, volume and tone of voice, and dramatic pauses where appropriate. To read the poem ineffectively, the teacher will race through the poem in a monotone, never having eye contact with the other students or using expression.

Activity 1 - Polishing/Publishing Portrait Poems

Following a brief review of the Portrait Poem Rubric, the teacher will model presenting final copies to the class, including tips for maximum expression, volume, and pitch of one’s voice. The teacher should model audience behavior as well.

Students who just received their teacher’s feedback will write final copies while the rest of the class shares the silent reading of final copies. Students put poems they want to hear aloud in the last half of the class in a portrait poem priority pile. These will be read first by the end of the lesson.

Activity 2 - Presenting Your Portrait Poem

Students sit in author’s chair, if you have one, or use podium or special area room for presentation. Invite school personnel, students, guests to come hear the students present their portraits and poems. Begin each subsequent class with students presenting their poems and portraits until all students have had an equal opportunity to do so. Make copies of student work, with students’ permission, to use as examples for the next time you use this unit.

Wrap Up:

The teacher will lead a discussion that answers the class challenge question posed at the beginning of lesson one. Ask students to participate in a Keep/Change evaluation of Portrait Poem. Record their recommendations for parts to keep and parts to change for the next time you do this set of lessons. Keep this record in your file for this set of lessons so it is handy the next time you want to use Portrait Poem.