Digital Portfolio
EDU 614

Mary Jerzak

Agnes Scott University

Mary Jerzak

Poem Lesson Plan

Lesson Name: "How to Eat a Poem" - A Lesson about Poetry and Language

Grade Level: 8th grade

Length: 1 ½ to 2 class periods (approximately 90 minutes)

Purpose: Poetry utilizes metaphorical and non-literal language to express ideas, convey meaning, and create images. Through reading and studying "How to Eat a Poem" by Eve Merriam, students will be able to understand these techniques and appreciate poetry at a higher level. This understanding will also provide the students with strategies and resources that may be useful in future reading and learning.

Objective: Students will read Eve Merriam's "How to Eat a Poem." They will demonstrate what they have learned through writing, and applying their understanding to other texts.
QCC: Language Arts, #36: Interprets literal and non-literal meanings of words and phrases.

Body of Lesson:
1. What is a poem? Discuss for a few minutes the ideas or images that poems try to evoke and how it does this. Write student ideas on blackboard, in the form of a list.
2. Move discussion toward a discussion of metaphors, similes, literal and non-literal language. What is a metaphor? What is a simile? What does literal mean? Write results of discussion on board.
3. Introduce the poem "How to Eat a Poem" by Eve Merriam, handing out the poem to every student. Discuss the title first. We've already talked about what a poem is; now let's discuss the notion of "eating" a poem. What are some possible ways a person can eat a poem? What are some other ways we can think of a poem? Is it something to be written, to be read, to be swallowed or decorated like a blank canvas?
4. Ask for a student to volunteer to read the poem out-loud. The students and the teacher read along.
5. After the reading, ask students what they thought about the poem. What types of metaphors or non-literal language is used? Is the poem effective? How so?
6. Going to the board again, ask students to brainstorm different metaphors or relationships between ideas and objects. Make a list of at least 10 such metaphors, images or ideas.
7. Ask the students to write a poem using one of the metaphors/ideas on the board or one of their own. The poem must utilize literal and non-literal language throughout to achieve its purpose. The poem can be freeform, rhyming, or any other style, but must be longer than 10 lines. The students will hand the poem in the class period.
8. During the next class period, a few students are asked to volunteer to share their poems with the class. What metaphors were used? Where they effective? That is, did they create images or ideas that worked? They will turn in the poems after all volunteers have read their poems and the poems have been discussed.
9. After this discussion is completed and answering any other questions, a quiz will be given which asks students to identify if a phrase is a metaphor or simile, literal or non-literal. There will be 10 questions on the quiz.

Materials: Copy of "How to Eat a Poem" by Eve Merriam for every student

Resources: Copy of "How to Eat a Poem" by Eve Merriam, from Stephen Dunning's Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle …and other Modern Verse, chalk, and blackboard

Assessment: The students will be assessed through the poem assignment and a quiz.

Evaluation: I will measure the students' understanding of the material three different ways: participation in class discussions, original poem assignment, and a small quiz. If less than 80% of the class score at least a B on the quiz or demonstrate poor comprehension of the ideas in their poems, I will move on to plan B.

Plan B: The students will read another poem with examples of metaphors and non-literal language. I will employ a handout with pieces of poems and blanks that students will fill in with appropriate words to create metaphors and non-literal phrases. This will be graded and used for further assessment and evaluation. As well, these concepts will be carried over into other lesson plans and any tests at the end of the unit.

How to Eat a Poem

Don't be polite.
Bite in.
Pick it up with your fingers and lick the
juice that may run down your chin.
It is ready and ripe now, wherever you are.

You do not need a knife or a fork or a spoon
or plate or napkin or tablecloth.

For there is no core
or stem
or rind
or pit
or seed
or skin
to throw away.

- Eve Merriam