The Yellowjacket Anthology of Poetry

-a webquest for middle school students

Teacher Notes

Title III Technology Literacy Challenge Grant

Learning Experience

Learning Context/Connection to NYS Standards/Essential Questions/Content Knowledge/Procedure/Inst. & Environ. Modifications/Time Required/Resources/Assessment Plan/Student Work/Reflection

LEARNING CONTEXT

Purpose or Focus of Experience

     Contempt for poetry is not an uncommon feeling among English students. Poetry can be difficult to understand, contains subtle references, or addresses minute detail. In short, poetry is hard. Additionally, poets have not generally been known as the "dazzling celebrity" so often admired by teenagers. This webquest wishes to change all that. The students’ job will be to make a celebrity out of one of these guys or girls who "just writes." Throughout their work, the students will become  experts on their selected poet, recite his or her poetry for the class, and prepare a PowerPoint presentation for inclusion in the  Yellowjacket Anthology. This experience follows a six-week poetry unit in which many poets and poems are introduced and discussed.

Connection to Standards

  English Standards:

·        Standard one –

o       Key Idea #1: Listening and reading to acquire information and understanding involves collecting data, facts, and generalizations; and using knowledge form oral, written and electronic sources.

§         Performance indicators: interpret and analyze information from a textbook… as well as reference materials…; compare and synthesize information…; distinguish between relevant information and between fact and opinion.

o       Key idea #2: Speaking and writing to acquire and transmit information requires asking probing and clarifying questions, interpreting information from one context to another, and presenting the information and interpretation clearly, concisely, and comprehensibly.

§         Performance indicators: organize information according to an identifiable structure…; develop information with appropriate supporting materials…; use standard English for formal presentation of information

Technology Standards

·        Standard Two –

·        Key Idea #1 – Information technology is used to retrieve, process, and communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning.

·        Performance indicators - use a variety of equipment and packages to enter, process, and communicate information in different forms using text, tables, pictures, and sound.

Essential Question

·        Why should poets and poetry be collected in anthologies?

Content Knowledge: Declarative & Procedural

PROCEDURE
(Chronologically ordered description of all teacher & student activities and interactions)

 See webquest…

INSTRUCTIONAL/ENVIRONMENTAL MODIFICATIONS

 This unit is appropriate for study of poetry in any area. The skills demonstrated are those of basic research related to topics of interest. The web-links can be replaced by more print resources, and the PowerPoint presentation can easily be replaced by traditional storyboard presentations. Additional modification may be made to suit a student’s IEP. It is recommended that students have already begun work on public speaking and the reading of poetry aloud. PowerPoint tutorials are included in the Webquest for students who are unfamiliar with the program.

TIME REQUIRED

 This experience is designed to be complete in two weeks. Six class days will be spent in the library/media center.  Any additional work must be completed on the students’ own time.

RESOURCES

 Resources include computer hardware and software for all participants, web access, and print sources of poetry and biography. It is highly recommended that you work closely with your school librarian as his/her knowledge and resources are invaluable to this experience. See webquest...

ASSESSMENT PLAN
(Includes samples of rubrics, checklists, etc.)

 See webquest…

STUDENT WORK
(Includes samples of student work showing different levels of performance)

  J.R.R. Tolkien        T.S. Eliot    Edgar Allen Poe    Lewis Carrol    Robert Burns    Les Murray    Emily Dickinson    Walt Whitman        Billy Collins    John Keats    Percy Shelley    William Shakespeare       Carl Sandburg    Amiri Baraka    Shel Silverstein    William Blake    Henry David Thoreau    Elizabeth Barrett Browning   John Keats   Christopher Smart      

REFLECTION

This webquest was extremely valuable for the students. The quest gave the students an opportunity to explore an area (poetry) which is not commonly explored by eighth graders. The assignment also gave students opportunities to showcase their own talents and abilities.