Language Arts: Poetry Unit for Senior Students (NO PREP)

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Poetry-Unit-for-senior-students-1107375
Poetry Unit (Bundled) (Improved and revised)

For grades 11 and 12

Many teachers hate teaching poetry because they don’t know where to begin. This unit will make you and your students love poetry. This complete, no prep unit is a great way to start! This 2 and a half week unit includes a student guide, 12 detailed lesson plans, 2 multimedia presentations (no internet connection required), a detailed answer key with annotated poems, and an end of the unit evaluation with answer key.

Just print it and teach it.

This HUGE bundle includes:

This poetry unit has been devised to teach students the importance of :
• Figurative language (its uses and effects)
• How to read poetry
• How to understand and apply symbolism and imagery
• The importance of rhythm
• The importance of tone and attitude in a poem
• Types of poetry
• How to analyse poetry
• How to appreciate poetry (even when you don’t understand it)

This unit’s focus is the analysis of poetry and teaches students how to make inferences, which is a skill they must learn for their other subjects as well.

Poems include authors such as: Emily Dickenson, Dorothy Parker, Maya Angelou, Thomas Gray, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Alfred Noyes, T.S. Eliot, Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Frost, Pearl Jam, Langston Hughes, and Walt Whitman. The Unit includes 21 different poems.

The unit has been conceived to last 12 days – with 65 minute periods (although they are easy to modify).

The unit contains:

1 – The teacher guide (Contains 12 comprehensive lesson plans to teach the poems included in the unit. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO TEACH THIS UNIT HAS BEEN DONE FOR YOU. )

2 – The student package (Contains students’ notes , poems, and questions) (26 pages)

3 – The answer key includes annotated poems and answers to all student activities (saving you time).

4 – Included is a test with multiple choice questions as well as a development question. All answers are included. (Word format for easy changes)

5 – 2 PowerPoint presentations – one multimedia presentation to introduce the unit (17 slides) and the second to reinforce the use of imagery and symbolism (19 slides) – NO INTERNET CONNECTION REQUIRED

A total of 63 pages + 36 slides are included in this package.

This unit is complete, and does all of the thinking for you. All you need to do is to print out and photocopy the student package and you’re set.

Notice and Note Unit

Reading Response UnitNotice and Note Strategies for Close Reading by K. Beers and N. Probst is an outstanding resource that helps teachers give students signals or “signposts” to look for when they read fictional texts. 

My 73 slide PowerPoint Notice and Note Unit provides for teachers a complete resource of how to deliver and model all of the 'Notice and Note' lessons. Each signpost is presented with warm ups, videos explanations, applications, a wide variety of mentor texts, and even many practice samples from other pieces of text that students can use during independent practice. All of the slides are created in an engaging colorful format with many slide transitions that gradually build up the explanation of how to find the difference signposts in texts. 

This unit works perfectly from fifth grade through to eighth grade range. However it can be used with different aged students too as some of the mentor text are both short excerpts and some picture books. There is a wealth of practice material for each of the signposts. Teachers just need to photocopy the relevant handouts provided or check out texts from the library and copy the pages which have been identified that contain the signposts. To make this easier, many links are already provided to the majority of the texts in the unit. There is more than enough material for each signpost. Independent practice texts are also presented at different abilities for differentiation purposes. Topics such as internal conflict and the importance of settings in stories are also explained as these provide a context for the signposts.

Over 40 hours of preparation has gone into the creation of this unit and the collection of resources. Guidelines are also given in the PowerPoint slide notes section to help teachers deliver the mini lesson instruction portion. Notice and note is an outstanding resource to teach students to become more interpretive readers. This resource well enable your students to MASTER the Notice and Note strategies effectively. You will not be disappointed by your purchase.

IN ADDITION - This resource now contains samples of how to build 'claims' (opinions about the text) from the notice and note signposts. Students get to see how to build effective sticky notes that do not just SPOT the signpost but go on to interpret it. Then these stickies are developed into claims at 'below' 'approaching' 'meeting' and 'exceeding' expectations. Imagine your students comparing their thinking to the multiple continuums presented. They will instantly know how deep their interpretation of their texts are. 

In ADDITION examples of the different types of 'evidence' and how to 'interpret the evidence found' through the 'Notice and Note' techniques is ALSO included. Basically, you are getting not just a thorough unit of 'notice and note' but the next steps - Taking noting and note and using that thinking to create reading responses. Students and teachers will learn the different between claims and or evidence that discusses 'observations' (lower order thinking) -v- 'author's purpose' (higher order thinking). For this reason alone - this resource provides a SUPERB tool for reading teachers to move from 'notice and note' into reading response and deeper thinking about texts. We always tell students to 'explain' their thinking - BUT HOW? This resource teaches student 'how to interpret by make comparisons, use definitions, judging actions and much more in order to better explain their thinking. 

In addition - Formative and Summative assessment tasks added using picture books. 

Please check out the preview for examples our of some of the slides in the unit.

Get it here

There's MORE... My next unit ' READING RESPONSE'


The perfect next step to this unit is also available here. Read the product description to see how truly unique the 'trans-mediation' approach to responding to text really is. 

I state may reputation as a 25 year veteran educator that this unit will truly make a difference in the way that your students discuss texts.

Language Arts - Poetry Unit: The Art of Interpretation

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Teaching-Made-Easy123

Poetry: The Art of Interpretation – is designed to teach students how to interpret, appreciate, and analyse poetry.

There are 9 complete lessons (estimated to last approximately 60 minutes), therefore 2 weeks of lessons.

This complete, no prep unit is a great way to start! This unit includes a student guide, 9 detailed lesson plans, 2 multimedia presentations (no internet connection required), a detailed answer key with annotated poems and answers, and an end of the unit evaluation with rubric, and answer key.

Just print it and teach it.

Poetry is a very subjective form of art. Some poems you love and others, you hate. What we need to realize is that this is the beauty of poetry. Poetry is not a mystery to be solved. Rather, it is the masterful manipulation of language that has the power to transform the ordinary and to immerse its reader into the world created by the author.

This unit incorporates art to help students understand and appreciate the beauty within words. In addition, students will learn how to analyse themes in poetry though paintings and art work.

This HUGE bundle includes:

Each lesson focuses on a different skill set including:
- Knowledge and manipulation of figurative and poetic language
- How to read and understand (appreciate) poetry
- How to analyse poetry
- How to annotate poetry
- How to paraphrase effectively
- How to use symbols
- How to effectively develop themes from poetry
- Creative writing
- Creative activities to learn how to analyse

The unit includes a student packet (20 pages), a teacher packet (with 9 complete lessons), and a comprehensive answer key with annotations to poem (with 17 pages). See preview for more details.

Poets studied include: (8 poems total)
- Billy Collins
- Anne Marriott
- Phyllis Gotlieb
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Robert Frost
- John Crowe Ransom
- Lord Alfred Tennyson

The unit also includes:

1 – The teacher guide (Contains 9 comprehensive lesson plans to teach the poems included in the unit. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO TEACH THIS UNIT HAS BEEN DONE FOR YOU. )

2 – The student package (Contains students’ notes , poems, and questions) (20 pages)

3 – The answer key includes annotated poems and answers to all student activities (saving you time – 18 pages).

4 – Included is a test with multiple choice questions as well as a development question. All answers are included. (Word format for easy changes)

5 – 2 PowerPoint presentations – one multimedia presentation to introduce the unit (17 slides) and the second to reinforce the use of imagery and symbolism (19 slides) – NO INTERNET CONNECTION REQUIRED

6 – Images to project or print

7- An end of the unit creative evaluation, which includes clear and concise directions and rubric. (In a Word document for easy modifications)


- An interactive multimedia Jeopardy game to review figurative language and poetic devices (PowerPoint – no internet required)

- A multimedia PowerPoint on how to read and interpret poetry

- A PowerPoint presentation on how to interpret symbols and imagery in literature (19 slides)

- A final culminating evaluation with evaluation rubric (left in Word format for easily made modifications)

The unit has been created in such a way as to simplify the teacher’s life. Photocopy the 3 packages included and don’t worry about it for the rest of the unit. You literally can begin teaching it without any other preparation.

A total of 43 pages + 64 slides are included in this package.

This unit is complete, and does all of the thinking for you. All you need to do is to print out and photocopy the student package and you’re set.

Ban All Bad PowerPoints

The building principal was proud of the work the eighth graders had done on their Immigration PowerPoints and asked me to sit in on a presentation session. A majority of the slides had unreadable text, overlapping pictures, annoying backgrounds, grammatical errors, and distracting transitions. “Ban All Bad PowerPoints” is a two day lesson where students view a PowerPoint presentation, record the errors they found on a worksheet, and then make changes to the presentation before saving.   Just showed this lesson today and my students were glued to the screen. They enjoyed pointing out the errors and in fact, found one or two I hadn't thought of! This is so cool! Great job! It's so hard to explain to students that Less is More! and not everything should be in neon! Thank you! Love it! Students can learn so much from what "not" rather than a list of do's. I also like the suggestion of doing it in small groups. Can't wait to use it when I begin a presentation unit with my seventh and eighth graders.

Dance Mat Typing  (Online Activity)

Welcome to Dance Mat Typing, a fun way to learn touch typing. There are four levels to play, each divided into three stages. You start by learning the home row keys. Each stage builds on previous lessons, introducing new letters as you progress. You’ll soon be touch typing like an expert! At the end of each level you can test your typing speed and get a fun reward.

You Never Know! (Online Video)

Can you really know who that "friend" is?

Ban All Bad PowerPoints

The building principal was proud of the work the eighth graders had done on their Immigration PowerPoints and asked me to sit in on a presentation session. A majority of the slides had unreadable text, overlapping pictures, annoying backgrounds, grammatical errors, and distracting transitions. “Ban All Bad PowerPoints” is a two day lesson where students view a PowerPoint presentation, record the errors they found on a worksheet, and then make changes to the presentation before saving.   Just showed this lesson today and my students were glued to the screen. They enjoyed pointing out the errors and in fact, found one or two I hadn't thought of! This is so cool! Great job! It's so hard to explain to students that Less is More! and not everything should be in neon! Thank you! Love it! Students can learn so much from what "not" rather than a list of do's. I also like the suggestion of doing it in small groups. Can't wait to use it when I begin a presentation unit with my seventh and eighth graders.

Dance Mat Typing  (Online Activity)

Welcome to Dance Mat Typing, a fun way to learn touch typing. There are four levels to play, each divided into three stages. You start by learning the home row keys. Each stage builds on previous lessons, introducing new letters as you progress. You’ll soon be touch typing like an expert! At the end of each level you can test your typing speed and get a fun reward.

You Never Know! (Online Video)

Can you really know who that "friend" is?

Ban All Bad PowerPoints

The building principal was proud of the work the eighth graders had done on their Immigration PowerPoints and asked me to sit in on a presentation session. A majority of the slides had unreadable text, overlapping pictures, annoying backgrounds, grammatical errors, and distracting transitions. “Ban All Bad PowerPoints” is a two day lesson where students view a PowerPoint presentation, record the errors they found on a worksheet, and then make changes to the presentation before saving.   Just showed this lesson today and my students were glued to the screen. They enjoyed pointing out the errors and in fact, found one or two I hadn't thought of! This is so cool! Great job! It's so hard to explain to students that Less is More! and not everything should be in neon! Thank you! Love it! Students can learn so much from what "not" rather than a list of do's. I also like the suggestion of doing it in small groups. Can't wait to use it when I begin a presentation unit with my seventh and eighth graders.

Dance Mat Typing  (Online Activity)

Welcome to Dance Mat Typing, a fun way to learn touch typing. There are four levels to play, each divided into three stages. You start by learning the home row keys. Each stage builds on previous lessons, introducing new letters as you progress. You’ll soon be touch typing like an expert! At the end of each level you can test your typing speed and get a fun reward.

You Never Know! (Online Video)

Can you really know who that "friend" is?

Ban All Bad PowerPoints

The building principal was proud of the work the eighth graders had done on their Immigration PowerPoints and asked me to sit in on a presentation session. A majority of the slides had unreadable text, overlapping pictures, annoying backgrounds, grammatical errors, and distracting transitions. “Ban All Bad PowerPoints” is a two day lesson where students view a PowerPoint presentation, record the errors they found on a worksheet, and then make changes to the presentation before saving.   Just showed this lesson today and my students were glued to the screen. They enjoyed pointing out the errors and in fact, found one or two I hadn't thought of! This is so cool! Great job! It's so hard to explain to students that Less is More! and not everything should be in neon! Thank you! Love it! Students can learn so much from what "not" rather than a list of do's. I also like the suggestion of doing it in small groups. Can't wait to use it when I begin a presentation unit with my seventh and eighth graders.

Dance Mat Typing  (Online Activity)

Welcome to Dance Mat Typing, a fun way to learn touch typing. There are four levels to play, each divided into three stages. You start by learning the home row keys. Each stage builds on previous lessons, introducing new letters as you progress. You’ll soon be touch typing like an expert! At the end of each level you can test your typing speed and get a fun reward.

You Never Know! (Online Video)

Can you really know who that "friend" is?