Is a Sentence a Poem?

Materials and Technology

Student Interactives

Printouts

Websites

Preparation

 

MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY

• Internet access on computers with the Flash plug-in installed
  
  
• Copies or an overhead of the poem(s) to be discussed
  
  
• "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams, or another one-sentence poem
  
  
• One or more of the following images, or an image that you have selected:
  
  
  • Copley House door, Boston
    
    
  • Clematis near fence
    
    
  • Cape May lighthouse
    
    
  • Rural house
    
    
  • Horse swing
    
    
  • Snowy woods
    
    
  • Maple tree in the Spring

back to top

 

STUDENT INTERACTIVES

Grades   K – 12  |  Student Interactive  |  Organizing & Summarizing

Venn Diagram

This interactive tool allows students to create Venn diagrams that contain two or three overlapping circles, enabling them to organize their information logically.

 

back to top

 

PRINTOUTS

A Sentence as a Poem

back to top

 

WEBSITES

• FreeFoto.com
• Wikipedia entry on the word poetry

back to top

 

PREPARATION

• Arrange for computer access. Depending upon the resources available, students can work individually or in small groups. Alternately, you can display images using an overhead LCD projector.
  
  
• Test the Interactive Venn Diagram (and if you choose to do the extension, the interactive Stapleless Book) on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tool and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page.
  
  
• Choose a one-sentence poem by a published author for the class to read and discuss. You could feasibly work with two or three in a class period. Possibilities include the following poems:
  
  
  • "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams
    
    
  • “To—” (“I heed not that my earthly lot”) by Edgar Allan Poe
    
    
  • “When You Are Old” by William Butler Yeats
    
    
  • "I like to see it lap the miles" (#585) or “Pass to thy Rendezvous of Light” (#1564) by Emily Dickinson
    
    
  • "Bright Star" by John Keats
    
    
  • '"The New Dog" by Linda Pastan
    
    
  • “Epitaph” by Thomas Morton
    
    
  • “If thou wouldst Roses Scent” by Frances Daniel Pastorius
    
    
  • “The Horses at the Tank,” “Love Poem,” or “Taking the Hand” by Robert Bly
    
    
  • “The Sentence” and/or “The Skeleton” by Robert Creeley
    
    
• Choose one or more of the online images in the Materials and Technology section to share with students, or choose images of your own. You could use photographs or illustrations that you have on hand or choose images from a free photo site such as FreeFoto. Alternately, you could allow students to search for their own image; however, be sure to explore any resources ahead of time to ensure that students will not access images which are not appropriate for your classroom.
  
  
• Familiarize yourself with the poem and its critical acceptance so that you're prepared to discuss why the piece is a poem. You might explore such questions such as whether the poem is widely known, and how often it is taught or read.
  
  
• View and bookmark the Wikipedia entry on the word poetry.
  
  
• Make copies of the A Sentence as a Poem handout.

back to top