If I could do it All OVER

How many times in your life have you asked yourself this question? Well, today you finally get your
chance!
Your task over the next hour is to revisit the Conceptual Literature Unit that you created as a group
last fall in CI 401E2, and rethink/redesign/rewrite that unit in light of what youve learned this
semester. Consider in your plans for revision the many strategies for teaching literature, reading
comprehension, vocabulary development, writing, and assessment presented in this class and CI
473, and then with your original group members, come up with a list of what youd change and
why.
The syllabus states that you will have two hours to complete this assignment. However, we dont
have two hours to devote to this! So, lets alter the plan. Instead of making the actual changes,
make a list of what youd change. A matrix for completing this assignment is below. You may copy it
to make additional pages.
The final draft of this assignment will be due Monday, April 29. Be sure to place it in the Drop Box in
the CI 402E2 Folder. The assignment is worth 10 percent of your final course grade this semester.


Unit Title: _Teaching Modern Poetry__________ Web Address: http://teachingmodernpoetry.weebly.com/ Group
Members: _____________
What wed change How wed change it Why wed change it

The title of the unit

We would change it to Popular
Culture and Verse
Our unit was called Modern
Poetry which was a bit of a
misnomer (our unit is not about
modernist poetry). Our unit is
more about popular uses of
poetry today.

The final poetry slam
project

We would introduce this earlier
in the the unit (in the first week)
and also add more time in the
fourth week to work on the
poetry slam.
The end goal of the unit should
be introduced early so the
students have something to
work toward. Also, one day is
not enough to put together the
poetry slam.

Add scaffolding when
the students bring in
their own songs

Students would work in small
groups to analyze their poems,
instead of doing it individually.
This would allow for students
who struggle with abstract
textual analysis a chance to
learn through aiding one
another.

We would spend less
time analyzing texts and
more time writing.

Students would have more
shorter writing activities to give
them more experience writing
different genres of poetry. For
example, during song week they
would work in small groups to
create their own lyric poetry.
As it is right now, students are
not doing much writing.
Incorporating writing of
different genres would help
them understand more genres
and give them more writing
options for the slam poetry at
the end of the unit.

We would have students make This would add more group
Add choral reading

choral readings from The Realm
of Possibility novel we are
reading.
work and variety to our unit,
and choral reading teaches
about the way words are put
together in poetry. This would
also connect the novel with the
slam poetry week, making the
unit more fluid.

Introduce Blues genre
poetry music in place of
the last song activity on
Friday.

We would have students write
potentially subversive Blues
songs and perform them in class.
This would help students learn
poetry forms in a way that is
not alienating. It would also
allow for students to express
and create their own personal
voices.

Add a Word Wall


We would add vocab words to
the wall each time a new poetic
device or term is introduced.
Having a word wall will help
students keep the terms in
mind throughout the unit.


What wed change How wed change it Why wed change it
Add one on one peer review
with the teacher.


We would add something called mic
check with the teacher. It would be a
good chance for the teacher to assess a
students work, the students process,
and come alongside them in order to
aid them.
Students respond well to one on one
attention from a teacher and will
appreciate the help seeing as they
are probably nervous to perform in
front of the class. Also, by assessing
students by their process as opposed
to simply the finished product, this
will help students develop as writers.
Introduce multimodality option
into the unit
Students should have the option to
make their final slam poetry
performance and their choral reading

This gives students an incentive to express themselves. Multimodality also forces students to examine rhyme
of Realm of Possibility multimodal. For
example, have some sort of musical
backing and/or PPT slideshow or movie
for Extra Credit.
scheme and meaning in relation to their poems.

Use a Webquest





Have students learn poetical devices
through a webquest teaching them
what they are and how they are used
Students respond well to using
computers in a classroom.
Oftentimes, while learning about
formal aspects of writing, they are
disengaged. By using a webquest ,
their attention will be peaked.
Add a week

spread content so that it fits within the
five week parameter
Weve added a lot of content, this is
how we are compensating.