Title of the Lesson Interpreting Poetry through Inferencing

Teacher-Candidate Name AmandaTustin Date Friday, 04/21/2017

Grade Level/Content Area 8th Grade/ELA
# of Students 20-29 (Depending on the period) Length of Lesson 45 minutes

1.1 Integration of Learning Outcomes

SWBAT create meaning of a piece of poetry through interpretation.
SWBAT demonstrate previous knowledge of poetry styles and formats.
SWBAT identify various types of figurative language.
1.2 Standards
CC.1.2.8.E Analyze the influence of words and phrases in a text including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings, and how they shape meaning and tone.
CC.1.3.8.A Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over
the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an
objective summary of the text.
1.3 Formative and Summative Assessment
Summative: Students reflections on the poem, Kindness, will be collected at the end of
the period to help check for understanding
Formative: As students are working in their table groups, the teacher will walk around
the classroom monitoring engagement.
While students are filling in vocabulary worksheet, as they are watching a short YouTube
video on figurative language, I will walk around monitoring student engagement.
Students will be given an exit ticket at the end of class, Why is it important to interpret
poetry? How did inferencing help you today? What was your favorite part of the poem,
Kindness?

1.4 Materials
Students writers notebooks/interactive notebooks
Why do we read and write poetry? YouTube video (from the movie Dead Poets
Society)
Vocabulary Handout
"Fire & Ice" by Robert Frost
Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye
Smartboard
Exit Slip tickets
1.5 Anticipatory Set
Once students are settled in their seats, I will begin class with a YouTube video on the
importance of poetry.
The YouTube video is a clip from the Dead Poets Society. Mr. Keating (the English
teacher) explains the significance of poetry and quotes famous poet, Walt Whitman. At the end
of the quote, he asks his students What will your verse be? In other words, he asks them to
choose how they will be and want to be remembered.
This YouTube clip will encourage students about the importance of learning and
interpreting poetry.
Alright friends, to begin class we are going to watch a short YouTube clip from a
movie called The Dead Poets Society, has anyone ever heard of this movie?
 Once the movie clip comes to an end (only 3 minutes), we will engage in a short class
discussion.
Students will be asked to take out their interactive notebooks and record any thoughts,
reactions, connections to the clip.
What are some of your thoughts, reactions to that clip? Does it inspire you to
read poetry?
The month of April is National Poetry Month; therefore, it is only fitting that we
dive into some poetry. Later we are going to read and analyze a poem as a class and
later independently. But first, we need to learn how to make an inference. On the
whiteboards in the middle of your table, I would like you to write down what you think an
inference is, without sharing with your neighbors.
This is independent, students will be asked to keep their thoughts and whiteboards to
themselves.
I would like you to work on this independently, not sharing your thoughts or ideas
with your neighbors.
After students have had enough time to write down a response onto their whiteboards, I
will have them turn & talk with their neighbor and discuss what they believe an inference to be.
Could I have one or two people to share what they think it could be with the
whole class?
We talked about how an inference is when you make an educated guess.
Not exactly, but you are on the right track. How do we make it educated?
We make it educated by gathering information from the text.
Exactly! Now I would like you to open up your interactive notebooks and write
down this definition. Periods 4 & 6 (lower level classes) will receive a vocabulary sheet
with words omitted. While I go over the definitions with the students, I will write the
missing words on the board. This way if a student is having a difficult time keeping up, I
will be able to continue going through the rest of the vocabulary without having to repeat
myself various times.
"An inference is making a prediction based of off information in a text. Figuring
something out that the author does not specifically tell you. In other words, "Reading in
between the lines."
Good readers make inferences while they read in various types of texts, not just
poetry. They take what they know and have learned from a text and draw conclusions
about ideas in a text that are not directly stated.
Inferencing is like solving a puzzle or a riddle. Our mind searches for clues,
connections and information to help clarify what is happening. Inferencing is an
important part of enjoying, understanding and appreciating poetry. It is also important to
recognize that there can be many interpretations for one piece of poetry.
The teacher will then ask students if they know the formula for creating an inference.
They will write an equation on the board with two blanks. Blank plus blank equals an inference.
Students will be asked to record this into their writer's notebooks/interactive notebooks.
Does anyone know what the formula for an inference is? The teacher will display
the formula on the board for students to examine.
The teacher will reveal to students what the formula consists of.
 An inference is made up of "Evidence from the text" and "Background
Knowledge." Please record this into your notebooks. You will be referring to this later on
in class today.
The teacher will model for students how to interpret meaning or create an inference from
a piece of poetry. They will begin with "Fire and Ice" written by Robert Frost. This will help
students be better prepared for the independent practice section of this lesson on interpreting
poetry.
In order to inference, we must refer to this formula. I also have a list of questions
that will help us make educated inferences of poetry. We will be looking at one Robert
Frost poem and another by Naomi Shihab Nye. The first poem I will use as a model.
I am passing out the first poem we will look at today written by Robert Frost and
called "Fire and Ice." I am also handing out a list of questions that will help guide us
when inferencing and creating meaning of a piece of poetry.
The teacher will read the poem out loud to students once, then go back and model the
thinking process of inferencing.
Ok, now I will read the poem out loud again, but this time I will utilize the list of
questions to help guide my thinking.
Alright, the first question here is asking "are there any words that you don't
know?" Looking at the poem, the only word that I'm not 100% sure about is the word,
perish. However, after reading the context clues, I am able to infer that it means to end or
die.
The next question is, "Whom or what do the pronouns refer to?" Some and those
refer to other people and it refers to the earth.
The teacher will continue to go through the list of questions. They will have a
poem annotated to refer to while going through each question. The questions will lead to
the main question of inferencing, "What is the meaning of this poem?" These questions
help students break down the poem into understandable and relatable pieces that are
easier to understand and make meaning from.
Alright, so now we are going to dive into another piece of poetry, we will analyze
together and then independently make meaning of the poem. This poem is called
"Kindness" written by Naomi Shihab Nye written in 1952.
1.6 Procedures
After students have triggered their previous knowledge of poetry and inferencing, we will
begin an activity that involves interpreting a piece of poetry.
Each student will receive the poem, Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye. This poem will
also be displayed onto the smartboard.
Before students begin the activity, the teacher will read the whole poem through. This
will clear up any pronunciation of difficult words for when students read the poem in their
individual groups.
o Alright class, now that we have a better understanding of figurative language and
the importance of poetry, we are going to interpret a piece of poetry. This poem is called
Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye and it was written in 1952.
After the teacher has read through the poem once, they will instruct students to work in
their designated table groups. One person from each group will read the whole poem through.
Hearing the poem a second time will help students understand and clarify the underlying
meaning.
 o Now, in your table groups, I would like one person from each group to read the
whole poem. While the one person is reading, the rest of the group should be listening for
meaning.
Once each group has finished reading the poem, the teacher will instruct students to
individually underline two lines in each stanza that stood out to them.
o Now that we have read through the poem a couple times, I would like each of you
to underline 2 lines from each stanza that stood out to you.
o Can anyone remind the class what a stanza is?
A stanza is a group of lines, usually 4 I believe?
o Yes, a stanza is a group of lines. Lets look at Kindness and the format. It looks
like this whole grouping of lines, is the first stanza. When the lines do not have spaces in
between them, it is considered a stanza.
Kindness will be displayed onto the whiteboard for students to see. The teacher will
clearly show the stanzas throughout the poem and where they should be underlining (2 lines per
stanza.)
o Remember, this is independent. You will have the next 5ish minutes to look over
the poem and underline 2 lines from each stanza.
As students are underlining 2 lines per stanza, the teacher will be walking around the
classroom, checking for student engagement and understanding.
o It looks like everyone has underlined 2 lines from each stanza. I would now like
you to write in your writers notebooks your reasoning behind what you chose to
underline.
o You may also write your reasoning next to the two lines you chose for each stanza
on the poem.
Once students have had adequate time to record their reasoning into either their writers
notebooks or onto the poem itself, the teacher will instruct students to turn and talk with their
elbow partner (person they are sitting right next to.)
o Alright friends, when you are finished recording your reasoning give me a thumb
up so I know who is ready to move onto the next part.
o I would like you to turn and talk to your elbow partner (person you are sitting
next to) and share your reasoning behind the lines you chose throughout the poem,
Kindness
As students are sharing with their partner, I will carry an index card and record any
insights and will refer to this during whole class discussion. I will provide students with 5-10
minutes of discussion time.
After students have been given adequate time to discuss their thoughts/insights with their
partner, I will reel in the class for whole class discussion.
o Would anybody like to share their reasoning behind the lines they chose?
I chose two lines from the first stanza, Before you know what kindness
really is, you must lose things. Sometimes you dont realize how much you have
or how kind people are until you lose them. It can be hard to phantom kindness or
understand it when you are so used to it being so freely available.
o Thanks for sharing John! That is an excellent observation and relatable. Does
anyone want to respond?
 John, your response reminded me of when my one friend lost a loved one.
She did not tell anyone at school because it was too hard. It is important to be
kind to everyone for you never know what trials someone may be going through.
The teacher will continue to lead discussion on student responses to the poem kindness
and the lines they chose. This portion of the lesson build community in that students can connect
answers/response with one another.
(If time allows) Once whole discussion has come to an end, we will do one last reading of
the poem, Kindness.
The teacher will read the poem, but while the teacher reads students will chime in or
speak simultaneously when the lines they underlined are spoken. The last 5 lines of the last
stanza will be for everyone to read.
Once the last reading of Kindness is fished, students will engage in whole class
discussion. We will discuss the importance of interpreting poetry. How did this activity help you
better understand the poem, Kindness and its underlying meaning?
1.7 Differentiation
Students who have reading comprehension problems, teacher can read sentences to
student and assist them in identifying the meaning of the poem Kindness.
Lower level courses will receive an adapted vocabulary handout with words omitted.
This will allow students to listen instead of focusing on writing down a whole definition.
The YouTube videos will accommodate students with visual intelligences.

1.8 Closure
Once whole class discussion has come to an end, I will provide students with an exit
ticket. This will help the teacher gain a better understanding of which students grasped the
concept of interpreting poetry, as well as identify which students need extra support.
The teacher will lead whole classroom discussion. Students will share why they chose the
lines they did throughout the poem, Kindness.They will be able to use use the guided questions
to help them interpret meaning. The teacher will ask students, Why is it important to use
inferencing? Later they will ask, How did inferencing help you in todays activity?
The exit ticket will ask students Why is it important to interpret poetry? What is your
favorite part of the poem Kindness and why? Students will also be asked to write down the
new formula that we learned at the beginning of class and another type of text they can apply the
questions we used today for inferencing in general to and how it will enhance their reading?

9. Technology
The smart board will be used to display the poem, Kindness & "Fire & Ice"
A YouTube video will be shown, a video clip from the Dead Poets Society
2.0 Reflection on Planning

Overall, planning this lesson has been a challenge. I asked my cooperating teacher if I
was able to teach a lesson on poetry early in the month of April and she gladly said yes.
However, I was not given any direction on what path she wanted me to take in regards to what I
would teach about what type of poetry I would teach, styles, etc. She left it an open book for me
to decide. In this way, I felt challenged and unsure of what I would choose to teach this poetry
lesson on specifically. In my ENG 391 course, my professor recently did this activity on Naomi
Shihab Nye's poem "Kindness." It really stood out to me, as I learned a valuable lesson from it
and was able to analyze the poem on a deeper level. I decided that I would try to implement this
into my 8th grade field placement. What better opportunity to try this lesson out then now was my
mentality. However, when I began to plan, I was at a loss of how I could extend it and make it
into a 45 minute lesson. I began to ask my fellow classmates for their opinions, my cooperating
teacher and Professor Manion. After I completed my draft of my lesson, I was not satisfied.
Therefore, I began to seek help. Professor Manion was a great resource in that she was able to
direct my lesson into what the most important aspects of it were. After some valuable feedback, I
soon realized that incorporating a figurative language youtube video was not the most
appropriate video for this particular lesson. Instead, I would focus on how to inference a piece of
poetry and the importance of finding meaning through different works of writing. Although, I
knew I wanted to change this lesson plan in how it was arranged, I still was in a rut. I did not
how to go about this. I began brainstorming different ideas and going back and forth between,
incorporating figurative language or not. I ultimately decided not to. Instead, I was able to refer
to Kara's mini lesson she taught in our small groups in the beginning of the semester on
inferencing. It was a really memorable lesson, so I decided I would reach out to her. She was
able to offer suggestions to my lesson plan. I am beginning my lesson with the short clip from
"The Dead Poet's Society" and going to have them record in their writers notebooks on their
reactions and insights from watching. I then will go straight into how to inference. This is an
important concept that students must grasp in order to fully understand the poem they will work
on independently, "Kindness." The only concern I have with this is my timing. I am worried that
I will have time left over after the lesson is complete or it will take too long. When I teach this
lesson, I will be sure to be conscious of my time and monitor it wisely. I am looking forward to
teaching this lesson and excited to see how it pans out!

2.1 Reflection on Instruction

I feel very confident that my lesson went well on teaching students how to make
inferences, specifically in poetry. Both student engagement and discussion gave me a sense of
assurance in that students were learning throughout the lesson. These were key indicators for me
that students were learning and objectives were met. In each class, it seemed as though students
had a general idea of what an inference was. The common answer from students was that an
inference was an educated guess. Students were able to learn that both background knowledge
and textual evidence form meaning from a given text. Before teaching, I was anxious and
nervous about how this lesson would turn out. On Thursday night, I reevaluated my lesson to
focus on inferencing and its importance specifically in poetry. I previously had figurative
language in the beginning and the lesson was focused more on discussion. this was a an area of
concern, leading me to rearrange the whole lesson. Professor Manion was able to guide me as
she recommended inferencing before having students analyze the poem Kindness. At first, I
had no idea where to begin. Slowly it all came together. With the help of fellow classmates and
Professor Manion, it turned into a great lesson!
Each students seemed to enjoy the video clip showed at the beginning of class. This was
a great way to start a lesson on poetry and better yet, in National Poetry Month. At the beginning
of the first period I taught I was caught a little off guard because vocabulary was due at the
beginning of class. Because of this, my cooperating teacher allowed students the first 5-10
minutes dedicated to students checking their vocabulary workbooks at their table groups. This
left me with less time to teach an action packed lesson. At first this made me feel uneasy.
However, with each subsequent class, I was able to perfect the lesson and make necessary
changes due to the time constraints. The reading of the poem at the end of the discussion did not
occur in any class I taught. However, I felt that this was ok due to the class discussion that took
place at the end of class. In the last period I taught, period 6, to close the lesson I held a whole
class discussion. I asked students why they believed inferencing to be important in poetry? After
a minute or two of silence, I asked the question in a different way, how did inferencing help
you today when looking at the two poems? One student responded, The author of the poems
do not blatantly tell you what they are saying. You need to inference to find meaning and to
understand what the author is saying. After hearing this response, I was so excited! This made
me feel confident in that students were grasping the importance of inferencing in poetry. This
was by far one of my favorite teaching moments to date.
As I taught each lesson, I became more comfortable and was able to adapt my lesson
where it was needed. After I taught the lesson the first time, I quickly realize that I was giving
students too much time on the two initial writing prompts (having students write their initial
thoughts, insights or ideas after the short YouTube clip and writing what they thought an
inference was.) The next two classes periods, I made sure to be mindful of the time. Especially
while students were writing. This helps the lesson not only flow smoother, but allowed more
time for discussion. During the first class I taught, discussion was weak. Students seem to be shy
and quiet when asked for insight. My cooperating teacher and I observed this and began
brainstorming ideas to get students to participate in class discussion. My cooperating teacher had
the idea of giving students playing cards as students came into class. Discussion became more
prevalent as the periods went on. In fact, students were showed excitement and eagerness
because they wanted their card number to be called.
When I first came into field and began setting up to teach my lesson, my co-op informed
me that some students were participating in the LGBTQ annual day of silence. Of all days to
teach my lesson and I picked a day where students were not going to be speaking. This made me
nervous at first because my lesson contained a lot of discussion throughout. However, students
partaking in this event were actively engaged and responded to questions through handwritten
responses on their personal white boards. By having students have access to their personal
whiteboards made a great way for students who were being silent to communicate.
If I were to teach this lesson again , I would find a way to provide less paper to students.
By having students come to the smart board instead of giving them each a copy of the first poem,
fire and ice is one way I may have been able to reduce the paper load. Students seemed to get
flustered by the amount of paper they were given. If I was able to have a lesson or activity
prepared for the following class, I may give students their exit ticket as a ticket in. Unfortunately,
due to time, I was not able to give students their exit ticket at the end of the period. I would also
consider having students bring in other appropriate types of texts we can make inferences from.
This teaching experience gave me confidence and reassurance in my teaching abilities. Every
time before I teach a lesson, I always seem to get nervous. However, as soon as I get in front of
the class and start teaching it becomes like second nature. This makes me all the more excited to
have my own classroom one day! I love the idea of being able to perfect a lesson with each
subsequent class with a middle school classroom. For my student teaching placement, I am in a
5th grade classroom! Although I am excited for this amazing experience, I know I will miss being
in an 8th grade classroom! This experience has helped me learn how to become a better teacher
and make an impact on student's lives!