RU Teacher Education Lesson Plan Format

Candidate Name: Michelle Taylor Date: 11/21 Grade Level: 8th

Lesson Title/Topic: The Outsiders Poetry Slam

Standards:

8.5 The student will read and analyze a variety of fictional texts, literary nonfiction, poetry, and
drama.
a) Analyze how authors’ development of characters, conflict, point of view, voice, and tone convey
meaning.
b) Identify cause-and-effect relationships and their impact on plot.
c) Explain the development of the theme(s).
d) Explain the use of symbols and figurative language.
e) Make inferences and draw conclusions based on explicit and implied information using
references to the text for support.
f) Identify and analyze characteristics within a variety of genres.
g) Compare/contrast details in literary and informational nonfiction texts.
h) Compare and contrast the authors’ use of word choice, dialogue, form, rhyme, rhythm, and voice
in different texts.
i) Compare and contrast authors’ styles.

Specific Observable Objective(s):

 Students will be able to form connections to Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay” and The
Outsiders by creating their own 8-line poem.
 Students will formulate rhyme schemes, use figurative and symbolic language, and utilize
their creativity.

Essential Vocabulary:

Poem: a piece of writing that partakes of the nature of both speech and song that is nearly always
rhythmical, usually metaphorical, and often exhibits such formal elements as meter, rhyme, and stanzaic
structure.

Stanza: a group of lines forming the basic recurring metrical unit in a poem; a verse.

Rhythm: a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.

Rhyme Scheme: the ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of a poem or verse.

Assessment:
Students will be formally assessed, not by the poem itself, but by their answers that connect their
poem to The Outsiders. It is important to note that there are no “bad poems,” however, it must be
noticeable to the teacher that the individual has utilized their time and prior knowledge of The
Outsiders to create a poem.

Student Considerations:

If needed, students can have an extended deadline to meet their needs (writing poems is tough on
its own, much less a 30 to 40-minute time frame). The teacher will also read aloud “Nothing Gold
Can Stay” to the class for those who have accommodations; students will also be provided a physical
copy of the poem to use as a base, or reference, for their poem.

Instructional Resources, Materials, and Technology:

 Overhead projector
 Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay”
 Instructional sheet provided by Ms. Taylor
 The Outsiders

PROCEDURES:

The Beginning (a.k.a. Anticipatory Set): (5 minutes)

Ms. Taylor will begin by reading the class Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” Each
class has previously read Chapter 5 of The Outsiders, where Ponyboy references the
poem. Ms. Taylor will say “In the novel, Ponyboy and Johnny question what Robert
Frost means by his poem, on this index card, write down what the poem means to
you.” While students are writing on their index card, Ms. Taylor will pass out their
directions for their poem.

The Middle: (30 minutes)

Students will be provided with the following directions:

Directions: You will be creating a poem about a major theme in the novel. This poem’s format should be
an imitation of the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost (referenced by Ponyboy in The
Outsiders). The poem MUST:
1. Be at least 8 lines long (the length of NGCS)
2. Must be from a character’s point of view OR about an event that takes place in the novel (Ex.
Bob’s death)
3. Must follow NGCS’s rhyme scheme (AABBCCDD)

Your poem cannot:

1. Name any names (You can’t tell the reader you’re talking about Dally; use figurative language and
creativity to symbolize that you’re talking about Dally)
2. Deviate from the novel
 The End (a.k.a. Closing): (5-10 minutes)

Students will be asked to write a sentence or two that describe how their poem relates to the
novel. Then, students will have the opportunity to share their poems with the class before
turning their poems in.

Teacher Reflection on Practice (following the lesson):

1. What evidence did you collect to show your students attained today’s objective(s)? Please
explain how you know which students did and did not master your objectives. Use formative
assessment data to support your claims regarding the portion of students who did and did
not master the learning objective(s).

2. Based on the result of your assessment, what will you do tomorrow? Can you go ahead as
planned or will you need to reteach concepts from today’s lesson? (Explain how you will
reteach and/or connect and feed forward.)

3. If you have to teach this lesson again, what might you do the same and what might you do
differently?