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Lesson Plan 2: Fireworks and Gentle Sound of Rain

Erin Davis

Regent University

February 27, 2023

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Lesson Reflection

Before this lesson, the students had been learning about poetry during the previous week. I

used small group lessons on poetry to determine the students’ overall readiness. During small

groups, most students could comprehend poetry, so the class was ready for a whole group

discussion on poems. I did not need to scaffold much for the students during this lesson. I

implemented student-centered instruction during this lesson. In the previous week, the students

were given an introductory lesson on poetry. After the lesson, their exit ticket was to write what

they would like to learn about in terms of poetry. Many students said they wanted to learn how to

write their own poems. I made this lesson student-centered by taking the students’ requests into

consideration and implementing them into my instruction. I did this through the anticipatory set

“Roll a Poem”. In which the students roll a die that determines the criteria their poem needs to meet

and then they get time to write a poem, opting to share it aloud afterward. This aligns with my

teaching philosophy. I believe in student-centered learning. Students should feel involved and take

ownership of their work. By including what students want to do in my lessons, when appropriate, I

am engaging students with methods I know they enjoy learning through.

I chose to give the poems, “Fireworks” and “Gentle Sound of Rain” as a whole group

lesson because I utilized them as a read aloud. According to Moussa and Koester, “Research has

indicated that reading aloud to young students can enhance their foundational reading skills and

their reading motivation.” (2022). I chose to read the poem aloud to the students to enhance their

reading skills. After reading aloud, I had students volunteer to reread the poem. This way, students

can practice their fluency in reading aloud. I integrated technology through this lesson by using a

Google Slide. It helped organize my instruction, I was able to display the discussion questions on

the board for students to refer to, and I was able to display the poems on the board for the students

to follow along in addition to their paper copies. For classroom management, I used a countdown to
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stop student conversation during the turn and talk and the think pair share. I also used the typical

classroom management techniques of class jobs and table points to control the environment during

transitions.
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Lesson Plan

Level II - Teacher Ed Lesson Plan Template (UED Courses)

Teacher (Candidate): Erin Davis Grade-Level: 5 Lesson Date: 2/21/23

Title of Lesson: Fireworks and The Gentle Cooperating Teacher: Angelina Acuna
Sound of Rain

Core Components
Subject, Content Area, or Topic
English- Reading
Student Population
Whole Group- 20 Students
8 Males, 12 Females
10 Identified Gifted
10 African American, 5 Multiracial, 3 Hispanic, 2 Caucasian
Learning Objectives
The students will be able to describe figurative language as a characteristic of poetry.
Virginia Standard(s) of Learning (SOL)
5.5 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of fictional texts, narrative nonfiction,
and poetry.
d) Describe the characteristics of free verse, rhymed, and patterned poetry.
VDOE Technology Standards
n/a
English Language Proficiency Standards (WIDA Standards)
n/a
Materials/Resources
Roll a Poem Sheet
Giant soft dice
Language Arts Notebooks
Digital and paper copies of “Fireworks” and “Gentle Sound of Rain”
Tues Feb 21 LA Google Slide
Exit Ticket- Half pieces of notebook paper
High Yield Instructional Strategies Used (Marzano, 2001)
Check if Used Strategy Return
Identifying Similarities & Differences 45%
Summarizing & Note Taking 34%
Reinforcing Efforts & Providing Recognition 29%
Homework & Practice 28%
Nonlinguistic Representations 27%
X Cooperative Learning 23%
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Setting Goals & Providing Feedback 23%

Generating & Testing Hypothesis 23%
X Questions, Cues, & Advanced Organizers 22%
Does your instructional input & modeling yield the positive returns you want for your students?
Check if Used Strategy Return
Teach Others/Immediate Use of Learning 95%
Practice by Doing 75%
X Discussion 50%
Demonstration 30%
Audio Visual 20%
X Reading 10%
Lecture 05%
Safety Considerations
General classroom safety considerations apply

Time
(min.) Process Components
7 min *Anticipatory Set
TTW transition students into Language Arts by having captains get out LA notebooks for
their table. When a table is ready TTW assign table points. When the class is transitioned
TTW start Roll a Poem
One person from each table will roll the dice. The number that is rolled corresponds with a
feature of poetry that the students will use to write their poems. For example, Roll 1
determines the topic, Roll 2 determines the mood, Roll 3 determines the figurative
language that needs to be used, and Roll 4 determines the sense that will be used for
imagery.
After the four categories are rolled, TTW set a timer for 5 minutes, allowing students to
write a poem following the rolled guidelines into their LA notebooks.
When the timer is up, TSW volunteer to read their poems aloud.
1 min *State the Objectives (grade-level terms)
After reading the poems, TTW introduce the lesson of the day: figurative language in
poetry. A student will volunteer to read the objective off of the Google Slide:
I can identify a poet’s use of figurative language and explain why the author used it
in his or her writing.
15 *Instructional Input, Modeling, or Procedures
min After roll a poem, TTW pass out copies of “Fireworks” and “Gentle Sound of Rain” to each
student. TTW say, Now that we have written our own poems, we are going to read poems
that are already written!
TTW read the poem, “Fireworks” aloud to the students.
TSW volunteer to reread the poem aloud.
After reading, TSW participate in a Turn and Talk. The questions will be displayed on the
Google Slide, “Is figurative language used in this poem, if so what kind? Where do you
see examples of figurative language”
TSW volunteer their responses, TTW find the examples in the text, highlighting it on the
board.
Then TSW Think, Pair, Share
1. Why would an author use onomatopoeia?
2. How does this affect the reader?
3. How could using onomatopoeia improve our own writing?
After sharing, TTW call on students to share what they discussed with their partners.
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*Check for Understanding

Questioning- “What kind of figurative language is used in this poem? Where do you see
an example of this figurative language? What does this represent/mean?”
Exit ticket
10 *Guided Practice
min TTW say, Now we are going to read the next poem on our page. TTW read the poem
aloud.
After the teacher reads, TSW volunteer to read the next poem, “Gentle Sound of Rain”,
aloud
TTW display the questions on the board
What did you notice about how the poet writes about the rain?
Is this poem rhyming or free verse?
What rhyming words did you notice?
Why do you think the poet included so many words that have the /sh/ sound?
What sound at the beginning of words do you notice over and over again in the poem? Is
that repetition?
Why did the author use repetition?
TTW reveal the questions one at a time, TSW raise their hands to answer
*Independent Practice
Assessment- Exit Ticket
5 min Assessment
Exit Ticket
After discussing “Gentle Sound of Rain” as a class, TTW hand each student a piece of
paper and display the exit ticket questions on the board.
1. Which stanza is the most like the title?
2. Why do you think the poet included so many words that have the /sh/ sound?
3. What kind of figurative language is used in the poem?
TSW respond
1 min *Closure
TSW turn in their exit ticket, if students finish early they will be instructed to work on their
independent Chromebook assignments (Achieve 3000, Readworks)
When exit tickets are turned in, TTW prepare the class to leave for lunch

Differentiation Strategies (e.g. enrichment, accommodations, remediation, learning style, multi-cultural).

Not applicable for this day
Classroom Management Strategies (To ensure a positive learning environment).
“We are pausing conversation in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1”
Table points, class jobs
Lesson Reflection. To be completed following the lesson. Did your students meet the objective(s)? What
parts of the lesson would you change? Why? (Professor will determine if reflection goes here or in written report).

*Denotes Madeline Hunter lesson plan elements.

Candidate Signature Cooperating Teacher Signature Date

Signatures indicate the candidate presented the lesson for cooperating teacher review and input.
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Lesson Plan Resources

Roll a Poem Sheet
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Google Slide
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“Fireworks” and “Gentle Sound of Rain” Poems

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Reference

Moussa, W. & Koester, E. (2022). Effects of story read-aloud lessons on literacy development in

the early grades: experimental evidence from Nigeria. Reading Research Quarterly, 57(2),

587-607.