Aurora Staggs

Poetry
Dr. Stevens
7 November 2019
Common Core
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative
and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone,
including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or
beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.D
Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of
the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.

Educational Objectives
 Students will be able to identify and analyze elements such as theme, rhyme, imagery,
tone, metaphor, alliteration, etc. and explaining their importance in a poem- “Tree at My
Window” by Robert Frost.
 Students will be able to create their own poems based off the poem read together and
discussed.
Central Focus
 The students will learn to identify and analyze elements of poetry and use those elements
to create their own poems.
Assessments on Learning
 The students will annotate the poem discussed in class in order to assess their ability to
locate poetic elements and determine their meaning within the text.
 The students will write their own poems modeled after one of the poems read in class in
order to assess their ability to use the elements discussed
Academic Language
 Personification-giving nonhuman things human qualities or characteristics
 Metaphor-comparison not using “like” or “as”
 Simile-comparison using “like” or “as”
 Theme-main idea or underlying meaning
  Meter-stressed and unstressed syllabic pattern of a verse or poem
 Alliteration-the same sound at the beginning of adjacent or close words
 Tone-the attitude of a speaker towards an object or subject
 Annotate- to add notes to a text to give explanation or commentary
 Form-the structure of a poem and/or the patterns within the poem
 Diction-style of writing that is usually determined by word choice
 Repetition- repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer and
more memorable
 Imagery-language and description that appeals to the five senses
Materials

Students will need:

Teacher Will Need:
 Writing utensil
 Printouts of the poem
 Loose leaf paper or
(enough copies for each
notebook
student to have their own)
 Vocab cards for Go Fish
game
 Stickers
 Whiteboard and dry erase
markers

Anticipatory Set
 Play Go Fish with vocabulary cards
 “Good morning! We are going to start by playing Vocabulary Go Fish. You each get
seven cards and the rest go in a stack between you. To ask the other player for a card, you
must ask for it by the definition. For example, if you are looking for ‘simile’ you must
ask for ‘a comparison using like or as’. If you do not, you forfeit your turn. If the other
person has the card you are looking for, they give it to you, and you get another turn. If
they do not, pick up one card from the center. The person with the most pairs at the end
gets a sticker.”
 Give the students the cards.
  The student who wins gets a sticker.
Sequence of Events
 Before class, have “Tree at My Window” written out on the board.
 “Today we are going to be reading and analyzing a poem. We are going to do that by
annotating the poem together. You are then going to write your own poem modeled after
the poem we discuss. Today we’re going to be looking at “Tree at My Window” by
Robert Frost.”
 Pass out “Tree at My Window” by Robert Frost.
 “I am going to read “Tree at My Window” aloud. Please follow along on your copy.”
 Read the poem aloud
 “Were there any words or phrases that need clarification or defining?”
o If yes
 Clarify or define any words or phrases
 Possible words/phrases
 Sash-in this context, “sash” refers to the part of the window that
moves in order to open the window.
 Diffuse- spread out over a large area
o If no
 Move to next item in sequence
 “Alright. Now we are going to discuss it and annotate the poem together. Can anyone tell
me what they noticed right away as we read the poem? [Student], what was one thing you
noticed?”
 As the students point out elements and discuss them, have them circle or underline the
elements and write what they are and how they impact the poem. As the students
annotate, model the annotations on the board and show them what annotating looks like.
 Some items that may be discussed-
o Rhyme scheme
 ABBA, CDDC, EFFE, GHHG
o Personification
 The tree is given human qualities
 “Not all your light tongues talking aloud”
 “Your head so much concerned with outer”
o Repetition
 “Tree at my window, window tree”
 “window” and “tree” are each said twice in this one line
 The speaker is drawing attention to the personal importance of the tree to
him
o Imagery
 “My sash is lowered when night comes on;/But let there never be curtain
drawn”
  This paints a clear image of the physical space between the speaker and
the tree
o Alliteration
 “But tree, I have seen you taken and tossed,”
 This draws the reader’s attention to the state of the tree.
 The tree has been through a lot in its outdoor space compared to the
speaker indoors. Pointing this out shows the speaker realizing what the
tree experiences.
 “That was a good discussion! Next, you are going to be writing your own poems. They
should be modeled after the poem we read in class. I want you use some of the types of
elements we found in that poem in the one you are writing. I would like the topic to be
something that you see every day. Like the speaker in “Tree at My Window”, I want you
to consider the relationship between you and the item you choose.”
 Give them approximately 10 minutes to write their poems.
 “Would anyone like to share what they have written?”
 Have at least one student share their poem with the class.
 “That was well done [Student].”
Questions to Ask
 Synthesis-What elements from “Tree at My Window” did you utilize in your poem?
 Evaluation-What was your favorite line of the poem and why?
Conclusion and Summary
 “Awesome work today, everyone! We read, analyzed, and annotated “Tree at My
Window” by Robert Frost. We identified elements such as imagery, rhyme,
personification, etc. After that, you wrote poems of your own. I will be collecting your
annotations and the poems you wrote. I will hand them back to you next week. Does
anyone have any questions or comments regarding what we did today? Okay, have a
good weekend everyone and I will see you next week!”
Tree at My Window - Poem by Robert Frost

Tree at my window, window tree,

My sash is lowered when night comes on;
But let there never be curtain drawn
Between you and me.

Vague dream head lifted out of the ground,

And thing next most diffuse to cloud,
Not all your light tongues talking aloud
Could be profound.

But tree, I have seen you taken and tossed,

And if you have seen me when I slept,
You have seen me when I was taken and swept
And all but lost.

That day she put our heads together,

Fate had her imagination about her,
Your head so much concerned with outer,
Mine with inner, weather