Lesson Title and Number: Examining “Poem 314” by Emily Dickinson

Grade Level/Class: 9th grade Honors English

Time Length: 50 minutes
Central Focus: The central focus of this lesson is to explore how Emily Dickinson
conveys the concept of hope in “Poem 314”.

Common Core Standards:

-CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text,
including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of
specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a
sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone)
-CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development
over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by
specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

Educational Objectives:
-The students will be able to use their knowledge of figurative language to
analyze how Emily Dickinson examines the concept of hope in “Poem 314”.
-The students will be able to analyze how the structure of “Poem 314”
helps to develop the themes in “Poem 314”.

Assessment on Learning:
-Class discussion
-teacher will record student answers on the whiteboard
-students will have achieved the objectives if they are able to answer
questions thoughtfully and using poetry vocabulary/terms

Accommodations for students with specific learning needs:

-along with being able to reference the physical handout outlining the steps
of how to read a poem that students received the first day of the unit, the teacher
will give verbal reminders of each step and what it entails.
Academic Language: (Vocabulary, language function, discourse or/and syntax)
Vocabulary
-Metaphor
-Simile
-Stanza
-Verse
-Personification
-Flow
-Enjambment
-Theme
-Structure
Language Function
-Analyze: The students will analyze Emily Dickinson’s use of figurative
language and structure in order to determine the message of “Poem 314”.
-Discourse: The students will engage in discourse as they discuss “Poem
314” as a class.
Materials:
Teacher:
-agenda for the day
-whiteboard
-different colored dry erase markers
-laptop
-projector
-copy of “Poem 314”
Students:
-pen or pencil
-Poetry Packet

Anticipatory Set/ Attention Getter:

-Who is Emily Dickinson?
-She is the first female poet that we are looking at in our unit.
 -Discuss who she is and what she is known for doing for no more
than 5 minutes.

Sequence of Events:
1. Introduce agenda for the day.
a. Objectives
b. Activities
c. Homework
2. Anticipatory set
a. Who is Emily Dickinson?
3. Analyze “Poem 314” as a class.
a. Project the poem onto the whiteboard.
b. Go through the steps of how to read poetry that were introduced
at the beginning of the unit.
c. Read the title.
i. Ask for a volunteer to read the title and nothing else.
ii. Ask students what they think the title means and record
answers on the board next to the title.
1. For this particular poem, not much can be discovered
from the title except that it is number 314 in her
collection of poems.
d. Read the poem all the way through to get a feel for what it is
about.
i. Ask for a volunteer to read the poem aloud and instruct the
other students to follow along on their copy as their
classmate reads.
ii. Ask students what they think the gist of the poem is and
record their answers on the board next to the projected
poem.
e. Annotate and look up confusing words.
i. Give students 5 minutes to look closely at the poem on
their own and annotate figurative language, lines that stand
out, and anything that seems interesting to them. After the
 five minutes is up, ask for volunteers to share what they
annotated and record everyone’s annotations on the
projected poem.
ii. Ask students if there were any words that they did not
know the definition of. (some in this poem may be “abash”
or “extremity”.
iii. If there are, appoint a student to look up the words and
then the teacher will record the definitions on the board.
f. Discuss Structure
i. Go over how the poem is broken up into stanzas and
discuss why the author might have chosen to break it up
the way she did. Record answers on the board
g. Discuss narrator and audience.
i. Who is speaking and who are they speaking to? Record
answers on the board.
h. Final Thoughts
i. What is the main takeaway from the poem? Record
answers on the board.
Questioning:
-Is Emily Dickinson effective in conveying the main message of this poem?-
Bloom’s Taxonomy Level 5
-Why does the author use an extended metaphor to explore the idea of
hope? Bloom’s Taxonomy Level 4
-Why do you think Emily Dickinson chose to use a bird to represent hope?-
Bloom’s Taxonomy Level 5
Conclusion/Summary:
-ask for student feedback
-Did you enjoy this poem? Why or why not?
-What did you learn from it?
-reminder of assignment
-continue to work on subject/verb agreement assignment due on
April 15th