Revised: 10/6/2016
SYRACUSE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Grade05 Unit 03 Poetry
Poetry Reading
Reading Standards: RL.5.1, RL.5.2, RL.5.4, RL.5.5
Unit Description: In this short (3 weeks) poetry unit, students apply what they know about theme and craft to
the genre of poetry. Through a shared reading structure, students read, analyze, and discuss a variety of
poems every day. Students learn that poetry readers rely heavily on envisioning skills and interpret figurative
language to understand what’s happening in the poem; they also think critically about what message the
author is revealing. Students will focus on specific craft and structure choices in poetry, thinking about how
and why poetic devices are used.
Page 1
CCLS
Coded Standard
Concept Elaboration
Assessment Questions
To quote accurately from a text and explain what
Explain how the students in this poem view
RL.5.1 QUOTE accurately from a text when
EXPLAINING what the text says explicitly and the text says explicitly, fifth grade students will need the rain. How do their feelings about the
when DRAWING INFERENCES from the text.
to combine these skills and concepts:
rain change from the beginning to the
end of the poem? Support your answer
 Identify relevant details and examples of a
text in order to explicitly state what the text with important details from the poem.
(RL.5.2, RL.5.1)
means
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DETERMINE a theme of a story, drama or
poem from details in the text including
how characters in a story or drama
respond to challenges or how the speaker
in a poem reflects upon a topic;
SUMMARIZE the text
RL.5.2
.
Use the combination of explicitly stated
information, background knowledge, and
connections to the text to answer questions
they have as they read
Make and revise predictions as they read
Summarize text in order explicitly explain
quote
Drawing Inferences from a text
Use a combination of background
knowledge and specific text evidence to
make implied inferences
Understand that inference is gathering
details from a story to determine/predict
event
Use quotes from the text to explain what the
text says, and to draw and support inference
To determine theme of a story, drama or poem form
details in the text including how characters in a story
or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker
in a poem reflects upon a topic, 5th Grade students
will need to combine the following skills and
concepts:
 Have a bank of possible themes which
connect a character's challenges/lessons
learned/problems faced to a larger theme
 Understand that theme can be applied to
various text (as opposed to a lesson learned
by one character in one book)
 Explain theme by providing 2-3 examples
from the text (character at the beginning
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Explain how the students in this poem
view the rain. How do their feelings about
the rain change from the beginning to the
end of the poem? Support your answer
with important details from the poem.
(RL.5.2, RL.5.1)
Which line in the poem first signals a
change in how the students view the rain?
(RL.5.2)
A. “We study by sunlight.”
B. “The whispering fades”
C. “Leaves flutter,”
CCLS
Coded Standard
Concept Elaboration


and character at the end; turning points in
the plot to match the theme)
Explain the theme by providing a text
summary that highlights the theme
Determine characters' roles in a stories
(actions and reactions)
Assessment Questions
D. “Begin flipping by themselves,”
To summarize the text to explain the theme of a
story, drama or poem, 5th Grade students will need
to combine the following skills and concepts:
 Identify and apply characteristics of an
effective summary for literary text
 Use knowledge of story structure to
summarize the text
 Determine important details including
overarching theme
RL.5.4 DETERMINE the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative language such as metaphors and
similes.
To determine the meaning of words and phrases as
they are used in a text including figurative language
such as metaphors and similes, fifth grade students
need to combine these skills/concepts:
 Actively seek meaning of unknown words by
reading and rereading other
sentences/paragraphs to identify context
clues
 Use context clues to determine meaning of
unknown words and phrases to deepen their
understanding of literary text
 Differentiate between literal and non-literal
meaning
 Identify and interpret figurative language in
text (simile, metaphor, personification,
hyperbole, exaggeration, idiom)
 Analyze how the author uses figurative
language to enhance and extend meaning
 Determine how specific word choices shape
the meaning and tone of a text
Describe how the poet uses figurative
language to give the reader an image
and sense of the rain and of the students’
feelings during the storm.
a. Underline at least one example of
figurative language in the poem
(RL.5.4)
b. Describe how this figurative
language makes you feel and
picture the storm, and understand
the children’s reactions. Support
your answer with details from the
poem. (RL.5.4, RL.5.2)
What is the most likely reason the poet
uses repetition in lines 19 and 20?
Line 34 states that the rain has “a mind of
its own.” Which of the following lines
supports this image?
If this poem of the rainstorm in a
RL.5.5 EXPLAIN how a series of chapters, scenes, or To explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or
stanzas fit together to provide the overall structure of
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CCLS
Coded Standard
stanzas fit together to provide the overall
structure of a particular story, drama, or
poem.
Concept Elaboration
Assessment Questions
a particular story, drama, or poem, 5th Grade
classroom was written in prose, the effect
students will need to combine the following skills and on the reader would have been different.
concepts:
Describe two ways that this author used
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poetic devices to pack BIG FEELINGS into
Identify and describe the text structures of
this poem. (RL.5.5, RL.5.2)
various genres
Describe the structural elements of stories,
drama, and poems
Explain the relationship between parts of text
and whole text
Explain how a series of chapters fit together
to provide the overall structure of a story
Explain how a series of scenes fit together to
provide the overall structure of a drama
Explain how the stanzas fit together to
provide the overall structure of a poem
Use knowledge of the different text structures
of stories, drama, and poems to make
predictions about text
Determine and explain relationships
between parts of text and whole text (e.g.,
series of scenes, chapters, stanzas
Spiraled Reading Standards: RL.5.3, 5.7,5.9
Embedded Writing Standards: W.5.4, W5.9
W5.4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Gradespecific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3.)
W5.9 Draw evidence from literary or information texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
a. a. Apply grade 5 Reading Standards to literature
Embedded Language Standards: L.5.1,L.5.2,L.5.4,L.5.5
L5.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. Explain the function of
conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections in general and their function in particular sentences.
a. Form and use the perfect verb tenses (e.g. I had walked; I have walked; I will have walked)
b. Use verb tense to convey various times, sequences, states, and conditions.
c. Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tense*
d. Use correlative conjunctions (e.g. either/or, neither/nor)
L5.2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
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a. Use punctuation to separate items in a series.*
b. Use a comma to separate an introductory element from the rest of the sentence.
c. Use a comma to set off the words yes and no (e.g., Yes, thank you), to set off a tag question from the rest of the sentence(e.g., It’s true,
isn’t it?), and to indicate direct address (e.g., Is that you, Steve?).
d. Use underlining, quotation marks, or italics to indicate titles of works.
e. Spell grade-appropriate words correctly, consulting references as needed.
L.5.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on based on grade 5 reading and content,
choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
a. Use context (e.g., cause/effect relationships and comparisons in text) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
b. use common, grade--appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., photograph, photosynthesis)
c. Consult reference materials (e.g. dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or
clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.
L.5.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
a. c. Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., synonyms, antonyms, homographs) to better understand each of the words.
Embedded Speaking and Listening Standards:
SL.5.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussion with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly.
a. Come to discussions prepared having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known
about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
b. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussion and carry out assigned roles.
c. Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.
d. Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.
SL.5.4 Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to
support main ideas or theme; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
Assessment Links
Unit Assessment
Recommended Texts
City by Langston Hughes (personification)
Lessie by Eloise Greenfield (metaphor)
Four Eyes by Nikki Grimes (metaphor/strong feelings)
Riding the Subway Train (Alliteration/onomatopoeia/rhyme/Stanza)
Goodnight Juma by Eloise Greenfield (line breaks/repetition)
Rubrics and Scoring Guide Links
Rubric
Resources
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Night Sounds – poem used for Outcome Assessments
Collection of poems for additional reading
Poetic Devices
Mentor Poems
Big Ideas
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Poets use words to paint a picture for the
reader by choosing language that
stimulates thinking
Poets express feelings using imagery,
figurative language and sensory details
Essential Questions
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How does the author reveal the message of the poem through the use of language and
word choice?
Vocabulary
Alliteration
Figurative Language
Line breaks
Metaphor
Onomatopoeia
Personification,
Poetic Device(s)
Prose
Rhyme
Stanza
Voice/dialect
Anchor Charts
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T-charts and 3 column charts for specific
teaching points
Sensory words Anchor chart
Figurative Language Anchor Chart
Speaking and Listening Protocols from
Expeditionary Learning
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Back –to-Back and Face- to –
Face
Outcome Assessments
Each Assessment uses the same poem: Night Sounds by Felice Holman
Outcome Assessment 1
Outcome Assessment 2
Outcome Assessment 3
Outcome Assessment 4
Explain how the author in this poem Describe how the poet uses
If the poem “Night Sounds” by
Which line in the poem first signals
figurative language to gives the
views the night sounds. How do his
Felice Holman was written in prose, a change in how the author views
the sounds in the night? (RL.5.2)
feelings about night sounds change reader an image and sense of the the effect on the reader would
Night Sounds and of the poet’s
Use evidence from the poem to
from the beginning to the end of the
have been different. Describe two
feelings toward the night sounds.
support your answer.
poem? Support your answer with
ways that this author used poetic
 Underline at least one
important details from the poem.
devices to pack BIG FEELINGS into
example of figurative
(RL.5.1)
this poem. (RL.5.5,)
language in the poem
Night Sounds. (RL.5.4)
 Describe the example of
figurative language from
the poem and explain
what you imagine/feel
from reading the poem.
Please Note: *=Teaching point can be repeated with several poems
Page 6
Standard/
Outcome
5.1
Readers
explain what
the text says
and make
inferences.
Teaching Points
(Lesson Objectives)
Unit Launch
3.1 Readers prepare to
read a poem by
reading the title of the
poem and thinking
about what the title
means and what it
conveys.
Checks for Understanding
Teachers can choose to use either
Back-to-Back and Face-to-Face
protocol or Turn and Talk.
Supports and Scaffolds
Determining mood in a
Poem
Instructional Resources & Tools
Getting Ready To Read A Poem
-poem found on this website “A
Patch of Old Snow” by Robert
Frost
Turn and talk: What does this title
make me think of? How does this
title make me feel?
Using The Title To Help Guide Your
Reading Of A Poem
At poem’s end: How did the title
match what the poem was about?
If it didn’t match why do you think
that is?
3.2 Readers learn how to
read a poem out loud
by using their voice, line
breaks, punctuation and
stanza breaks to show
the emotion or mood of
the poem.
Turn and Talk: practice reading
poem to a partner aloud paying
close attention to line breaks,
stanzas, punctuation, voice changes
to show mood or emotion in poem.
Partner gives constructive feedback.
Teachers may need to
create a rubric for students
reading poetry aloud
including constructive
feedback of: phrasing,
intonation, volume,
appropriate use of line
breaks and white space,
rate, emotion or mood
poem evokes.
Reading a poem with rhythm out
loud
Inauguration poem January
2013
3.3a Readers let poems
form strong images by
reading line by line and
sketching what they see
in their mind’s eye.
Teaching points 3.3a
and 3.3b can be
combined or taught
Students listen as a poem is read
aloud twice, then line by line.
Direct students to think explicitly of
the images that the poem creates in
their mind’s eye.
Possibilities for annotating the text:
Highlight important words
Highlight the punctuation
Underline rhyming words
Page 7
Re-read poem line by line in
order to understand the
poem
Use 3 column chart:
 Who is speaking
 What is happening (text
quotation)
 Retell what is happening
in own words
Suggested poem and activity:
“Oil Slick” by Judith Thurman
Additional Resource:
Poem: “A Patch of Old Snow” by
Robert Frost
How to Read a Poem Out Loud
Standard/
Outcome
5.4
Readers
notice and
think about
Teaching Points
(Lesson Objectives)
Checks for Understanding
Supports and Scaffolds
Instructional Resources & Tools
separately depending
on the needs of your
students, and the level
of difficulty in the poem.
Stanza/Structure of poem
3.3b* Readers better
understand their poems
by reading and
rereading each stanza
and making inferences
about the texts
meaning.
Teacher models this using “In The
Garden” (or a different mentor
poem) Read poem stanza by stanza
and express thinking aloud.
Complete the graphic organizer
together and then let students
practice independently.
Teacher creates 3 column
chart with the sections
labeled:
Lines from the text/Mental
Image/Inference
Rereading poems to better
understand them
3.4 Another way readers
understand poems is by
looking for words that
create sensory images
(see, hear, smell, taste,
touch)
Teacher models by reading aloud
one of the mentor poems and circles
the sensory words or phrases that
they see, smell, hear etc. Ask: “how
do these words give me a clearer
picture of what is going on in this
poem?”
Turn and Talk with partner: what
words help you understand how the
poet feels in the poem by what
he/she sees, etc. what was the poet
seeing or hearing? How does the
poet feel about ___? (subject of
poem)
Students read a different
poem and circles the
sensory words that help
make a clear picture in their
mind of what the poet sees,
hears, etc.
Examples of Sensory Poetry
List of Sensory Words
Sensory words anchor chart
example
Suggested poem:
“Frogs at Night” by Adam English)
3.5 Readers learn to
recognize some of the
techniques poets use by
analyzing the poetic
devices used in various
I Do:
Teacher finds example of poetic
devices in multiple poems.
Anchor Chart with examples
of different poetic devices
highlighted
Select poems from the Mentor
Poems to address teaching points
on Figurative Language.
Rhyme –
Rhythm
Possible Discussion Questions:
What does the setting look like?
What do the character(s) look like?
How is the first stanza making you
feel?
What word (seem really important?
What did you see in your mind’s eye?
We Do:
Page 8
Suggested Poem: “In The Garden”
by Emily Dickenson
Visualizing
Standard/
Outcome
figurative
language
(and the
Poetic
Devices
in poetry)
Teaching Points
(Lesson Objectives)
poems.
POETIC DEVICES
INCLUDE
-Rhyme: the ends of lines,
Checks for Understanding
Supports and Scaffolds
Students find some on their own with
poems read in class and share with a
partner.
or internal words
-Rhythm: the poem may
follow a specific rhythmic
pattern or flow in a way
that connects to the
imagery of the poem.
-Repetition: Syllables,
words, or phrases repeat
-Figurative Language:
whenever you describe
something by comparing it
with something else.
*Note: Figurative language
includes onomatopoeia, simile,
metaphor, personification, and
alliteration.
You Do:
Students find examples (on own) and
share with a partner or share out to
class.
3.6 Readers of poetry
better understand the
author’s message by
paying close attention
to the rhyme, repetition,
and rhythm of words or
phrases in a poem. We
ask: What is the author
trying to show by using
these poetic devices?
Casey At the Bat
by Ernest Lawrence Thayer
Turn and talk: Students identify words
or phrases repeated (or words that
rhyme or have rhythm) in a poem.
Instructional Resources & Tools
Repetition - Goodnight Juma by
Eloise Greenfield (line
breaks/repetition)
Figurative Language
Lessie by Eloise Greenfield
(metaphor)
City by Langston Hughes
(personification)
Four Eyes by Nikki Grimes
(metaphor/strong feelings)
Riding the Subway Train
(Alliteration/onomatopoeia/rhym
e/Stanza)
Column Chart:
Words or phrases
repeated/why author chose
to use this poetic device/
message it conveys to
reader
Below are the outcome
assessment questions that should
be referenced when discussing
poetic devices:

If this poem was written in
prose, the effect on the
reader would have been
different. Describe two ways
that this author used poetic
devices to pack BIG FEELINGS
into this poem.

What is the most likely reason
the poet uses repetition
(Rhyme, or rhythm) in lines
____and____?
Quick Write: Why did the author
choose to use this poetic device?
What message is the author trying to
convey to the reader?
How do these poetic devices help
the author get his message across?
Page 9
Standard/
Outcome
Teaching Points
(Lesson Objectives)
Checks for Understanding
Supports and Scaffolds
Readers look for examples of
figurative language such as: similes
(like, as), metaphors, or examples of
personification (giving human
characteristics to non-human things)
3.7 Readers identify why
authors use figurative
language in poems
Ask: What images do these
comparisons help me see? Underline
the words or phrases that are being
compared in the poem and jot
down what these comparisons might
mean.
Instructional Resources & Tools
Suggested Poem: “Song” By
Ashley Bryan
“Harlem” [Dreams Deferred] by
Langston Hughes
Figurative Language Anchor
Chart
Turn and Talk/Stop and Jot:
 Explain how the author in this
poem views _______ (what is
being compared)
 How do the authors feelings
about ____ change from the
beginning of the poem to the
end?
RL.5.5
Explain how
the parts of a
poem fit
together to
form the plot
structure of a
text.
3.8 Readers of poetry
identify the structural
elements of a poem to
help them understand the
overall meaning of the
poem
Students study the different type of
structure that poets use to
communicate the meaning of their
poem. (see PowerPoint in the
teacher resources)
Compare and contrast the
difference between prose and other
forms of poetry (Haiku, free verse,
etc.) graphic organizer:
 teacher resource: talking point to
differentiate prose vs. poetry
 share examples of each
Lesson on Prose vs. Poetry
PowerPoint on Poetry and Prose
PowerPoint on Poetry and
Prose
Learnzillion lesson on analyzing the
structure of a poem to understand
the author’s message. – click
here
Explain how the stanzas fit
together to provide the overall
structure of the poem.
Outcome assessment question: If
the poem ____ was written in
Page 10
Standard/
Outcome
Teaching Points
(Lesson Objectives)
Checks for Understanding
Supports and Scaffolds
Instructional Resources & Tools
prose, the effect on the reader
would have been different.
Describe two ways that this author
used poetic devices to pack BIG
FEELINGS into this poem. (RL.5.5,
RL.5.2)
3.9 Readers think about
the structure and ideas
of a poem by noticing
how the stanzas fit
together
Read the first stanza of a poem and
ask: what was this about?
See scaffold support
Graphic Organizer
Read the second stanza of a poem
and ask: what was this about? How
did this stanza change what I know
about the poem?
Mark the text: Using the
poem, A Patch of Old Snow
by Robert Frost, mark up the
text by highlighting with
different colors the stanza
breaks, rhyming words,
punctuation and the
phrases that really stand out
in the text. (see learnzillion
lesson)
Ask: Why would the poet choose to
put the stanzas in that order?
3.10 Readers determine
Readers make note of the specific
the overall message or
words/phrases that evoke those
theme of a poem by first emotions. (Readers notebook or sticky
looking for the topic or
notes)
5.2
subject
of
the
poem
Readers tell
what a story is (being in school, wanting
something, growing up).
really about by
Then we ask: What is the
explaining a author trying to teach us
theme or about this topic?
message
3.11 In order to find the
Students revise their thinking by jotting
theme of a poem, readers notes after each line or stanza in a
identify how the speaker poem:
in the poem reflects upon
a topic.
 Read a bit and pause to ask:
Page 11
Learnzillion lesson on analyzing the
structure of a poem to understand
the author’s message. – click here
Highlighting with different
colors words and phrases that
evoke emotion
Learnzillion Lesson: Determining the
Theme in a poem.
Column chart –
Specific words or phrases/
Casey at the Bat by Ernest Thayer
emotions associated with
words/ what is the author
trying to teach us
Teach the word theme before
Note to teachers: reflect on how
the lesson. Make an anchor
you taught theme in Unit 1. Go
chart with the word, definition,
back to your Big Ideas poster that
and example most students
lists typical themes in poems and
would recognize
Standard/
Outcome
Teaching Points
(Lesson Objectives)
Checks for Understanding
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Supports and Scaffolds
What's going on? What do I see? Explicitly teach: Teach theme
What do I feel?
using SMART Board. Circle
Read more, adding or deleting
unfamiliar words and write
details; asking: what is this starting familiar words in the place of
to be about?
unfamiliar. Make an anchor
JOT IT DOWN…
chart with the new definition
Then we push ourselves to say, in for students to refer
our own words: This poem is mostly
about...
Page 12
Instructional Resources & Tools
stories.
Outcome Assessment question that
is on the Poetry Unit Test connected
to theme:
Which line in the poem first signals a
change in how the author views the
_______ (topic)? (RL.5.2)