GT Differentiated Exemplar Lesson
ELAR TEKS/Student Expectations:
Grade Level: 5
Subject Area(s):
Title:
X Reading, Writing,
__ Science
Writing Expository Poetry
__ Mathematics
__ Social Studies
Essential Question(s): How do effective writers engage their audience and
hold their attention throughout the piece?
Writing Expository Poetry
5.16 Writing/Literary Texts. Students write literary texts to express their ideas and
feelings about real or imagined people, events, and ideas.
5.16B write poems using:
(i) poetic techniques (e.g., alliteration, onomatopoeia)
(ii) figurative language (e.g., similes, metaphors)
Assessment(s):
(iii)graphic elements (e.g., capital letters, line length)
__ Pre-Assessment
X Formative
GT Scope and Sequence Skills:
st
(Aligned with 21 Century Skills Framework &
College and Career Readiness Standards)
X Creative Thinking
X Critical Thinking
X Communication
Summative
Student Learning Styles:
Elements of Depth and Complexity:
X Auditory
X Language of the Discipline
__Ethical Considerations
X Visual/Spatial
X Details
__Unanswered Questions
__ Kinesthetic
X Patterns
__ Over Time
__ Other
__ Trends
__ Different Perspectives
__ Rules
X Big Ideas
__ Research
Lessons and Activities
X Whole Class
__ Small Group
X Independent Activity
PART ONE:
Whole Class:
1a) Students write down, and then share what they already know about poetry.
2a) Use poetry examples from the website in the Resources to review types of poetry and the structural elements of
poetry.
3a) Use tongue twisters to review or introduce alliteration: a repetition of consonant sounds: Peter Piper picked a pair
of pickled peppers.
4a) Use the poems Giant Jam Sandwich and Long Trip from the Resources website for examples of alliteration
5a) To review or introduce onomatopoeia: the use of words that imitate the sound of what they represent, students
make sounds that classroom items make, and then write down the word for that sound. For example a pencil taps, a
clock ticks, a chair scrapes on the floor.
6a) Use the poems Sure-Footed Shoe Finder and At the Flick of a Switch from the Resources website for examples of
onomatopoeia.
Resources:
Poetry Study Module AISD pdf file
with websites, tips, definitions,
strategies, lessons, graphic organizers,
poems
Figurative Language Activities website
with lesson ideas, PowerPoint
presentations, activities, and quizzes
Figurative Language in Songs, Part 1
YouTube Video with explanation of
the song examples
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Austin Independent School District
7a) Use the PowerPoint presentations Figurative Language Lesson and How to Identify Figurative Language Lesson from
the website in the Resources to introduce or review simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, and understatement.
8a )Use the poems Darkness is My Friend, The Mother of My Movement, Walk Lightly, and The Circle and the Poles from
the Resources website for examples of figurative language.
9a) Students independently practice and write down examples of this lesson’s techniques:
o Create alliteration phrases about fruits and vegetables.
o Brainstorm the sounds that individual fruits/vegetables make and write down the words that represent the
sounds those objects make.
o Create similes with colors, textures, smells, and tastes of individual fruits/vegetables. (As pale as a mashed
potato)
o Brainstorm attributes of individual fruits/vegetables to create metaphors. (Joe is the onion of the gang;
multilayered.)
o Assign verbs to fruits/ vegetables to create personification. (The apple danced in my lunch box.)
On Grade Level:
Students practice writing poetic techniques and figurative language with other topics such as animals, plants, sports,
shoes, music genre, etc.
GT Level Group:
10a) Students practice writing poetic techniques and figurative language with student selected topics. They are also
challenged to write examples of hyperbole and understatement.
PART TWO:
Whole Class:
1b) Students brainstorm lists of science, social studies, art, music, and P.E. topics that they have already learned and
enjoyed. Then they narrow the topics to 3 from all the lists that in which they are willing to write a poem.
2b) Use the Resources Poetry Study Module Analyze a Poem to Write a Poem strategy and graphic organizer with some
of these poems from the same module:
 The Mother of the Movement
Some Rivers
 Walk Lightly
A Word to the Wise
 A Symphony of Trees
The Circle and the Poles
 All But Blind
Bats (The Good Guys)
3b) Complete a few with the students. Students complete some independently.
4b) Use the Resources Poetry Study Module to discuss the Four Elements to Make a Successful Poem: theme, purpose,
mood, form. Then, students decide those elements about the poem they will write based on a topic from step 1b.
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Austin Independent School District
5b) Students use their poetic techniques/figurative language practice and a graphic organizer, such as the one in
Analyze a Poem to Write a Poem, to brainstorm and pre-write a poem about their selected topic, theme, purpose,
mood and form.
6b) Students use elements of the writing process to complete the composition of their poems.
7b) As the students write, interrupt with a mini lesson on line breaks, found in the Resources Poetry Study Module.
GT Level:
1) Students independently complete the “Four Elements to Make a Successful Poem.”
2) From the Purpose section, students use their selected topic from step 1b and theme to write a persuasive paragraph,
an entertainment paragraph, and an informative paragraph.
3) Students write poems that have different moods and form for the same topic.
Whole Class:
Students present poems to the class and publish them around the room. A gallery-style walk with sticky notes could
give the students an opportunity to appreciate the form, the diversity, and the creative imagery/figurative language in
each author’s voice. Give the students the sentence stem: “I noticed…” to begin each sticky note sentence with and
have them leave the sticky notes on each poem (Mount the poem on a larger sheet of construction paper so that there
is room for the sticky notes and the examples of positive feedback or questions for students to see and discuss.)
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Austin Independent School District
Process Assessment
Teacher observes the following:
Process Observation - Frequency
Student uses correct terminology during interactions with peers and teacher.
Seldom/Never
Occasionally
Often
Consistently
Process Observation – Frequency
The student is able to guess the genre of a book by its criteria.
Seldom/Never
Occasionally
Often
Consistently
Process Observation – Quality of Creative Thinking
Typical of Peers
Student uses creativity throughout the stages of the task.
Fluent Thinker
Flexible Thinker
Unique and Original
Process Observation – Quality of Analytical Thinking
Typical of Peers
Student analyzes information during the task.
Fluent Thinker
Flexible Thinker
Unique and Original
Product Assessment
Score
Genres
Booklet
Critical Thinking
3
Student compares and contrasts
fiction and non-fiction books.
The content highlights unique information
for the two genres and shows connections
to books not previously read aloud in class.
Student applies knowledge of the
distinguishing characteristics of genres to make
predictions and verify the predictions.
2
Student compares fiction and nonfiction books.
Includes distinctive information for each
genre in the booklet. The content easily
connects to the books read aloud in class.
Student applies knowledge of the
distinguishing characteristics of genres to make
predictions.
Includes distinguishing information for each
genre in the booklet.
Student predicts the contents of a book.
1
Student distinguishes between fiction
and non-fiction books.
Advanced Academic Services
Austin Independent School District