Standard Lesson
Writing Free Verse in the "Voice" of Cesar Chavez
Grades
6 - 8
Lesson Plan Type
Standard Lesson
Estimated Time
Four 40- to 50-minute class sessions
Author
Publisher
ILA
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Overview
This lesson gives students the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the characteristics of free verse and to write a free verse poem using written material about the labor activist Cesar Chavez. First, students read about experiences that helped shape the life of Chavez and take descriptive notes about these experiences. Using these notes, each student composes a first draft of a free verse poem in the "voice" of Chavez. With the help of graphic organizers and a rubric, they revise, polish, and share their poems with their classmates.
From Theory to Practice
- Nonrhyming verse is often easier than rhyming verse for students to write successfully.
- As a genre, free verse has few restrictions; thus, students with a range of skills and abilities can write it successfully.
- By giving students strategies to improve their poems, it is possible to help students write more powerful poetry.
Common Core Standards
This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.
State Standards
This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.
NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts
- 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
- 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
- 9. Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.
Materials and Technology
- Cesar Chavez: A Real-Life Reader Biography by Susan Zannos (Mitchell Lane Publishers, 1998)
- Chart paper
Printouts
Websites
Preparation
| 1. | Obtain a copy of Cesar Chavez: A Real-Life Reader Biography by Susan Zannos. |
| 2. | Photocopy the passage about Chavez's early school experiences from Cesar E. Chavez: Middle School Biography (chapter 2, paragraph 1) so that each student can have a copy. Read the passage. Using the graphic organizers Preparing to Write a Free Verse Poem About Cesar Chavez and Focusing on the Language of Your Free Verse Poem, write sample sentences or phrases to convey information about Chavez's early school experiences that you will later discuss with students. Include descriptive words and strong verbs. |
| 3. | Select and photocopy one or more passages about Chavez's life from Cesar E. Chavez: Middle School Biography so that each student can have a copy. Appropriate passages include:
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| 4. | Write "A Bad Day at School" on chart paper. |
| 5. | Make an overhead transparency of Characteristics of Free Verse Poetry. Also, write the characteristics on a sheet of chart paper and post it in the classroom. |
| 6. | Make overhead transparencies of the graphic organizers Preparing to Write a Free Verse Poem About Cesar Chavez and Focusing on the Language of Your Free Verse Poem, and also photocopy them so that each student can have copies of both handouts. |
| 7. | Make an overhead transparency of the Rubric for Polishing Your Poem and also photocopy it so that each student can have a copy. |
Student Objectives
Students will
- Identify the characteristics of free verse and be able to use the characteristics in the writing of a free verse poem
- Express the impact of specific experiences on Cesar Chavez's life and write descriptive notes about these experiences from Chavez's viewpoint
- Compose a free verse poem in the "voice" of Chavez that recounts his experiences
- Revise and polish the free verse poem using specific strategies, including graphic organizers and a rubric
Session 1
| 1. | Ask students what they know about Cesar Chavez, the labor activist and founder of the United Farm Workers (UFW). Then have students develop questions that they still have about Chavez. Using an overhead projector, write the questions that students generate. |
| 2. | Read aloud chapters 3 through 5 of Cesar Chavez: A Real-Life Reader Biography by Susan Zannos. As you read, have students take notes as they hear the answers to their questions. (Not all questions they have asked will be answered by the reading.) |
| 3. | Discuss the answers to students' questions. |
Session 2
| 1. | Read aloud three free verse poems, including
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| 2. | Ask students to identify what they think are the distinguishing characteristics of a free verse poem. Then summarize the characteristics by referring to the Characteristics of Free Verse Poetry that you have posted in the classroom. |
| 3. | Distribute copies of chapter 2, paragraph 1 from Cesar E. Chavez: Middle School Biography. Have students read this passage silently. |
| 4. | Have students name the major events in the passage. Copy them onto an overhead transparency. |
| 5. | Point out to students that the poem "A Bad Day at School" is based upon the events described in the passage. Explain that the poem relates the events in the first person. That is, as a young child, Chavez is speaking to his mother about his early school experiences. The poem is told in Chavez's words and from his point of view. Tell students that after reading about events in the life of Chavez, they, too, will write a free verse poem in Chavez's voice. |
| 6. | Display the graphic organizer Preparing to Write a Free Verse Poem About Cesar Chavez on an overhead projector. Model the use of the graphic organizer by referring to the one that you prepared in advance of the lesson (see Preparation, 2) and explaining how the organizer is used to summarize the events in Chavez's life. |
Session 3
| 1. | Distribute copies of the story that you have selected from Cesar E. Chavez: Middle School Biography. |
| 2. | Have students read the story silently or aloud. |
| 3. | If all students are writing poems based upon the same story, review the events of the story. Write down the events using an overhead projector. |
| 4. | Distribute the graphic organizer Preparing to Write a Free Verse Poem About Cesar Chavez. |
| 5. | Give students time to use the graphic organizer to tell the story using their own descriptive words and phrases. Remind them that they must write in the first person, from Chavez's perspective. Discuss how Chavez's language, description, and perspective on the event might change as his age changes. After they write these notes, it may help to break their notes into shorter lines by using a slash to indicate line breaks. |
| 6. | Show students the model of Focusing on the Language of Your Free Verse Poem that you prepared in advance for "A Bad Day at School" (see Preparation, 2). Go over it with them, explaining changes that you made in the language of the poem. |
Session 4
| 1. | Have students revise their poems by using Focusing on the Language of Your Free Verse Poem. Students can add new words and eliminate unnecessary words. Provide one-on-one assistance to those who need further help with this aspect of the writing process. |
| 2. | Have students read first drafts of their poems in collaborative groups of four or five students. |
| 3. | Give students the Rubric for Polishing Your Poem, which presents strategies for writing powerful poetry. Help students evaluate their own poems; read each question aloud and have students fill in the answer. Discuss how they will use the rubric to determine which parts of their poems need revising. |
| 4. | Give students time at home (from one weekend to a full week) to polish their poems and to write final drafts. |
Extensions
- Have students read final drafts of their poems in class.
- Reinforce students' understanding of the free verse poetic form by examining the poem "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins.
- Using a second story about Cesar Chavez, have students write another free verse poem from the point of view of Chavez, using the graphic organizer to summarize the event and the rubric to polish the poem.
Student Assessment / Reflections
- Have students find and share three more examples of free verse poetry. Have them tell, orally or in writing, the characteristics that make them free verse poems.
- Use the Rubric for Polishing Your Poem to assess the final drafts of the poems that students have written for this lesson.
- Using Preparing to Write a Free Verse Poem About Cesar Chavez, evaluate whether students' poems are an accurate representation of the story.
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