Grade Level: 3 - 5

Standards | Lesson Plan | Templates | Assessment

Standards

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Lesson Plan

Purpose:

• To read and interpret a poem
• To use a poem as a model for interpreting student's own philosophies
• To use lively words to show, not tell
• To produce a graphic to illustrate poem

Step by Step…

Step 1		Read the poem "If I Were in Charge of the World" from the book If I Were in Charge of the World and Other Worries: poems for Children and their Parents by Judith Viorst.
Step 2		Discuss the poem. Try to break down the various sections to see what kind of information is in each section.
Step 3		Have the students create their own poem modeled after the poem. They can do this on paper for their rough draft or you can compose it at the computer without formatting to edit later.
Step 4		Read through and edit poem. Key it in or edit on the computer.
Step 5		Using a graphics program such as KidPix have the students modify a scanned or digital image of themselves (such as those provided by Lifetouch). Have them also draw a thought bubble and illustrate by using images in their poem).
Step 6		Export this picture into their word processing document.

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Example of Finished Project

If I were in Charge of the World
By Ali

If I were in charge of the world
I'd cancel long lectures by my parents,
Broccoli and brusell sprouts,
Nerve-racking tests, and also all
Disgusting, artificial grape flavored, cough medicine.

If I were in charge in the world
There'd be longer breaks for school,
Unlimited candy, and
Teachers wouldn't give any homework.

If I were in charge of the world
You wouldn't have to be a certain age to drive,
You wouldn't have drugs or alcohol,
You wouldn't have taxes to pay, and
You wouldn't have any diseases.

If I were in charge of the world
All candy would be at the bottom of the food pyramid,
Every one would be treated equally,
And a person who sometimes lies
And a person who sometimes treated others horribly,
Would still be allowed to be
In charge of the world.

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Assessment

Linking Technology & Literacy | Language Arts | Teaching and Learning | MMSD