This Lesson's Title:

The Backwards Poem Assignment

using verbal irony or oxymorons as a poetic inspiration

This lesson was created by NNWP Teacher Consultant Kelly Nott during an
AT & T-sponsored inservice class for teachers.

The intended "mentor text" to be used when teaching this on-line lesson is the chapter book Holes by Louis Sachar. Before writing, students should listen to and discuss the writing style of this book's author, especially from chapter 1 of the book.

Check out Holes at Amazon.com.

If you are a Washoe County teacher, click here to search for this book at the county library.

Three-Sentence Overview of this Lesson:

After listening to excerpts from Holes, students will discuss ways that author Louis Sachar uses irony, antonyms and vivid vocabulary to develop his story.   Using a graphic organizer, students compare and contrast these characters/places with their names (for example:  Camp Green Lake is actually a dried up lake that is a detention center for delinquent boys).  The interactive button game below will provide and/or inspire students with creative, interesting options for contrasting character traits/names and setting descriptions/place names in order to create a “backwards poem.” Teachers: click here to read the entire lesson plan.

6-Trait Overview for this Lesson:

The focus trait in this writing assignment is word choice; playing with words (through irony and oxymoron) is the inspiration of this lesson.  The support trait in this assignment is voice; using humor smartly is a skill that writers should practice as they discover their own voices in writing.