This Lesson's Title:

Poems about Ages and Stages

an original poem inspired by Harry Chapin and Shakespeare

This lesson was created by Northern Nevada Writing Project Consultant Rob Stone.

This writing prompt inspired by

"Cat's in the Cradle" sung by Harry Chapin

Click here to do a Google search for the lyrics.

Three-Sentence Overview of this Lesson:

William Shakespeare’s The Seven Ages of Man famously pointed out how life happens in stages, and it is no surprise that many stories, movies, songs and poems follow suit. Modeling the Bard himself and Harry Chapin’s Cat’s In The Cradle, which breaks a father-son relationship into four stages (verses), each student will describe some part (or all) of his/her life as four definitive stages in an original poem. Like Chapin, students will interject a thoughtful, themed statement (chorus) throughout the poem that ties this reflective and introspective activity together. Teachers: Click here to see the entire lesson plan.

6-Trait Overview for this Lesson:

The focus of this lesson is idea development because a unifying theme or message will tie the three stages together under a central idea. The support trait is voice as student writers will convey these personal poems using passion and emotion.