Setting the stage: A few days before teaching this lesson, talk to students about how we change every day. Some people change dramatically in a short period of time for a variety of reasons, but most of us change slowly on a day-to-day basis. Slow but noticeable changes is the theme of this poetry assignment.
Then share the wonderful picture book by Arthur Howard, When I Was Five, which shows how a little boy notices the changes in his life that happen in just one year. The most important things stay the same, but in a single year many things change. Ask your students to start thinking of periods from their childhoods when they are/were aware of small changes based on material things they owned and places they loved to be. "Warn" them that in a few days you will be having them write a poem, and they'll need to think about their favorite things from childhood to complete the poem.
Step one…sharing the song: Before playing the song, My Favorite Things, for your students, instruct them to analyze the song's lyrics and to discover what they believe the three or four best images in box 1 of this graphic organizer are. Play the song or show the video clip from The Sound of Music.
Have students Think-Pair-Share what they've written in box 1 with a partner before finally sharing ideas with the whole class.
Next, have students list ten of their favorite “material” items from when they were children in box 2. Encourage students to be as specific as possible. Have students share what these items are to the class to possibly spark more ideas for others and to let them share their fond childhood memories.
Now jolt your students' memories by bringing them back to the When I Was Five story from a few days back. In box three, have them recall (and describe from memory) as many favorite things the narrator shared in that story in box 3. After they have finished remembering and writing, you can re-read the story, if you wish.
Next, have students list ten of their favorite “non-material” items in box 4. Have students really elaborate and focus on their senses. Example, Don’t say “rain,” but “the drumming the rain makes against the concrete as I lay in bed drifting off to sleep” or not just “the taste of chocolate,” but “the gooey mess the chocolate chips make as I peel the cookie apart and let the chocolate ooze into my mouth.” This box is broken up by the senses to have two examples for each.
Finally, read this summary for the movie, The Ultimate Gift:
“Jason Stevens is a trust fund baby, who has never worked a day in his life, and money has always been there for him. It is probably true that the rest of his aunts and uncles, all greedy, selfish people, were raised the same. Jason’s grandfather, Red Stevens, dies and leaves most of the aunts and uncles nothing. For a reason that comes off as manipulated, Red thinks that Jason is redeemable, whereas the rest of his related humanity is not. So, Red leaves a series of video messages and assignments for Jason to complete, hoping that Jason will learn to reject vanity and the self-absorbed playboy life, and become a charitable, generous, self-less community icon. And what happens? Just that. After the trailer there is nothing more to discover. Jason acts the brat, but his greed forces him to work, respect money, make a true friend, value learning, etc.-times 12, until at the end of the movie, his grandfather's attorney rewards him with control of the two-billion dollar estate.”
If you're on a computer that allows you to see YouTube videos, you can watch the trailer below. Try downloading the trailer onto your classroom iPod so you can show it in class.
Assure your students that at some point in their lives, they will (quickly or slowly) undergo a dramatic change that will shape them into the adults they are destined to become. As adults, they will be different than they are right now. The Ultimate Gift is the story of a young man who doesn't really see a need to change, but experiences and motivations make it happen anyway. Have students refer to the graphic organizer to answer the posed questions in box 5. Again, have students Think-Pair-Share this question box, then share ideas out loud with the class.
Tell your students they will be writing a poem about favorite things, and their poem will have three parts to it: favorite things from distant childhood, favorite things from the present, and favorite things they believe they'll have as they become adults.
Step two…introducing student models of writing: In small groups, have your students read and respond to any or all of the student models that come with this lesson. The groups should certainly talk about the idea development, since it's the focus of the lesson, but y ou might prompt your students to talk about each model's word choice as well.
We're looking for student samples for all other grade levels for this prompt! Help us get some, and we'll send you a free resource for your classroom! Visit our student samples page for information.
Step three…thinking, talking, and pre-writing:Now, have students list ten of the favorite things they wish, dream about, or hope for the future in box 6 of the same graphic organizer. Try to encourage examples that are realistic sounding, perhaps similar to the life lessons from the movie: that backbreaking, sweaty hard work feels good, and that gaining friends who will keep even the darkest secrets is right. Again, focus on the imagery they are creating.
Finally, instruct students to think of a minimum of three things that would put a damper on their day in box 7. Some things may include receiving a speeding ticket, getting a flat tire, losing your keys, etc.
This Rhymin’ Time graphic organizer might add more educational value to this lesson, as well as allow students to explore different types of rhyme to include in their own songs/poems. Go through the different types of rhyme with the students. Then, have them choose one of their favorite things for each type of rhyme from their brainstorms. The very last box on the Rhymin' Time G.O. reads, “Your choice”. Have students choose whatever type of rhyme they like best and state what they chose on the line provided.
Finally have them make a rhyme, with their chosen style, to the word "things" since that is a given word at the end of almost every verse in the song. Eventually they will need at least three words that, in some way, rhyme with the word “things.”
If you have access to computers, it might be fun and useful to go to www.rhymezone.com so that students who can’t think of a word to rhyme with one of their favorite things can have access to multiple words the computer generates.
When brainstorming and graphic organizers are complete, have students compose their poems' rough drafts on this rough drafting sheet.
Step four (revising with specific trait language): To promote response and revision to rough draft writing, attach WritingFix's Revision and Response Post-Its to your students' drafts. Make sure the students rank their use of the trait-specific skills on the Post-Its, which means they'll only have one "1" and one "5." Have them commit to ideas for revision based on their Post-It rankings. For more ideas on WritingFix's Revision & Response Post-Its, click here.
Step five (editing for conventions): After students apply their revision ideas to their drafts and re-write neatly, require them to find an editor. If you've established a "Community of Editors" among your students, have each student exchange his/her paper with multiple peers. With yellow high-lighters in hand, each peer reads for and highlights suspected errors for just one item from the Editing Post-it. The "Community of Editors" idea is just one of dozens and dozens of inspiring ideas that is talked about in detail in the Northern Nevada Writing Project's Going Deep with 6 Trait Language Workbook for Teachers.
Step six (publishing for the portfolio): When they are finished revising and have second drafts, invite your students to come back to this piece once more during an upcoming writer's workshop block. Their stories might become a longer story, a more detailed piece, or the beginning of a series of pieces about the story they started here. Students will probably enjoy creating an illustration for this story as they get ready to publish it for their portfolios.
Interested in publishing student work on-line? We invite student writers to post final drafts of their original at WritingFix's Community of Student Writers. This is a safe-to-use blog for students and teachers. No writing is posted until it is approved by the moderator. Contact us at publish@writingfix.com if you have questions about getting your students published.
Learn more about The Ultimate Gift by clicking here.
