Teacher Instructions & Lesson Resources:
 Step one…sharing the book, the poem, and the song: Put four large heart-shaped pieces of chart paper on the board. Ask the students what those hearts represent. When the students talk about love, tell the students that today they will be writing about the various kinds of things that they love. Then, read the Brigitte Minne’s book, I Love, aloud.
Ask the students to turn to a partner and share with that partner after you offer the following prompts:
- Talk about one thing you love to do in the winter, spring, summer, and fall.
- Talk about something you love to do with either your mother or father.
- Talk about something you love to eat.
- Talk about someone you love and why that person is so special to you.
Now, ask the students to share their ideas with the entire group as you put their ideas on the four charts:
- Something you love to do
- Something that you love to feel
- Something that you love to eat
- Someone you love
If students talk about loving food items like chocolate, probe for more detail, like: What kind of chocolate do you love best? What else do you love to eat that has chocolate in it? If students talk about loving sports, probe for specific details like: Do they love to play a sport, and if so, which one. What part of that sport is the best? Do they love to watch that sport in real life or on T.V. Do they like to talk to their friends or family members about that sport?
 Remind the students that these four charts will act as Content Word Walls (to be used for spelling purposes) and as an idea springboard.
Next, play the song “I Love” by Tom T. Hall. You can find a video version of this song on You-Tube. Put the lyrics on the overhead and play it again so that you and the students can sing the song along with Tom. T. Hall.
Inform students that they will be writing their own poems/songs about things they love.
Younger students will use the song "I Love" as a model for their poems. Older students will use the title poem from Eloise Greenfield's Honey, I Love (and Other Love Poems) as their model for their poems.
With older students doing this lesson, read Eloise Greenfield's poem slowly. Put a copy of the poem on the overhead, and read it a second time, allowing the students to see the poem as they listen. Examine the poem closely, asking students to notice what Greenfield did to compose each stanza of the poem (rhyming couplets, repetition of words and phrases). Be sure to point out the rhythm of the poem so that students who can’t or don’t want to rhyme can still build the rhythm and follow the model.
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 will 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.
Step three…thinking, talking, and pre-writing: Introduce this pre-writing template with younger students. With the help of the students, fill out the template using information from the four charts. After the addition of each line, sing the song to check that the word choice matches the rhythm of the song. Remind younger students that Tom T. Hall’s song reflects the things that he loves. Their job will be to write a song that reflects the things that they love. They can use the charts for ideas and spelling, and they need to sing each line they write to check for the appropriate rhythm of the song.
With older students, fill out this version of the pre-writing template. You might pull your lowest functioning students to a table to support them during this stage of the writing. Depending on the age of the students or level of disability, you may choose to write another group poem with the students before they start doing this independently.
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