After comparing several of Joyce Sidman’s poems from This is Just to Say with the original poem written W.C. Williams, students will plan an apology poem that asks for forgiveness, even if the asker doesn't really seek forgiveness . Students will list five things they wish they could be forgiven for, or they can make a list of five people for whom they might owe an apology. Then, inspired by the original poem or the poems in This is Just to Say, students will create an original poem of forgiveness. Teachers: click here to read the entire lesson plan.
6-Trait Overview for this Lesson:
The focus trait in this writing assignment is sentence fluency; fitting original words into an original poem's rhythm scheme is a great way to experiment with sentences that flow. The support trait in this assignment is idea development; encourage your students to choose interesting words to rhyme with as they compose their apology poems explore the topics they choose uniquely and interestingly.
Recipient of the NNWP's Excellent Writing Lesson Award:
Because of the quality of its resources and ideas, this WritingFix lesson was selected by the Northern Nevada Writing Project as November 2008's Writing Lesson of the Month. It was e-mailed to thousands of teachers who are members of the NNWP's Writing Lesson of the Month Teacher Network.
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Because of the quality of its resources and ideas, this WritingFix lesson was selected by the Northern Nevada Writing Project as November 2008's Writing Lesson of the Month. It was e-mailed to thousands of teachers who are members of the NNWP's 
