Lesson Plan- Sharing Your Writing with a Key   Pal

Components

The student writes to communicate ideas and information effectively                                                                                 

The student uses telecommunications to collaborate, publish and interact with peers

Objectives

1. Check out poetry books from media center or library and visit poetry web sites Toyo Haiku and Cinquain
2. Read various poems about the weather 
3. Vocabulary: identify and describe types of poems: haiku, diamante, shape, name and rhyming couplets 
4. Create a weather word wall containing examples of synonyms, antonyms, homonyms and words with multiple meanings 
5. Choose a style of poem and write a rough draft using desktop publishing 
6. Edit with buddy 
7. Rewrite poem; use thesaurus to expand vocabulary 
8. Publish using desktop publishing 
9. Using email, send poem to key pal and ask key pal to write a weather poem and send it back 
10. Read poems aloud in class

Competency

The student will demonstrate acquisition and use of expanded vocabulary through the writing of a weather poem and emailing poem to key pal.

Extension Activities

• After writing initial draft of poem, instruct students to use e-mail and send partial poems to key pals. Key pals can be identified at Epals Classroom Exchange located at EPals and Global Schoolhouse . Ask key pals to read and add lines of their own, then e-mail poems back. Continue this process until the key pals complete a poem together.
• Brainstorm ideas for weather poems describing the sights, sounds, smells and physical sensations of thunder, lightning, rain, sun and wind. Use a thesaurus to add interesting vocabulary. Paint weather pictures to illustrate poems or write shape poems (umbrella, raindrop, tornado and sun).
• Post weather poems on the Internet at ZUZU  and Haiku
• Use weather poems as a section in HyperStudio, PowerPoint or Kid Pix multimedia project

Homework

Look up hurricane, tornado, tidal wave, cyclone, tropical storm, and typhoon in encyclopedia or online encyclopedia and describe the characteristics of each

Field Trip

Visit a local science museum to learn more about the weather and weather trends. 

Resource

Thomas. S. The Poetry Pad. Royal Fireworks Press. New York. 1993.