Poetry TASK OVERVIEW Poetry was a means of communication long before people used written language. Even in later civilizations, where  few poeple could read or write, poems were created to communicate history and newsworthy events, as well as to entertain and inspire. To this day, most poems are best enjoyed when read aloud because of their musical sound, rhythm, and language. INSTRUCTIONS Poetry Workshop: IN PHASE ONE: Self-Portrait Poetry Each student will begin a self-portrait section of a personal anthology. A self-portrait poem is one you choose because it tells something about you or your life. You are to choose poems that connect to your life and copy them into your personal anthology. Use "post-it notes" to indicate what the poem says to you (connections). Leave the first two pages blank. Make sure you copy the poems exactly as written, placing words the way the author placed them. Then, illustrate the poem chosen. IN PHASE TWO: Responding to Poems After each minilesson on the different techniques learned for that day, find poems that reflect those techniques and place them in your anthology. Continue to use "post-it notes" to indicate what the poem says to you, and the technique the author is using. IN PHASE THREE: Connect Your Own Poem Choose one poem from your anthology for each of the following techniques: simile, personification, metaphor, shape, rhyme & sound patterns, and rhythm.  Use a coloured pencil to formally indicate what the poem says to you, and underline the technique the author used. Then write a poem that links one of your chosen poems in some way. For example, repetition, same topic, favourite phrase or line, same mood. Illustrate the poem,  re-write the author's poem on the left and your poem on the right (making a two page spread). IN PHASE FOUR: Finding the Poetry in Your Life Assignment: Write and illustrate your poem about something that is meaningful to you. (writer's notebook). Work on draft paper, revise and edit to achieve published pieces. One poem for each of the following techiniques: simile, personification, metaphor, shape, rhyme & sound patterns, and rhythm. Use a coloured pencil to formally indicate the technique the author used by underlining it. ASSESSED SKILLS Communication Writing  six poems with the following techniques: simile, personification, metaphor, shape, rhyme & sound patterns, rhythm produces pieces of writing using a variety of forms, techniques and resources appropriate to the form and purpose, and materials from other media Application of Language Conventions Revise and edit. proofreads and corrects final drafts, focusing on grammar, punctuation, spelling, and conventions of style Communication Use of effective vocabulary. selects words and expressions to create specific effects (e.g. to distinguish between speakers in dialogue) Organization of Ideas Table of contents. accurately uses appropriate organizers (e.g., table of contents, index) Reasoning simile, personification, metaphor, shape, rhyme & sound patterns, rhythm recognizes and interprets figurative language (e.g., a simile) in the speech of others and uses it to add interest to