The students are asked to clear their desk except for a pen and 2 pieces of paper. They are told that in today’s lesson no books or other materials will be needed. The teacher then tells them that she is going to play them a piece of music called My Heart Soars that was inspired by a Native American poem. She asks the students to close their eyes and imagine a place, any place, somewhere as familiar as their bedroom or exotic as a Caribbean island. Somewhere they have been or want to go. She also asks them to imagine something happening in this place, a conversation with a friend or some type of action. The teacher then plays the music for about 3 minutes.

Establishing Purposive Focus:

• The students are asked to open their eyes and to share with the class what they saw as the music was being played. After about ten students have shared with the class, the teacher tells the students that when something is expressive it is powerful and moving. She also tells them that as they can see from the different responses from their classmates, that an expressive piece of music evokes different meanings for different people. The teacher then tells the students that today we are going to talk about a type of poetry called figurative poetry.

Part One: Defining the terms:

• The teacher puts up an overhead with the definition of figurative language on it, and the two main types of figurative language: metaphor and simile. She goes over the definitions of each of the terms on the overhead and gives them examples of each. The teacher also tells them that they use figurative language everyday when they speak such as when they say something as simple as, "the test was murder." The teacher ask the students if they have any questions about the concepts just presented

• The teacher introduces the poet Robert Frost to the class and tells them that he is known for his use of figurative language within his poetry. She gives each student a copy of his poem "The Road Not Taken," and tells them that they are not only privileged enough to be able to read his poem, but will also be able to hear a recording of the author reading his own poem. After the recording of the poem is played, the teacher asks the students to identify the metaphors that he uses in the poem. The class has a mini discussion about the poem, and the teacher acts as a moderator through this discussion.

The teacher tells the students that now they are ready to write their own figurative poem, and tells them that they are going to use a method called title down poetry to write their poem. She explains how this method works: each student is given an object (in this case a candy bar) and must write the name of the object from top to bottom on their paper (the teacher models this on the board). Then what the student must do is start each line of their poem with the letter of their object (again the teacher models this on the board). The teacher ask the students if they have any questions and then has one of the students give each student in the class a candy bar so they can do their project. She tells them that they have approximately 10 minutes to complete this task and turns on music while they are writing.

The students write their poem. She tells them that they can write on any subject or topic, as long as it is appropriate. The teacher reminds their class that the subject matter of a poem isn’t as important as if it is powerful and moving. As they are writing the teacher walks around the classroom to see if any help or clarification is needed for this project. If general questions are asked, the teacher will address the entire class regarding them. She will also remind the class to use metaphors and similes in the their poems.

The teacher calls time on the writing process and asks the students to come to the front of the room and to share their poems with the class. After each poem is read, the teacher gives positive reinforcement to the student that has just read their poem. In conclusion the teacher tells the students that from this sharing they can see the many varieties and styles that figurative poetry can take. The teacher also encourages the students to now look at poetry in a different light, as something fun and creative.