"Find the Theme with Found Poetry"
Best done after you've finish a work of fiction—or an important section of it—this lesson will review the theme of a work of fiction, and create "found poetry" from the work to evoke the theme.
Objective
Students will:
—Identify the theme of a work of fiction.
—Select lines from the work of fiction that demonstrate the theme.
—Create a poem composed of lines from the story to support that theme.
—Explain how their poem demonstrates the theme.
Standards:
This lesson can be used for multiple grades, and your discussion of theme can reach the appropriate level depending on the grade.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.2
Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
Materials:
—Work of fiction
—Flocabulary video for a work of fiction of choice
—Flocabulary video "Five Things"
—Found Poetry worksheet
Time
1+ Class Period
Sequence
1. Watch the Flocabulary video "Five Things" and review the definition of theme.
2. Watch the Flocabulary video for your work of literature to review the story. (You can also use this lesson if we don't have a video for your work of literature. Just skip this step! )
3. On the the Found Poetry worksheet, have students write down a theme of the story you've just completed and the reasons why they think that is the theme. Discuss as a class.
4. Share with students the definition of "Found Poetry." Found poetry takes existing lines or phrases and reorders them in the format of a poem. Typically, found poetry is made from random news headlines, street signs, billboard ads, graffiti, flyers, etc. You can search for "found poetry" online to find images you like that you can share with your class.
5. Watch the Flocabulary video "The Necklace." Read the example of the found poetry and discuss as a class how it addresses a theme of the story.
6. Using the Found Poetry worksheet, ask students to create their own work of Found Poetry for your work of fiction.
7. Students share their poem and explain why they selected the lines they did.
Wrap Up / Extension
Discuss how found poetry could extend beyond just works of fiction. (Like words found in the street, advertisements, etc.) Ask students to create a found poem using words that they see at home, or on their way home.