Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: High School english I observed an English classes of juniors and seniors with teacher Mrs. Quartetti. The various classrooms had a combination of middle, working, and lower class socio-economic statuses. It was interesting to see how every classroom had a diverse melting pot of students with many diverse ethnicities: White Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and different Spanish American ethnicities as well. My experience with Mrs. Quartetti’s classroom gave me more motivation and passion behind working in public schools. The last day I had with Mrs. Qurartetti’s she allowed me to give a 20-minute lesson to all her classes. She asked me to do a lesson on poetry, it was what the classroom was starting that week. It was a Wednesday and my nerves were getting the best of me right before the bell. But once the class sat down and gave me their full attention I was ready to teach young minds. It was such a rush, a thrill I can’t explain. That was when I knew I had a massive passion for teaching. My lesson overview consisted of the students learning about the art of spoken word and free verse poetry. After the lesson the students would write their own spoken word poem about something they were passionate about. The Lesson objectives were for the students to identify different elements of poetry such as- alliteration, assonance, and consonance. The instructional resources and lesson materials needed are: Hip Hop or Shakespeare Quotes, Sarah Kay- “If I should Have a Daughter” spoken word poem, and “Why I hate School But Love Education” Sulibreezy spoken word poem. My Opening Activity included beginning with playing “Hip Hop or Shakespeare.” I read lines from Shakespeare as well as hip-hop lyrics and asked students to take a vote on whether they think Shakespeare said it, or a hip-hop artist said it. (Explain to students how songs, especially hip-hop songs, are a great example of poetry.) I then reminded students what a free verse poem is and then explained spoken word to the students. I then proceed to show students the ‘If I Should Have a Daughter” video as well as “Why I hate School but Love Education.” (Asked students to look for some of the poetic devices that we learned about previously. Discuss what the topics of these poems were about.) I also asked them: “what are some things that stood out to you?” I then had students create a list of 5 things that they know to be true. It can be about anything. Once they did that it was time for them to create a poem. It had to be a page long and creative. It was then to be shared the next day in class. I feel my lesson was a great approach that included an interactive way to get students to work together in achieving higher order thinking- this was an example of Accomplish Practice Four-Critical Thinking.: To insure effective student problem solving and creativity. I attempted to use a topic that the students could relate to, a topic that made it easy for students to stay engaged and interested. I was very lucky to have been given the chance to create such a fun lesson for Mrs. Quarettis classes. It was the best field experience I could of received. She gave me enough room to be creative and helpful with her class. I was not expecting to go into this assignment getting such a great teacher. Even though I was the student in this assignment I also got to be the teacher. It was such a joy to get a great teacher who showed such passion and love for her classroom. Walking into Mrs. Quaartetti first period with the 11th grade English class, I did not know what to expect- but I got an experience I will never forget. Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) Exposure to a variety of learning styles and materials is the absolute best was to engage secondary level learners. Way to go on this lesson!