Hashem, Differentiated Lesson Plan

SEI LESSON PLAN: Reading Pablo Nerudas Poem Fear

Danah Hashem

LESSON INTRODUCTION
Content/Curriculum Area: English Language Arts
Grade Level: 9th
Lesson Theme/Topic: Reading Fear by Pablo Neruda
Description of Classroom Population (include demographics, class characteristics, WIDA
ELD levels/Can Do descriptors, etc.): This lesson is intended for use in a 9th grade ELA
classroom of 15 students. Of these 15 students, 7 are male, 8 are female, and 4 are WIDA Level 3
students. All the ELL students speak Spanish as a primary language.
Brief Description of the Lesson Instructional Context (when, where, and why this lesson fits
into overall curriculum): This lesson is a 2-day lesson that takes place near the beginning of the
academic semester in a larger unit on poetry. Students will have acquired very little literary
terminology at this point and will still be exploring broader literary concept such as theme and
perspective.

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LESSON PREPARATION
(SIOP 1)
Curriculum Standards Addressed in this Lesson: discipline, standard number, and description
(SIOP 1.3):
ELA.RL.910.2. 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.
Content Objectives (SIOP 1.3):
Teacher version: SWBAT identify and analyze Pablo Nerudas development of a central theme
in his poem Fear.
Student-friendly version: SWBAT find and analyze a main idea and how it develops in Pablo
Nerudas poem Fear.
Language Objectives (SIOP 1.2):
Teacher version, Mainstream: SWBAT use key content vocabulary to articulate, in discussion
and then in writing, how Pablo Nerudas main idea develops throughout the poem Fear.
Teacher version, WIDA Level 3: SWBAT use key content vocabulary to articulate, in
discussion and then in writing, how Pablo Nerudas main idea develops throughout the poem
Fear with the support of sentence and paragraph frames.
Student-friendly version: SWBAT use vocabulary to discuss and write about Pablo Nerudas
main idea and how they see it developing in his poem, Fear.

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Key Vocabulary: Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 words (SIOP 2.9):
Tier 1: shocked
Tier 2: notice/noticing, relentless, treacherous, mortals, innards, imprison
Tier 3: stanza
Mentor Text (SIOP 1.4): English Translation
Fear by Pablo Neruda (adapted slightly)
Neruda, Pablo. Fear. Trans. Alastair Reid. The Poetry of Pablo Neruda. Ed. Ilan
Stavans. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003. 466-467. Print.
Everyone is after me to exercise.
get in shape, play football,
rush about, even go swimming and flying.
Fair enough.
Everyone is after me to take it easy.
They all make doctors appointments for me,
Eyeing me in that certain way.
What is it?
Everyone is after me to take a trip,
to come in, to leave, not to travel,
to die, and alternatively, not to die.
It doesnt matter.
Everyone is noticing problems
in my innards, suddenly shocked
by awful X-ray images.
I dont agree with them.
Everyone is picking at my poetry
with their relentless knives and forks,
trying, no doubt, to find a fly.
I am afraid.
I am afraid of the whole world,
afraid of cold water, afraid of death.
I am as all mortals are,
made to wait.
And so, in these brief, passing days,
I shall put them out of my mind.
I shall open up and imprison myself
with my most treacherous enemy,
Pablo Neruda.
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Mentor Text (SIOP 1.4): Spanish Translation
El miedo by Pablo Neruda
Neruda, Pablo. El miedo. The Poetry of Pablo Neruda. Ed. Ren de Costa.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979. 15-16. Print.
Todosmepidenquedsaltos,
quetonifiqueyquefutbole,
quecorra,quenadeyquevuele.
Muybien.
Todosmeaconsejanreposo,
todosmedestinandoctores,
mirndomedeciertamanera.
Qupasa?
Todosmeaconsejanqueviaje,
queentreyquesalga,quenoviaje,
quememuerayquenomemuera.
Noimporta.
Todosvenlasdificultades
demisvscerassorprendidas
porradioterriblesretratos.
Noestoydeacuerdo.
Todospicanmipoesa
coninvenciblestenedores
buscando,sinduda,unamosca,
Tengomiedo.
Tengomiedodetodoelmundo,
delaguafra,delamuerte.
Soycomotodoslosmortales,
inaplazable.
Poresoenestoscortosdas
novoyatomarlosencuenta,
voyaabrirmeyvoyaencerrarme
conmimsprfidoenemigo,
PabloNeruda.
Source/Supplementary Materials (SIOP 1.4):
See Appendices A, B, and C for class presentations and handouts
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Lesson Sequence and Timing

Day 1: 60 minutes
Time

Activity

5 minutes

Introduce the topic and content/language objectives.

15 minutes

Vocabulary presentation

5 minutes

Big Words activity: There are pieces of paper around the room, each with one
vocab word printed in the middle. Students take a pen and spend 5 minutes
going from paper to paper, drawing or writing anything that comes to mind
when they think of that word. It can be anything that helps them understand
what the word means. As students write, I will be circulating with them in order
to double check the accuracy of their associations.

10 minutes

Get into groups of 2-3. Each group takes a word paper and discusses that word
along with the class illustrations and writing on it. Each group comes up with
one real life example that uses their word.
Example: If my word is shocked, I would say One time my mom was
shocked when I dyed my dog pink with Koolaid.
As groups work, I will be circulating to make sure that each group accurately
understands the definition of their word. Each group will choose one member to
share their example with the class.

15 minutes

Work in pre-determined pairs (ELLs and mainstream students integrated

intentionally) to read and annotate the poem. Explain that the poem is originally
written in Spanish, as Neruda is a Chilean poet. Both translations are on the
handout; we will be working with the English translation, but you can use the
Spanish one to help your understanding or get an idea of the original poem. I
will be available to circulate and monitor.
Instructions:
Read the poem
Stop after each stanza and
o Highlight words from our vocab list
o Box new words you dont understand
o Underline confusing lines
o Draw a star next to what you think is the most important sentence
Do these things for each stanza!

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10 minutes

Still in pairs
Recall the meaning of any words from our vocab list
Discuss what you think any boxed words mean. You can use your phones
and class dictionaries to look it up.
See if understanding those words helps clarify any of the underlined
sections
Ask students to read the annotated poem over at home and come in next class
with any underlined sections they still dont understand. Bring the annotated
copy of poem back next class!

Day 2: 60 Minutes
Time

Activity

2 minutes

Review the topic and objectives.

10 minutes

Review vocabulary with the vocabulary chain activity. Each student will have a
randomly selected card with one vocabulary word and the definition for another
vocabulary word. The first student reads their definition out loud. The student
with the corresponding vocab word reads their word and then their definition.
This chain continues until all vocab words have been read.
As this class has 15 students and there are only 6 vocab words for this poem, we
will review 9 words from a prior lesson and mix our 6 new words into the game.
Note: All the vocab words with their images and writings from last class Big
Words activity will now be posted on the wall to work as a word wall as we play
this game.

10 minutes

Work in pairs from last class to try to understand any lines that still dont make
sense. I will circulate during this time to guide discussion and make sure
everyone feels comfortable with the poem.

10 minutes

As a large group, discuss the following questions:

What is the main idea that the author is discussing here? (Consider the
title and repeating words or lines)
How does the main idea change over the poem?
If we had to give the poem have a beginning, middle, and an end, where
would those lines fall?

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25 minutes

Pairs will now group up into groups of 4. Each group of 4 will work together on
their individual graphic organizers, which will be completed and handed in at
the end of class.
I will model the completion of the first row for the class so they understand how
the graphic organizer works.

3 minutes

Go over homework, which is due at the beginning of the next class period.
Model example answers to all three questions.
Stress that students should
Explain how the authors main idea develops in the beginning, middle,
and end of the poem.
Use as many direct quotes from the poem as possible to explain your
statements.
Use their graphic organizers to direct their final answers.

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Appendix A
Supplementary Materials: Vocabulary Presentation

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Appendix B
Supplementary Materials: Handouts

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Item B.1: Poem Handout for Day 1

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Item B.2: Graphic Organizer for WIDA Level 3 Students, Day 2

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Item B.3: Graphic Organizer for Mainstream Students, Day 2

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Appendix C
Supplementary Materials: Homework

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Item C.1: Homework for WIDA Level 3 Students, Day 2

1) How do Pablo Nerudas fears change throughout the poem?
In the beginning of the poem (Stanzas 1-4), Neruda seems to feel ________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________.
In the middle of the poem (Stanzas 5-6), Neruda seems to feel ________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________.
In the last stanza of the poem (Stanza 7), Neruda seems to feel ________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________.

2) What do you think the main idea of this poem is and why?
I think the main idea of this poem is _______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________.
I think this because Pablo Neruda says ______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________,
which shows that _______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________.
3) Give an example of something about Nerudas main idea that reminds you
of your own life. Use a direct quote from the poem.
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When Pablo Neruda wrote
_______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
________________,
it reminded me of when I
_________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_________________.
Item C.2: Homework for Mainstream Students, Day 2

1) How do Pablo Nerudas fears change throughout the poem?

2) What do you think the main idea of this poem is and why?

3) Give an example of something about Nerudas main idea that reminds

you of your own life. Use a direct quote from the poem.

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