Welcome to This Lesson:

The Backwards Poem Assignment

using verbal irony or oxymorons as a poetic inspiration

This lesson was created by NNWP Teacher Consultant Kelly Nott during an
AT & T-sponsored inservice class for teachers.

The mentor text:

Holes celebrates language, with its verbal irony and use of palindromes. This lesson celebrates the book's writing style!

Three-Sentence Overview of this Lesson:

After listening to excerpts from Holes, students will discuss ways that author Louis Sachar uses irony, antonyms and vivid vocabulary to develop his story.   Using a graphic organizer, students compare and contrast these characters/places with their names (for example:  Camp Green Lake is actually a dried up lake that is a detention center for delinquent boys).  The interactive button game below will provide and/or inspire students with creative, interesting options for contrasting character traits/names and setting descriptions/place names in order to create a “backwards poem.” Teachers: click here to read the entire lesson plan.

6-Trait Overview for this Lesson:

The focus trait in this writing assignment is word choice; playing with words (through irony and oxymoron) is the inspiration of this lesson.  The support trait in this assignment is voice; using humor smartly is a skill that writers should practice as they discover their own voices in writing.