This Lesson's Title:

Writing a Backwards Poem

using verbal irony as poetic inspiration

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

The intended "mentor text" to be used when teaching this on-line lesson is the chapter book Holes by Louis Sachar. Before writing, students should listen to and discuss the writing style of this book's author, especially from chapter 1 of the book.

Check out Holes at Amazon.com.

If you are a Washoe County teacher, click here to search for this book at the county library.

Teacher Instructions & Lesson Resources :

Pre-step (before sharing the published model):  This is a great assignment to do right before your class does a read-aloud or a project centered around Holes by Louis Sachar.  It allows students to start playing with the notion of verbal irony, so they can spot it easier in Sachar's marvelous award-winning novel.

You can certainly do this poetry assignment without reading the book at all, of course.  A "Backwards Poem" is just an enjoyable assignment for students who are exploring poetry and creating their own explorations of words.

Show our backwards poem example on your overhead.  Click here to open it so you can print it.  Have your students create their own definitions of "Backward Poems" by discussing the poem.  Have students share variations of the poem they may have heard.

Define irony (the opposite of what a reader expects) in writing for your students.  Talk about how backwards poems are extreme versions of irony.

Step one (sharing the published model):  Share the first line--perhaps the entire first chapter--of Holes.  Talk about how the first line is verbal irony.  If you are reading the whole novel, point out that students will want to be on the look out for other irony in the novel, since Sachar has set up the tone for irony with his very first sentence. Brainstorm, as a class, and write five or six interesting adjectives on the board.  For example: delicious, powerful, pathetic, hysterical, frozen.  Challenge your students to think of a noun that you wouldn't think should follow the adjective. 

delicious garbage
powerful weakling
pathetic hero
hysterical funeral
frozen lava

This type of verbal irony (which are actually called oxymorons) are to be the beginning inspiration for their original "backwards poems."  Ask students, "Could you use the phrase delicious garbage in a humorous line of poetry?   If you can, then you are going to do very well with this poetry assignment."

Step two (introducing student models of writing): In small groups, have your students read and respond to any or all of the student models that come with this lesson.  The groups should certainly talk about the word choice , since that's the focus of this assignment .  You might prompt your students to talk about each model's voice as well. 

• We're looking for student samples for all grade levels for this prompt!  Help us get some, and we'll send you a free resource for your classroom!  Contact us at publish@writingfix.com for details.

Step three (thinking and pre-writing): The interactive buttons on the Student Instruction Page might help inspire your students to begin brainstorming for this poetry assignment. 

Students will need a blank piece of paper for sketching and labeling.  Students will begin their pre-write by completing their sketch and labeling it with words. Before beginning to write, students should meet with a partner and edit for ideas. 

Step four (revising with specific trait language):   To promote response and revision to rough draft writing, attach WritingFix's Revision and Response Post-Its to your students' drafts.  Make sure the students rank their use of the trait-specific skills on the Post-Its, which means they'll only have one "1" and one "5."   Have them commit to ideas for revision based on their Post-It rankings.  For more ideas on WritingFix's Revision & Response Post-Its, click here.

• Sheet of 6 Word Choice Post-It Notes
• Sheet of 6 Voice Post-It Notes

Step five (editing for conventions):  After students apply their revision ideas to their drafts and re-write neatly, require them to find an editor.   If you've established a "Community of Editors" among your students, have each student exchange his/her paper with multiple peers.  With yellow high-lighters in hand, each peer reads for and highlights suspected errors for just one item from the Editing Post-it.  The "Community of Editors" idea is just one of dozens and dozens of inspiring ideas that is talked about in detail in the Northern Nevada Writing Project's Going Deep with 6 Trait Language Workbook for Teachers.

Step six (publishing for the portfolio):   When they are finished revising and have second drafts, invite your students to come back to this piece once more during an upcoming writer's workshop block.  Their stories might become a longer story, a more detailed piece, or the beginning of a series of pieces about the story they started here.  Students will probably enjoy creating an illustration for this story as they get ready to publish it for their portfolios.

Interested in publishing student work on-line?  We invite student writers to post final drafts of their original at WritingFix's Community of Student Writers.  This is a safe-to-use blog for students and teachers. No writing is posted until it is approved by the moderator. Contact us at publish@writingfix.com if you have questions about getting your students published.

Learn more about author Louis Sachar by clicking here.