Edgar-Allen-Poetry-Contes... - America SCORES
Edgar-Allen-Poetry-Contes... - America SCORES
Edgar-Allen-Poetry-Contes... - America SCORES
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Halloween <strong>Edgar</strong> <strong>Allen</strong> <strong>Poetry</strong> <strong>Contes</strong>t Lesson Plan<br />
<strong>Poetry</strong> Starters<br />
Recommended Time: 1 Workshop<br />
Objective<br />
Students will create a Halloween poem.<br />
Materials:<br />
Journals and Pencils<br />
Creepy effects for the Author’s Chair<br />
Weathered “letter” from <strong>Edgar</strong> <strong>Allen</strong> Poe (try soaking it in coffee or tea<br />
and then leaving it in the sun)<br />
Literary Moment :<br />
• Start the class by quoting from the Raven, as if it happened to you.<br />
For example: “So you guys, last night, ‘upon a midnight dreary,<br />
while I pondered weak and weary, over many a quaint and curious<br />
volume of forgotten lore. While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly<br />
there came a tapping, as of some one gently rapping, rapping at<br />
my chamber door.<br />
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -<br />
Only this, and nothing more.' “<br />
• Tell the students that, when you opened the door, all you found was<br />
this letter- and read the letter from <strong>Edgar</strong> <strong>Allen</strong> Poe. Explain that you<br />
started the class by quoting from one of his most famous poems,<br />
The Raven.<br />
Writing Time<br />
Brainstorming<br />
• Ask students to think of what Halloween reminds them of: animals,<br />
monsters, other scary things, candy, their personal Halloween<br />
memories, etc. What about modern-day Halloween do they want<br />
to share with Mr. Poe Have a volunteer write a few ideas on the<br />
board.<br />
• If your students need more help getting started, feel free to read a<br />
few of the supplementary Halloween poems.<br />
Modeling<br />
• Choose a few key words from the board and model writing a short<br />
poem about Halloween- focus on the use of descriptive language<br />
to create atmosphere.<br />
Guided Practice
• Ask the students to choose a few words from the board or their<br />
notebooks and free-write scary, eerie or creepy images to go with<br />
them.<br />
• Rotate around the classroom to encourage and give ideas, while<br />
also watching out for overly explicit imagery.<br />
• After five minutes, have a few volunteers share their images.<br />
Independent Work<br />
• Give students approximately 15 minutes to write their poem.<br />
Remind them the students that they can tell a story, re-count a<br />
Halloween memory, describe a creepy Halloween characteranything<br />
goes, as long as it’s somehow connected to Halloween!<br />
• As they write, rotate through the classroom giving feedback,<br />
encouragement and helping students who might be stumped.<br />
Author’s Chair<br />
• Now is the time for students to present! You can help create a safe,<br />
encouraging environment by reading a poem yourself, and always<br />
giving the students the option to pass.<br />
• If possible, try to give the Author’s Chair a creepy atmosphere by<br />
dimming the lights, throwing on a few spiderwebs or giving the poet<br />
a flashlight to hold under their face as they read!<br />
• After a student presents, have the other students provide positive<br />
feedback: an image or rhyme they found particularly scary,<br />
disgusting or funny, or something that reminded them of their own<br />
life.<br />
• You may want to write down “golden words” or phrases on your<br />
Word Wall of Fame.<br />
• Remind students of any upcoming events or projects for the week.<br />
• Encourage students who felt successful with this to consider<br />
submitting their poem for the Halloween contest.
Hello dear reader,<br />
If the person reading this letter is a teacher of many young<br />
poets, then it has fallen into the correct hands. If not, please<br />
hurl it to the wind and let the rightful owner find it.<br />
My name is <strong>Edgar</strong> <strong>Allen</strong> Poe. You may be surprised I am writing<br />
you, seeing as I have been dead for more than 160 years. No<br />
matter.<br />
I write with a simple request. While I lived, I tried to survive<br />
with one and only one career- that of a writer. I created the<br />
detective story, was a literary critic, and a poet. Many of my<br />
poems and stories, like “The Raven,” and “The Tell-Tale Heart,”<br />
were well known for having a certain scary, spooky quality.<br />
Because of this, my favorite holiday has always been Halloween.<br />
However, for more than 160 years I have missed this haunting<br />
night of trickery and terror. Each October 31 st , I have been<br />
buried in the ground, forced to content myself with only<br />
listening to the shrieks from above.<br />
That is why I have come to you. I want to know what Halloween<br />
is like now- the sounds, the smells, the scares. As I am a poet, I<br />
think the most fitting form to learn about what I have been<br />
missing would be through a poem.<br />
Please ask your young poets to create a poem with their vision<br />
of Halloween. I will read all of them, and select that which best<br />
speaks to my tortured soul. On the eve of the eve of Halloween,<br />
the poet who has written the best poem will receive a spooky<br />
prize package- and perhaps, if I can dig myself out, a visit from<br />
me.<br />
My one and only hope is that, after reading these poems, I will<br />
finally rest in peace.<br />
Hauntingly yours,<br />
<strong>Edgar</strong> <strong>Allen</strong> Poe
Halloween<br />
By Harry Behn<br />
Tonight is the night<br />
When dead leaves fly<br />
Like witches on switches<br />
Across the sky,<br />
When elf and sprite<br />
Flit through the night<br />
On a moony sheen.<br />
Tonight is the night<br />
When leaves make a sound<br />
Like a gnome in his home<br />
Under the ground,<br />
When spooks and trolls<br />
Creep out of holes<br />
Mossy and green.<br />
Tonight is the night<br />
When pumpkins stare<br />
Through sheaves and leaves<br />
Everywhere,<br />
When ghouls and ghost<br />
And goblin host<br />
Dance round their queen.<br />
It's Halloween.<br />
Haunted House<br />
by Jack Prelutzky<br />
There's a house upon the hilltop<br />
We will not go inside<br />
For that is where the witches live,<br />
Where ghosts and goblins hide.<br />
The demons there are whirling<br />
And the spirits swirl about.<br />
They sing their songs to<br />
Halloween.<br />
"Come join the fun," they shout.<br />
But we do not want to go there<br />
So we run with all our might<br />
And oh we will not go inside<br />
The haunted house tonight.<br />
Witches’ Stew<br />
by Gareth Lancaster<br />
Bubble, blubber, squirm and<br />
gloop,<br />
Boiling broth of bat's tail soup.<br />
Wobble, slobber, liquid goo,<br />
Add the sole of one old shoe.<br />
Spooky shadows dance around,<br />
Of frogs and rats and snarling<br />
hounds.<br />
Steam swirls rising to the roof,<br />
Add one small ear and one old<br />
tooth.<br />
Gnarly, scratchy, tickle and itch,<br />
Stir round and round to make it<br />
rich.<br />
Mushy, sticky, sizzle and stew,<br />
They're making mischief just for<br />
you!<br />
Tonight they have their party,<br />
All the lights are burning bright,<br />
But oh we will not go inside<br />
The haunted house tonight.
T he other day, we had a particularly odd visitor at the <strong>America</strong> <strong>SCORES</strong><br />
office. His clothes were old-fashioned and smelled musty, his hair was<br />
disheveled and his mustache was slightly uneven. He looked like he hadn't<br />
seen the sun in a few years- 160 years, in fact. His name was <strong>Edgar</strong> <strong>Allen</strong><br />
Poe, and he needs your help!<br />
He left a letter meant to reach our young athlete-poets, in which he<br />
requests that the students submit Halloween poems for the <strong>America</strong><br />
<strong>SCORES</strong> Halloween <strong>Edgar</strong> <strong>Allen</strong> <strong>Poetry</strong> <strong>Contes</strong>t.<br />
The steps of the contest:<br />
1. Please read the letter from <strong>Edgar</strong> <strong>Allen</strong> Poe to your class. Have fun with<br />
it! Make it look weathered, add details to your story, dress up, whatever!<br />
2. Dedicate one class to writing and performing Halloween poems (see<br />
attached lesson plan for a clear outline).<br />
3. Submit Halloween poems<br />
to mmannion@americascores.org byThursday, October 27th.<br />
4. <strong>Edgar</strong> <strong>Allen</strong> Poe and some of his spooky friends will visit the October 29 th<br />
game day to perform the winning poem and award awesome prizes to<br />
the winners.<br />
With your help, we can get some great, spooky poems for our Halloween<br />
game day!<br />
Thanks for all you do!<br />
Marty Mannion<br />
Education Director