Lesson Title: What are the elements of poetry?
Grade: 6
Duration: 1 class period
Overview:
Students will develop an overall appreciation for the genre of poetry, as well as develop
active reading, listening and critical thinking skills through the understanding that all
literature can be explained, interpreted, and delivered differently
Students identify the elements and vocabulary of poetry, and learn to recognize and apply
poetry-writing strategies
Preinstructional Planning
Outcomes: Students will…
Demonstrate an understanding of standard-specific poetry elements and vocabulary
Demonstrate an understanding of standard-specific writing strategies and apply them to
poetry writing
Demonstrate an understanding of standard-specific speaking strategies and apply to oral
poetry presentations
Demonstrate an ability to respond, analyze and think critically about poetry
Materials
"Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" printables from Paul B. Janeczko's book Opening a Door:
Reading Poetry in the Middle School Classroom:
"Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" Literary Elements Guide printable
"Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" by Gary Soto printable
"Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" Response Sheet printable
"Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" Supporting Evidence Graphic Organizer printable
Transparency sheets and overhead projector or computer and projector
Student notebooks or writing paper (to record important "Elements of Poetry"
vocabulary)
Pencils
During Instruction
SET UP
1. Either make transparencies of the following printables or load the PDFs on your
computer to project for class instruction:
"Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" by Gary Soto printable
"Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" Response Sheet printable
"Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" Supporting Evidence Graphic Organizer printable
2. Make copies of the "Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" by Gary Soto printable and "Ode to
Pablo's Tennis Shoes" Supporting Evidence Graphic Organizer printable for all students.
3. Read the "Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" Literary Elements Guide printable for further
discussion questions and related poem suggestions.
LESSON DIRECTIONS
Step 1: Before reading the poem, ask students to list a few common things for which they are
grateful (for example: toothpaste, pencils, jackets, etc.). Have them pick one of their "common
things" and explain why it's important to them.
Step 2: Distribute the copies of the "Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" by Gary Soto printable and
the "Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" Supporting Evidence Graphic Organizer printable to all
students. Have students read the poem silently and then again in pairs or small groups. Pick at
least two volunteers to read the poem to the entire class.
Step 3: Display the "Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" Response Sheet printable for the class to view
and ask students to answer the questions in their notebook.
Step 4: Review the poetic terms from the same Response Sheet printable. Have students write
the terms and definitions in their notebooks.
ode: a poem that celebrates a subject
mood: the atmosphere in a piece of writing
figurative language: non-literal expressions to get across certain ideas or things more
vividly
metaphor: a comparison of dissimilar things that implies some sort of equality between
the things
simile: a comparison that uses "like" or "as"
Step 5: Using the "Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" Literary Elements Guide printable, explore the
poem with the class by focusing on the ode form, the mood of the poem and how it makes you
feel, and the figurative language (similes and metaphors) used in the poem.
Step 6: Have students reread the poem, this time with the "Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes"
Supporting Evidence Graphic Organizer printable in mind.
Step 7: Have students write what they learned about Pablo in the left column of the graphic
organizer and write down evidence from the poem that supports their statements in the right
column.
Post Instructional
EVALUATION
What part of this lesson was most interesting to students?
Were most students engaged in the lesson?
Are students looking at their tennis shoes in a new way?
Should you change anything in the way you present this lesson?
LESSON ASSESSMENT
Review the completeness of students' notebook answers to the "Ode to Pablo's Tennis
Shoes" Response Sheet printable questions and listed poetic terms and definitions.
Observe student participation during class discussions.
See Resources below
Lesson Plan from: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-
content/what-are-elements-poetry/
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EXPLORATION 1
“Ode to Pablo’s Tennis Shoes”
Gary Soto
They wait under Pablo’s bed, He wants to be
Rain-beaten, sun-beaten, Like his shoes,
A scuff of green A little dirty
At their tips From the road,
From when he fell A little worn
In the school yard. From racing to the drinking fountain
He fell leaping for a football A hundred times in one day.
That sailed his way. It takes water
But Pablo fell and got up, To make him go,
Green on his shoes, And his shoes to get him
With the football There. He loves his shoes,
Out of reach. Cloth like a sail,
Rubber like
Now it’s night. A lifeboat on rough sea.
Pablo is in bed listening Pablo is tired,
To his mother laughing Sinking into the mattress.
to the Mexican novelas on TV. His eyes sting from
His shoes, twin pets Grass and long words in books.
That snuggle his toes, He needs eight hours
Are under the bed. Of sleep
He should have bathed, To cool his shoes,
But he didn’t. The tongues hanging
(Dirt rolls from his palm, Out, exhausted.
Blades of grass
Tumble from his hair.)
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EXPLORATION 1
“Ode to Pablo’s Tennis Shoes”
Gary Soto
Some of your students might be surprised that a poet could write a poem about a pair of dirty ten-
nis shoes. They might ask, “What’s so important about a pair of tennis shoes?” In “Ode to Pablo’s
Tennis Shoes,” Gary Soto shows us that these shoes are, indeed, quite important to Pablo. And, by
focusing on details and making some telling comparisons, Soto elevates these tennis shoes in a way
that will have many readers understanding that they are not just another pair of sneakers.
OPENERS Before reading the poem, have students:
1. List a few everyday, common things for which they are grateful.
2. Pick one of their “common things” and explain why it’s important to them.
• Distribute the poem and have students read it silently and then in pairs or small groups. Pick at
least two volunteers to read the poem to the entire class.
• Distribute the Response Sheet 1 on page 37. Ask students to answer the questions and review
the poetic terms.
• Explore the poem with your class by focusing on:
FORM
The ode is a poem that celebrates a subject. It has a venerable history, going back to Pindar and
Horace in ancient Greece. Pindar’s odes were meant to be sung and danced in a theater. Horace’s,
on the other hand, were more meditative and contemplative. Odes were quite popular with the
English Romantic poets. Among the more famous odes from the period are: “Ode to a
Nightingale” and “Ode to a Grecian Urn” by John Keats, “Dejection: An Ode” by Samuel Taylor
Coleridge, and “Ode to the West Wind” and “To a Skylark” by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Originally, the ode was dignified and written in exalted language. Over time, however, poets
have relinquished such formality. One of the more prolific writers of odes is Chilean poet Pablo
Neruda, who wrote three books of odes, the best of which are collected in the bilingual edition of
Selected Odes of Pablo Neruda (University of California Press, 1990). With its informality and exu-
berance, Gary Soto’s “Ode to Pablo’s Tennis Shoes” is a good example of a contemporary ode.
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EXPLORATION 1
MOOD
One of the things that any good writer does is establish a mood in a piece of writing. How does
the piece make you feel? Scared or sad or angry, perhaps? After your students have read the poem
to themselves or have heard a classmate or two read it aloud, you might ask them: How did you
feel when you read “Ode to Pablo’s Tennis Shoes”? How do you think Pablo feels?
Soto creates a feeling of relaxation after an active day of “leaping for a football.” Pablo is rest-
ing, while his tennis shoes “wait under Pablo’s bed.” The boy is “listening/To his mother laugh-
ing” as she watches the Mexican soap operas on television. His tennis shoes, “that snuggle his
toes,/Are under his bed.” He’s not bathed, which suggests he has just tumbled into bed. He wants
to be “A little worn,” like the shoes that “He loves.” Pablo “is tired/Sinking into the mattress.”
The boy is ready for the eight hours of sleep that he needs.
IMPLICATIONS
According to the title, this poem is about Pablo’s tennis shoes. And it
HAND OUT
REPRODUCIBLE 1 delivers. We get to see these tennis shoes quite well. However, the poem
does not give us much direct information about Pablo. But, like so many good poems, it implies
a number of things about him. Give your students Reproducible 1 and ask them to read the
poem to themselves and jot down things that they learn about Pablo and give the evidence that
led them to their conclusions. For example, even though the poet doesn’t tell us that Pablo is
active, the first stanza does show us an active kid.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
If your students are unfamiliar with some of the basic forms of figurative language—non-literal
expressions to get across certain images or ideas more vividly—this ode gives them a chance to
explore them. Ask students to circle any places in the poem where Soto compares one thing to
another. See if they can notice a difference in the way he compares things. Your students may
notice, for example, that the poet refers to Pablo’s shoes as his “twin pets” in line 17. They are
likely to notice how Soto uses a different kind of comparison in lines 36 to 38 to describe the
shoes: “Cloth like a sail,/Rubber like/A lifeboat on rough sea.”
When your students can see these two comparisons, you can explain how the first compari-
son, in which the poet makes a direct comparison, is a metaphor. The second example is a simile
because the poet uses like (or as) in his comparison. Metaphors and similes are the backbone of
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EXPLORATION 1
poetry because they help the reader see more clearly similari-
ties between the ideas and images being compared.
Focus on the Poet
This ode is part of Gary Soto’s
ORIGINALITY Neighborhood Odes (Harcourt,
Originality helps a good poem stand apart from greeting card 1992). Two other Soto collections
verse. A good poem says what it needs to say in a fresh way. for young readers are Canto
The language is original. The images are original. In the case Familiar (Harcourt, 1995) and A
of “Ode to Pablo’s Tennis Shoes,” Soto skillfully shows that a Fire in My Hands (Scholastic,
couple of the qualities that Pablo admires in the tennis shoes 1990), which include Soto’s com-
are the same qualities that he possesses. ments on the poems. If you are
To help students see the comparison between the boy and interested in reading Soto’s
his tennis shoes, have them read the poem carefully for con- poems for adults, look for his New
nections. In lines 25 and 26, for example, Soto says that Pablo: and Selected Poems (Chronicle
Books, 1995).
…wants to be You and your students can
Like his shoes, visit <www.garysoto.com> to find
A little dirty out more about him. You can also
From the road, find an autobiographical sketch
A little worn of Soto, as well as other informa-
From racing to the drinking fountain tion about him, by clicking on
“Online Activities Center” at
But Soto also points out, “Pablo is tired” and so are his shoes, <http://teacher.scholastic.com/>,
as they rest under his bed, “The tongues hanging/Out, then click on “Authors & Books.”
exhausted.” The boy “needs eight hours/Of sleep/To cool his
shoes,” but he also needs that time to cool himself for a new
day of running around with his fabulous tennis shoes.
RELATED POEMS
“Ode to a Stamp Album,” Pablo Neruda
“Ode to My Socks,” Pablo Neruda
“String,” Valerie Worth
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RESPONSE SHEET 1
Name: ____________________________________ Date: _____________________
“Ode To Pablo’s Tennis Shoes”
Gary Soto
1. What did you notice about “Ode to Pablo’s Tennis Shoes”? Mark up the poem with underlines,
circles, and arrows to show what you noticed.
2. Do you have any questions about this poem? Jot them down.
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. Helpful Vocabulary: Based on the way the Spanish word novelas is used in the poem, can you
make an educated guess about what it means?
Poetic Terms
Here are some terms that will help you talk about the poem:
ode: a poem that celebrates a subject
mood: the atmosphere in a piece of writing
figurative language: non-literal expressions to get across certain ideas or things more vividly
metaphor: a comparison of dissimilar things that implies some sort of equality between
the things
simile: a comparison that uses “like” or “as”
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REPRODUCIBLE 1
Name: ____________________________________ Date: _____________________
“Ode to Pablo’s Tennis Shoes”
Gary Soto
If you read Soto’s poem carefully, you can learn a lot about Pablo. In some cases, the poet may
give us information directly. At other times, he may imply information about a subject. In the left
column, write what you learn about Pablo from reading the poem. In the right column, write
down evidence from the poem that supports your statements.
What You Learned Evidence
About Pablo
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