Use Your Senses

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

It smells like. . . It tastes like. . . It sounds like. . . It feels like. . . It looks like. . .

Can you complete the above statements using your senses?
What words would you use? 

Completing the statements using your own details would create a poem.
What kind of poem uses lines that describe reactions to your senses? 

A Sensory Poem! 
 
There are a number of poetry styles! A sensory poem, or five-senses poem, describes how a poet perceives what something looks like, tastes like, smells like, feels like, and sounds like. It does not need to rhyme.

In this lesson, you will use sensory poems to explore the world around you! The poems you write will be fantastic examples to include in a poetry portfolio of all the poems you write in the future! 

View the following examples of sensory poems before you learn to draft your own! 

• Sensory Poem, from Purdy Elementary Fourth Grade
• Popcorn, from teaching with Mrs. Tice
• Chicken Noodle Soup, from teaching with Mrs. Tice
• "Hope" , a Sensory Poem, from gymzarko

What did you notice about the examples you explored?  How were the sensory words used to create the poems? 

Authors use the process of prewriting to brainstorm or list words which detail the topic or theme of the writing.  Preparing to write a sensory poem requires the same step: prewrite! 

• If your poem's theme is about something familiar, then you most likely could list quite a few words and/or phrases about the topic using your senses (taste, hear, see, feel, and smell). 
• If you choose a topic that is not familiar to you, the prewriting stage may require research to learn more facts or details about the topic before drafting the sensory poem. 

Let’s practice!