A Dramatic Grammatic and A Drama-Rama

A Dramatic Grammatic Lesson (late elementary-early middle school):  This is a lesson that is built on the poem found in "Blog with Me". It is entitled A Dramatic Grammatic and was born out of a challenge I gave myself; write a poem that is thought-provoking and teaches something that can be reinforced within the classroom as you learn about poetry (or visa-versa). Out came A Dramatic Grammatic. It is a poem that is conducive to discussion regarding "I" versus "we". The couplets are written with "seek and identify" in mind.

Skills: Vocabulary Building, learning about poetry, grammar and critical thinking, reading comprehension

Let's start with the poem:

Dramatic Grammatic
I or thee? This punctuation signals quandary.
Can the future truly depend upon me?
Now and then, adverbs prove time and again.
The future is indeed hampered by when.
“This way or that way” our phrase of the day.
Leaves the future in the midst of a fray.
A smile upside down can be a noun,
and Future’s adverb when feeling down.
I or thee, when a single pronoun is key,
might the future need it to be we?​

HINTS: Older students will catch the hints of examples of the parts of a sentence found within the poem's couplets.

Vocabulary
couplet
​rhyme
thee
quandary
hampered
midst
fray

Required knowledge and definitions
types of punctuation
definition of an adverb
definition of a phrase
definition of a noun
definition of a pronoun
definition of an adjective
definition of a verb

Critical Thinking Prompts

• What are situations that benefit from people working together?
• When might it be better to work by yourself?
• Why is learning grammar important?
• Why should we learn new words?

Classwork Possibilities

• Define or discuss vocabulary
• Pick out the punctuation used in the poem
• Pick out the adverbs, phrases, nouns, pronouns, adjectives and verbs in the poem
• pick out/circle the rhymes in the poem
• number the couplets in the poem

And for the younger tots, the poem has been simplified:

A DRAMA-RAMA
Me or you, think about who
Both are important in what you do
Now or then think about when
It really matters time and again
My way or your way
The words that you say
Can turn smiles into frowns
As they flip upside down
Me or you? Is that the choice?
It's time to listen to another voice.
It says: leave out all the lonely "I"s
For doing so is very, very wise!
And just as one plus one equals two
Try adding this: add "me" to "you".
The answer will forever be
Not me or you, but "W"-"E"

For early elementary schoolers, the poem best encourages critical thinking, reading comprehension and practice with rhymes.

CLASSWORK

1. What is a poem?
2. Discussion of rhymes - pick out the rhymes from the poem
3. Critical thinking

• When is it important to think of someone other than yourself?
• Why do the words you say to others matter?
• When is it important to listen to others (friends, siblings, adults)?
• What are some things that are easier to do with a friend than by yourself?