To create onomatopoeia lesson plans, you should typically begin by considering the students in your classroom and try to develop a lesson plan that can connect with them. You should try to develop your lesson plan in a way that uses reading you are already doing for class, unless you do not have ongoing reading at the time and want to use short selections to present onomatopoeia in context. Depending on the age range of your students, you should consider different types of media such as children’s picture books or comic books for your lesson plan. You should then develop onomatopoeia lesson plans that demonstrate what onomatopoeia is and allow your students to interact with the concept.
Onomatopoeia lesson plans are structured lessons in which students learn to recognize and use onomatopoeia in writing. One of the first things you may want to consider is your students and how they typically learn best. While you can always use a lesson plan you find online or in a book, many students learn best when introduced to material in a way that is somewhat tailored for their personal needs and interests. No one knows your classroom better than you, so you should try to find a way to make your lesson plans unique or modify your plans slightly to meet the needs of your students.
You might want to begin your onomatopoeia lesson plans by introducing your students to the word and defining what it is — a word that mimics the sound it represents. This is a fairly simple approach, but you might also try first introducing the concept through examples, and then give your students the word for it. In this second approach, your onomatopoeia lesson plans may begin with you writing out onomatopoetic words on a board or having students read a poem or other work that uses onomatopoeia effectively. This type of lesson plan is similar to a story that begins in media res and “jumps into the action” of your lesson before stepping back to introduce the idea.
Your onomatopoeia lesson plans should typically use works you are already reading in class, whenever possible. If you cannot find examples of onomatopoeia in a book your class is reading, or you are between longer works, then you can use shorter examples. Many poems and other short works use onomatopoeia, so you should try to find examples in works that are appropriate to the ages and interests of your students. If, for example, you know your students enjoy reading comic books or are still very young, then you can use comic books or children’s picture books that often include numerous examples of onomatopoeia.
Any onomatopoeia lesson plans you create should not only introduce the concept of onomatopoeia to your students, but also allow them to use it. You should have your students write short poems or draw out one page comic books in which they use onomatopoeia. Since this is a fairly simple and fun concept, you should allow your students to have fun with it and create works that are playful yet demonstrate a firm understanding of onomatopoeia.