Listen to a song by Joseph Fire Crow.
The following activities and questions are designed to help your students use their noticing skills to move through the poem and develop their thinking skills so they understand its meaning with confidence, using what they’ve noticed as evidence for their interpretations. Read more about the framework upon which these activities are based.
- Warm-up: (Teachers, you may wish to pre-select artwork for your students.) With a partner or small group, look at one of the images of Jordan Ann Craig’s artwork. Take a few moments to look closely at the piece of art, viewing it from all angles and sides. What stands out to you? Why? Look at the piece again. What else do you see? What emotions does the piece of art evoke? Read the title of the artwork and look again. What do you think about the artwork now?
-
Before Reading the Poem: Listen to a song by Joseph Fire Crow. What does the music make you think of? Why?
-
Reading the Poem: Silently read the poem “finding tomorrow” by m.s. RedCherries. What do you notice about the poem? Note any words or phrases that stand out to you or any questions you might have.
-
Listening to the Poem: Enlist two volunteers and listen as the poem is read aloud twice. Write down any additional words and phrases that stand out to you.
-
Small Group Discussion: Share what you noticed about the poem with a small group of students. Based on the details you just shared with your small group, what connections can you make between the poem and the resources from the beginning of class? How might you describe the speaker in the poem? Why? What does the speaker imply about the perception of Indigenous people in their school and community? How is this similar to/different from your own experience?
-
Whole Class Discussion: What imagery can you find in the poem? What do you think of the phrase “where is the Indian in me?” How might you describe the structure in the poem? How might poetry be a useful way to represent us and our cultures?
-
Extension for Grades 7-8: Using the same title, “finding tomorrow,” write your own poem that incorporates some aspect of your own identity and/or culture. Share with your class.
- Extension for Grades 9-12: Read the article “The Impact of Words and Tips for Using the Right Terminology.” Then write your own response that answers this question: What is the importance of language? Be sure to reference both the article and the poem.
“The Cheyenne Nation established a hunting territory between the forks of the Platte River in Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado and formed an alliance with the Arapaho, who lived nearer the Rocky Mountains. At its peak, Cheyenne territory stretched from Montana to Texas and included the Oklahoma Panhandle and the areas around the Cimarron and Washita Rivers in western Oklahoma. There were ten bands of Cheyenne. Today there are two distinct Cheyenne Nations, one in Montana (Northern) and the other in Oklahoma (Southern).” Read more about the Cheyenne Nations.
Prose poem: a poem that lacks the line breaks traditionally associated with poetry.