Listen to the song “Take Care of Business” by Nina Simone.
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.
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Warm-up: (Teachers, preselect a few images of quilts from “Quilts that Embody the Legacy of Black America” to show to your students.) Look closely at the images of the quilts. What do you see? What patterns and colors stand out? Why? What questions might you have for the person who made this?
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Before Reading the Poem: Listen to the song “Take Care of Business” by Nina Simone. What words or phrases stand out in the song? Why?
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Reading the Poem: Silently read the poem “Invisible Work” by Kwoya Fagin Maples. What do you notice about the poem? Note any words or phrases that stand out to you or any questions you might have.
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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. You may also enjoy listening to the poet read the poem.
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Small Group Discussion: Share what you noticed about the poem with a small group of students. How might this be similar to or different from the resources from the beginning of class? What might the title “Invisible Work” mean? Why? What are some examples of “invisible work” in the poem? In your life, who/what is doing “invisible work?”
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Whole Class Discussion: What does this poem say about love and/or care? How? What imagery stands out to you most in the poem? Why?
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Extension for Grades 7-8: Think back to the question you answered in the discussion about who or what is doing “invisible work” in your life or even your community. Write a poem that honors that person or thing. Share your poem with your classmates.
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Extension for Grades 9-12: Read “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden and watch this video of Academy Chancellor Kevin Young discussing the poem. Participate in a class discussion in which you compare “Those Winter Sundays” and “Invisible Work.” What similarities and differences do you notice in the poems? What “invisible work” is present in both poems, and how is it important? Take your learning a step further and write a visual essay comparing both poems. Share your essay with the class.
Watch former Chancellor Rita Dove’s “Finding Your Roots” feature on PBS: “Henry Louis Gates Jr. maps the roots of two award-winning writers: novelist Amy Tan and poet Rita Dove, tracing lineages that run from a plantation in Maryland to a speakeasy in Washington, D.C. to a village in central China. Along the way, Amy and Rita reimagine themselves as they learn the true stories of the people who laid the groundwork for their success—and inspired their art.”