New York City ninth grade teacher Gigi Goshko has created her unit "Voice" as an introduction to poetry that presents students with a diverse group of poets and poems. The unit begins by defining spoken and written poetry and then moves into a more nuanced exploration of poetry as social commentary. Students begin to acquire a poetic vocabulary through a series of learning activities that include class discussion, critical writing assignments, and personal reflection. "Voice" employs interconnectivity to create links between the poems used and the texts being read by the students throughout the year. The unit culminates in an anthology of student work, fostering a richer understanding of poetry as social commentary.
Unit Length: 13 Class Periods
After this unit, students will have
Spoken word is one form of poetry that is specifically written to be performed. Spoken word, performance poetry, and slam poetry (spoken word performed for a live audience as part of a competition) often serves as a universal, socially-charged voice. This self-empowering form of expression can heighten students' interest in poetry and enhance their own powers of self-expression.
Learning Objectives
In this lesson, students will
Time Frame
One sixty minute class
Resources and Materials
Video: From the White House: Poetry, Music & the Spoken Word
pen/paper
copies of related literature
Activities
Follow Up
Written reflection in journals about spoken word or performance poetry.
Freewrite—have students create their own spoken word poems.
Poetry exposes students to another medium of written expression. Students will learn the rules and conventions of poetry. In addition, students will interpret meaning in poetry, both obvious and hidden.
Poems Used
"Equality" by Maya Angelou
"Southern Cop" by Sterling Brown
"Always There Are the Children" by Nikki Giovanni
"Democracy" by Langston Hughes
"Touching the Past" by Robert Sargent
"On Being Brought From Africa to America" by Phillis Wheatley
Learning Objectives
In this lesson, students will
Time Frame
Two sixty minute classes
Resources and Materials
copies of the aforementioned poems
definitions of literary terms
pen/paper
Activities
4. Read the poem, "Always There Are the Children," by Nikki Giovanni together as a class.
5. Identify the literary techniques that Giovanni uses in her writing.
6. Have students take notes.
7. Divide the class up into five groups. Give each group one of the aforementioned poems, excluding Giovanni's poem. Instruct the groups to analyze their assigned poems. Each group should divide up the following roles:
Each group will present their analysis of their assigned poem to the class. The groups that are not presenting will take notes.
8. Facilitate a class discussion, focusing on the effectiveness of the individual groups' analysis of the poems.
Follow Up
Students will be tested on the literary techniques and strategies discussed in the aforementioned lesson. In addition, students will be tested on the poems that were analyzed together in class.
After developing a foundation for analyzing poetry by using the strategies outlined in Lesson 2, students will read and discuss a selection of poems that specifically focus on themes that have been previously addressed in the literature read in class through out the year. Students will continue to examine the significance of these themes as they materialize in the writings of a diverse group of poets. Among the themes that will be addressed are isolation, oppression, loyalty, sexism, autonomy, feminism, justice, and survival. Students will examine ways in which poets speak about these themes. They will begin to appreciate poetry as another medium for authors to express commentary on the pressing social issues of the times.
Poems and Books Used
"The Certainty" by Roque Dalton
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
"Public School 190, Brooklyn, 1963" by Martín Espada
"The Colonel" by Carolyn Forché
"Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes
A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
"Coal" by Audre Lorde
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
"Nativity: For Two Salvadoran Women, 1968-87" by Demetria Martinez
"Postcards from El Barrio" by Willie Perdomo
"To the Pay Toilet" by Marge Piercy
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
Learning Objectives
In this lesson, students will
Time Frame
Eight sixty minute classes
Resources and Materials
copies of aforementioned poems
copies of biographies on the poets
copies of related writings from novels and other written works
pen/paper
Activities
Follow Up
Each student will be required to go on the Internet to research and identify a poet that they feel addressed social commentary in their writing. Students are to read a minimum of two poems by that poet. Students are to analyze the poems, according to strategies in Lesson 2, and highlight the social issues that the poet addresses in his/her writing. Students should pay particular attention to common themes that are present in the poems and the works of literature read in class through out the year. Students are to write a critique about the poet. In the critique, students should, in a detailed discussion, address whether they believe their chosen poet effectively expresses social commentary in their writing.
The poetry curriculum will culminate in a final project. Students will identify one theme that they feel is relevant in their life and create their own poem. The class will put all their poems together to create an anthology of poems that will represent the voice of youth in the twenty-first century. Students will have the opportunity to read their poems during a class Poetry Slam.
Learning Objectives
In this lesson, students will
Teaching Time
Two sixty minute classes
Resources and Materials
notes from previous lessons in the unit
pen/paper
Activities
Follow Up
A written reflection on the poetry unit.
I began the unit with a lesson on spoken poetry. I chose to use a rap written by a young man from New York as the first poem in the unit because I felt that it would engage the students.
I incorporated many of the techniques that I have been using in my lessons through out the year into the poetry unit. This included brainstorming topics, webs (word, theme, etc.), and discussions.
I required every student to keep a journal during the poetry unit. Students were also required to keep a "poetry section" in their English notebook for notes from lectures and discussions.
I continued to incorporate discussions about the significance of the following literary techniques, which we have been studying through out the year, into lessons in the poetry unit:
I required students to use the Internet to conduct research for written assignments in the unit.