English Day 1:
Introductory Lesson - Political Poetry and Critical Literacy
OBJECTIVES:
-After brainstorming why people write poetry(the various purposes of poetry) on a semantic map, students will interpret a quote by poet Mary Szybist in order to list affordances and constrains of poetry in a T-chart.
-After watching a videoand reading aloud an article on Kabul’s MirmanBaheer poetry society, students will analyze and discuss the texts in small groups in order tolist, on their T-charts, the benefits of poetry that the texts suggest.
-After analyzing an article on Kabul’s Poetry Society, students will interpret the validity of the Afghanistan women’s reasons for secret writing in order to compose a short essay expressing and substantiating their stance on the ability of poetry to be an effective and worthwhile means of political activism and expression.
STANDARDS:
RIT.11-12.1Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain (ELA CCSS p.40).
RIT.11-12.2 Determine a central idea of a text and analyze itsdevelopment over the course of the text, including itsrelationship to supporting ideas; provide an objectivesummary of the text (ELA CCSS p. 40).
RIT.11-12.7Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in differentmedia or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order toaddress a question or solve a problem (ELA CCSS p. 40).
W.11-12.1Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts,
using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence(ELA CCSS p. 45).
a.Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the
claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, andcreate an organization that logically sequences claim(s), counterclaims,reasons, and evidence.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supportsthe argument presented.
W.11-12.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis,reflection, and research (ELA CCSS p. 47).
b.Apply grades 11–12 Reading standards to literary nonfiction.
SL. 11-12.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12 topics,texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively (ELA CCSS p.50).
c. Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probereasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on atopic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promotedivergent and creative perspectives.
#9: Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.
MATERIALS:
-Huffing Post Books 11/20/13 Tweet
-Map of Afghanistan
-BBC News Article: “Dangerous ‘Truth’: The Kabul Women’s Poetry Club”
-BBC Video of “The Kabul Women’s Poetry Club”
-SmartBoard
DESCRIPTION:
In this lesson, students will grabble with the idea of poetry as a powerful form of expression and political commentary to the extent that it could even be considered a means of civil resistance – much like the African-Americans’ sit-ins, protests, and boycotts. By looking at a modern-day and international use of spoken poetry, students will be introduced to how poetry can be – and is being –written as a form of nonviolent, political activism. The purpose of the Kabul Poetry Club’spoetry includes female empowerment and anti-war commentary, so students will expand their thinking beyond romantic or aesthetic purposes of poetry. In a semantic mapping activity, students will begin by brainstorming the purposes of poetry (i.e. expression, catharsis, romantic gestures, etc). After a discussion and the creation of a class list, students will interpret a quote from poet Mary Szbist that was taken from her acceptance speech as winner of the 2013 National Book Award for Poetry. It will be presented to students in the form of a tweet by HuffPost Books: “‘There’s plenty that poetry cannot do, but the miracle, of course, is how much it can do, how much it does do.’ – Mary Szbist #NBAwards.”Students will take such an ideology as an opportunity to expand on their semantic map, creating a T-chart of affordances and constraints of poetry.Then students will be introduced to the idea of poetry as a means of political activism and as a way for one to stand up for himself. They will read a non-fiction article from BBC News: Asia, entitled, “Dangerous ‘Truth’: The Kabul Women’s Poetry Club.”After reading aloud the article and watching an associated video on the Afghanistan women, students will work in small groups to add to their T-charts. Using textual evidence from the article and video, students will include benefits of poetry that are cited in the article (i.e. “stronger than a letter,” etc). Each group will share their additions. Students should record peer responses that they did not already have. Then, as an independent concluding activity, students will take a stance on the use of poetry as political activism. They will argue and defend the opinion that it is either an ineffective, waste of time (i.e. going back to the Twitter quote, is it one of the things that poetry can’t do?) or it is a worthwhile, powerful method(i.e. In Szbist terminology, is it one of the “miracles” of poetry?). Students will be required to use textual evidence from the non-fiction article and video to substantiate their arguments.
ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING: Informal formative assessments will occur throughout the lesson in the form of discussion input, sharing of group work, teacher circling when students are working, and the T-chart (at both stages) of poetry affordances and constraints. As the formal assessment for the lesson, the students will write a short argumentative essay, taking a stance on whether they believe poetry has the ability and power to serve as an effective means of political activism and expression. Students will be required to use evidence from the non-fiction article and video to support their opinions.
RATIONALE:
Ideally, this short unit would be an extension off of a traditional, introductory poetry unit that introduces students to poetry basics (i.e. sonnet, haiku, rhyme scheme, etc) so that this unit could take poetry instruction to the next level via critical literacy and the examination of poetry’s historical significance and the effect of embedded literary elements on its theme and real-world purpose. Alverman (2001) differentiated between two types of education: “empowering education” and “domesticating education” (p. 8). This introductory lesson launches the unit by immediately establishing itself as a unit that will hopefully lead to “powerful literacy, the kind of literacy that leads to positions of power and authority” rather than one that fosters passive, “productive and dependedable” students as it would if it took the form of domesticating education (Alverman, 2001, p. 8). Student realization that poetry can be a powerful means of self-expression as well as a powerful means of political and real-world activism is important. As set by this lesson, this unit will strive to inform students that their voice and words are powerful and that society – or the dominant culture – may not always be for the common good. Therefore, by introducing students to the possibility that poetry can be used as an agent of change, this lesson launches a unit that strives toward the goals of “empowering education” (Alverman, 2001, p. 8). Additionally, it has been shown that “helping children understand real-life functions of text is an important component of growing as a critically literate individual” (Vasquez & Felderman, 2011, p. 263). Through the Kubal Poetry Club, this lesson introduces students to how poetry is being used as a real means of political expression in the modern and global world. Such a unit objective carries into subsequent lessons, especially in the analysis of Javon Johnson slam poem, “Cuz He’s Black.”Mary Szbist’s quote is incorporated into the lesson in the form of HuffPostBooks’s tweet. It serves as an untraditional means of critical lens practice. It allows students to practice interpreting a quote, concretely extending itsimplications through the T-chart activity. Additionally,its form plays into the social studies classroom’s use of Twitter in its concluding Fishbowl Discussion. For a glimmer of unity between disciplines, Szbist’s tweet will begin to breed student familiarity with Tweets, even if, in this initial exposure, it is just through appearance and hashtag use. Later incorporation of tweets (for quote interpretation that also mirrors critical lens practice) into the ELA classroom during this unit will prep students more for the specific language and use of tweets, as they will not be tweets of quotes.
PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES:
Alvermann, D. E. (2001).Effective adolescent literacy instruction. [Executive summary and paper
commissioned by the National Reading.] Chicago, Ill. National Reading Conference.
Vasquez, V. & Felderman, C. (2011). 15: Critical literacy goes digital: Exploring intersections between critical literacies and new technologies with young children. In Richard J. Meyer & Kathryn F. Whitmore (eds.), Reclaiming Reading: Teachers, Students, and Researchers Regaining Spaces for Thinking and Action (pp. 260-272). New York, NY: Routledge.
English Day 2:
Poetry Form and Theme: Amateur Blackout Poem and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech”
OBJECTIVES:
-After listing poetry characteristics on a semantic map, students will contrast those brainstormed traits with the features of two poems - Vern Rutsala’s “Salt and Pepper” and Mary Ellen Solt’s “Lilac” – in order to define “poetry” through a class-made list of criteria.
-After defining “poetry,”students will analyze the metaphor in an amateur blackout poem, “The Dream Engine” in order to contrast the poem’s implications with Bryce Avary’s tweet about the necessity of dreams.
-After listening to and reading Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, students will analyze its poetic delivery and embedded literary elements in order to explain and share the effect of two literary elements in the speech.
-After analyzing Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, students will identify the “turbulence” King cites in order torelate the speech to “The Dream Engine” and Avary’s tweet and explainhow King still advocates pursuit of equality even with his acknowledgement of the “turbulence” that dream is up against.
STANDARDS:
RL.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the textsays explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determiningwhere the text leaves matters uncertain (ELA CCSS p.38).
RL.11-12.2 Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze theirdevelopment over the course of the text, including how they interact and buildon one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text (ELA CCSS p. 38).
W.11-12.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection,organization, and analysis of content. (ELA CCSS p. 45).
b. Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevantfacts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other informationand examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.
d. Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and techniques such asmetaphor, simile, and analogy to manage the complexity of the topic.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supportsthe information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications orthe significance of the topic).
SL. 11-12.1c Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12 topics,texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. c. Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probereasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on atopic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promotedivergent and creative perspectives. (ELA CCSS p.50).
SL.11-12.3 Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric,assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points ofemphasis, and tone used (ELA CCSS p. 50).
L.11-12.5abDemonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, andnuances in word meanings. a. Interpret figures of speech (e.g., hyperbole, paradox) in context and analyzetheir role in the text.b. Analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations (ELA CCSS p. 55).
L.11-12.6 Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words andphrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the collegeand career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabularyknowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension orexpression (ELA CCSS p. 55).
#1: Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
MATERIALS:
-Mary Ellen Solt’s “Lilac”
-Vern Rutsala’s “Salt and Pepper”
-Bryce Avary’s 10/14/13 Tweet
-“The Dream Engine” Blackout Poem
-YouTube Video of “I Have a Dream” Speech
-Transcript of “I Have a Dream” Speech
-SmartBoard
DESCRIPTION:
Ideally, in this lesson, students will broaden their definition of poetry and understand how literary elements play a role in developing and shaping a poem’s theme.A semantic mapping “Do Now” activity will activate students’ prior knowledge about typical poetry characteristics. The teacher will challenge thosebrainstormed preconceptions and standardized beliefs witha quick look at two unconventional poems: Vern Rutsala’s “Salt and Pepper” and Mary Ellen Solt’s “Lilac.” With the former poem resembling a short prose paragraph and the latter a highly visual, one-word poem, the two defy the rhyming, stanza-driven beliefs about the genre’s form. After a debate about whether the two still qualify as poetry despite their nonconformity to traditional poetry traits, the teacher will compile a class-list on poetry criteria. Rutsula and Solt’s poems parallel – and thus foreshadow – the primary texts to be analyzed, so Rutsala’s visual poem preps students for the blackout poem and Solt’s prose poem prepares students to analyze Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech as apoem. With “The Dream Engine” poem (“The Dream engine is a routine route for turbulence”) suggesting the coexistence of dreams and obstacles, it calls into question whether dreams are worthwhile. Therefore, by paring the blackout poem with a tweet by Bryce Avary (“Everyone used to dream. You still need to dream”), students will discuss why someone would encourage dreaming – would argue that it cannot be a dying art – even if dreaming comes with hardships and obstacles and “turbulence.” Moving onto King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, students will keep in mind that relationship when listening to and reading the speech. The teacher will briefly explain its place in a poetry unit: King delivers the speech in short bursts rather than the long-winded speech typical of lecture oration, and it is chock full of literary elements. To analyze the effect of literary elements on the speech’s theme, the teacher will first point out (in the video clip of the speech) how King’s first metaphor correlated with the audience’s first round of applause. Then students will read through a written typescript of the speech with a partner and pick out two literary elements, writing their effect in a short description to be shared with the class. Through textual evidence, students will then identify what King cited as the “turbulence” up against the African-American dream of equality. In order for students to further synthesize the blackout poem and Avary’s tweet with the speech, students will write an Exit Ticket using textual evidence explaining how King addresses/defines the “turbulence” and his “dream” and how he advocates continued pursuit of it in spite of – and in full acknowledgement of – the “turbulence” it is up against.
ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING: Informal formative assessments will occur throughout the lesson in the form of discussion comments and input, oral sharing of literary element effect, and identification of “turbulence” in King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The concluding Exit Ticket serves as the formal means of assessment, testing whether students can synthesize the blackout poem, tweet, and speech in terms of how the speech acknowledges the arguments/themes of the other two texts.
RATIONALE:
Since visual poetry – like blackout poetry and Solt’s “Lilac” – and prose poetry – like Rustala’s “Salt and Pepper” and King’s “I Have a Dream” speech are unconventional forms of poetry, justifying its literary merit and challenging students’ rigid preconceptions - and “accepted knowledge” (Moje, 2008, p. 97) – of the poetry genre is important. As Moje (2008) wrote, it is “critical that we work to expand youth knowledge, practices, and texts as a function of education” (p. 97). By introducing students to forms of poetry that will (most likely) contradict their preexisting schemas about poetry, students will expand their thinking and this lesson will teach “young people how to access, interpret, challenge, and reconstruct the texts of the disciplines” (Moje, 2008, p. 100). Additionally, the way in which the two short “Do Now” poems parallel – in form – the two primary poems in the lesson, Rustala and Solt’s poems scaffold and preparestudents to receive the blackout poem and speech as poetry (or at least, encourage them to “suspend their disbelief,” since continued skepticism about the texts’ qualification as poetry should not be stifled or belittled). With King’s speech riddled with literary elements, it is an ideal text to examine for how literary elements contribute to a work’s theme. Also, considering how much hatred, racism, and intolerance the African-American dream of equality was up against, it is important for students to consider what makes a dream worthwhile and why King – as well as many others who participated in the civil disobedience of the era - saw it as worthwhile. Such contemplation is mediated by the blackout poem and tweet supplementation. Bryce Avary’s tweet is incorporated into the unit –as another untraditional means of critical lens practice – because of social studies use of Twitter in its concluding Fishbowl Discussion. For a glimmer of unity between disciplines, Avary’s tweet and students’ interpretation of it will breed student familiarity with Twitter language and scaffold student analysis of the language, so they will be prepared to compose their own – and read each other’s – in the social studies activity.