NCDPI -- AIG Instructional Resource: Background Information

LOVE the RAFT options. Just give this a title….

Date Submitted: July 22, 2012
Resource Title: Provide a title…something witty. J
Subject Area/Grade Level (s): 11th grade English
Choose no more than 2 -3 standards for this task and renumber using the CCSS coding. (i.e. RL.11.1) It is too difficult to determine how the task is aligned to the standards when there are so many listed. / Time Frame: 1 class period
Common Core/Essential Standard Addressed:
11.RL.1
Cite 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.
11.RL.3
Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
11.RL.5
Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
11.W.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
11.W.9
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
11.SL.3
Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
11.SL.6
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating a command of formal English when indicated or appropriate
Additional Standards Addressed:
(integration across topics, within or across disciplines)
Brief Description of Lesson/Task/Activity:
(include how this lesson/task/activity fits with a larger context)
The students will analyze how the poets Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman make claims about the influence of nature. Even though the poets share similar claims, their different styles give the class much to analyze. After the students analyze the poems, there is a modified RAFT assignment.
Type of Differentiation for AIGs (include all that apply)
Enrichment Extension Acceleration
Adaptations for AIGs
X Content Process X Product
Explanation of How Resource is Appropriate for AIGs
The poems included in the lesson are often found in high school textbooks; however, they are usually paired with other poems by the same poet and only as a survey of the poet’s characteristics. It’s easy for students to see the similarities of one poet’s work, but to grasp the finer decisions a poet makes—like punctuation and word choice—and why those decisions were made requires higher order thinking skills and a sophisticated understanding of language. After the analysis, the students will complete an assignment of their choice that continues the rigor of the lesson modeled on RAFT ideas.
Needed Resources/Materials
Copies of the poems
Dickinson, Emily. “Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church.” Ed. Thomas Johnson. Little, Brown and Company. New York. 1961.
Whitman, Walt. “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer.” http://www.Poets.org.
Sources (all sources must be cited)
TEACHER NOTES

NCDPI AIG Curriculum Resource Outline

Describe processes, steps, and materials needed at each stage of the lesson/activity.

STAGE ONE: Engage
  Hook
  Prior knowledge
  Instructional input
  Modeling
Description:
How can two different poets with different styles present similar views of a topic like nature?
Answers might include references to imagery, tone, or the use of certain similes or metaphors.
For prior knowledge, students should be comfortable of the major themes in American literature and poetry. Students may also need guidance with the vocabulary in the poems, especially sexton, surplice, and Bobolink from Dickinson’s. For Whitman, students should know his particular use of cataloging and free verse.
STAGE TWO: ELABORATE
  Guided and independent practice
  Guiding questions
Description:
The students should be guided through interpreting each of the poems individually. Questions like “What is Dickinson’s/Whitman’s view of nature?” and “How can you defend your view with evidence from the text?” will help students to work through each text before they compare the two.
Answers for Dickinson may include that the setting outside of her home is described as a holy place with many of the roles in a church service being filled by elements of nature. Some students might also recognize that the elements of nature keep the celebration of the holy day perpetually while a service in a house of worship will have an ending and people will leave to go about their day. Perceptive students will also find the historical reference in the last two lines worthy of discussion. Stylistically students should recognize the way Dickinson uses dashes to control the phrasing of her ideas.
Answers for Whitman might reference that he, unlike Dickinson, reveals his experience in a less controlled way. There is one sentence and the first four lines seem to lose control as Whitman is overwhelmed with the scientist’s attempt to reduce the heavens to math. Once he is able to separate himself from the lecture, his lines become more regular to parallel his comfort in nature with out the scientific analysis of it. Students may also recognize that the organization of the first half of the poem stands in contrast to the “mystical” heavens Whitman finds more enjoyable.
STAGE THREE: EVALUATE
  Assessment
Description:
The following assessments are formed from the ideas of RAFT assignments where each student assumes a role, responds with the awareness of their audience in the appropriate format, and considers a given topic. Students may choose from:
Assignment 1:
Assume the role of a critic in 1865 and write a review of two new poets (Whitman and Dickinson) for a local newspaper. Pick the city where the review will be published and consider how the critic and the public might view the beliefs of the poets. Your review should reference the poems, and you should explain your reasoning in your writing.
Assignment 2:
Assume the role of either poet (Whitman or Dickinson) and write a letter to the other commenting on the poem you’ve just read by them. Be careful to reference the content and style of the poem. A careful response will address how that poet might feel and will be written in a style that would be representative of that poet. Essentially, your letter would answer a question like “From what I know about Whitman and her personal life, how would he craft a letter to Emily Dickinson?”
Assignment 3:
You are Walt Whitman and you have been so emotionally moved by the astronomer that you feel you must respond to the lecture you saw the night before. Write a letter about your views and feelings.
Assignment 4:
Emily Dickinson’s family was very religious, and Emily’s views presented in the poem would have been considered controversial. Script a dinner conversation at the Dickinson home where family members discuss the topic of the “right” way to worship.
Possible rubric:
An outstanding response will answer the prompt fully and creatively. The response also incorporates the style of the poets and other important biographical and stylistic knowledge appropriate to the intent of the response.
A satisfactory response will answer the prompt but may have some weaknesses in quality. It may also contain lapses in capturing the style of the characters/poets and the historical period.
An unsatisfactory response will not provide a thorough response in content, style and/or period appropriateness.
TEACHER NOTES:
If interested in the poems of Emily Dickinson, then R.W. Franklin’s volume The Poems of Emily Dickinson is worth examining. Franklin has revisited Dickinson’s manuscripts and has changed words and punctuation in his edition to represent what he believes is a more accurate edition of Dickinson’s poems. Comparing versions of her poetry could be very beneficial for diction, punctuation, and editorial responsibility. Since his work is less widespread, Johnson’s edition was used.