American Voices: Listening to Fiction, Poetry, and Prose

Lesson Plan 2

Connections to the Word

Goal: Students will be able to develop poems, speeches, and raps from rendering the text of a famous book, story, poem or other speech. This lesson is designed to allow students to become self-empowered through this form of expression, which can heighten students' interest in writing poetry to enhance their own powers of self-expression. Students will learn the rules and conventions of poetry. In addition, students will interpret meaning in poetry.

Objectives: PA Academic Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening 1.1.11.A; 1.1.11.B; 1.1.11.D; 1.2.11.C; 1.3.11.C; 1.3.11.D; 1.3.11.F; 1.4.11.A; 1.4.11.C; 1.5.11.D; 1.5.11.E; 1.5.11.F; 1.6.11.A; 1.6.11.B; 1.6.11.C; 1.6.11.F. PA Academic Standards for the Arts and Humanities 9.1.12.B; 9.1.12.C; 9.1.12.I; 9.2.12.C; 9.3.12.D; 9.3.12.E; 9.4.12.B.

Procedure: Day One - Have students listen to the reading of Maya Angelou's "On the Pulse of the Morning" noting at least ten words they feel are worthy of noting. Then handout the printed copy of "On the Pulse of the Morning." Next, have students listen to a Caribbean speaker recording of Claude McKay's "The Tropics in New York." Have students to again list ten words in their notebooks they hear in this poem. Handout the printed version of this poem. Assignment: Create a poem, giving students a specified theme, using six words from one of your created lists in a six-line poem ²⁰.

Day Two - Introduce and discuss the following five strategies for reading and analyzing poetry. Ask students to: Read the poem more than once. Define any words that they do not understand. Look for emotions in the poem (happiness, sadness, anger, regret, grief, joy, etc.) Look for symbols. If there are any, what do they symbolize? Make connections between the poem and other works of literature that they have read. Assignment: Students will read at least five but not more than seven poems for homework. Students must use the strategies, take notes on their analysis and be prepared to share is with the class the next day.

Day Three - Begin classwork with readings from students who volunteer to share their six line poems. Discuss patterns of voice in their writings. Ask other students to write down their thoughts about each poem shared. Probe student readers about use of titles, word choice, repetitions, etc. Ask class to respond to the spoken word with one word of praise, giving volunteer positive feedback. Assign a student to write down each word of praise on the board. Save the lists and give them to the reader. Use these praise words to develop a group epic or sonnet that can be performed by the entire class.

Day Four - Read to students the first few pages of Zhakanaka: The Word. Then show them the DVD version of the story. Discuss how the oral tradition connects people to more than just the printed text and how orality and written text can be connected into the new digital media. Over time, students will be able to develop perspective of self, politics and society through their own stories and then to the screen of a computer. Keep in mind that students will and can use digital video recording devices to post their stories to Youtube, Facebook, Myspace, Hypertextopia ²¹ and other online networks. Assignment - have students develop their own story centering on a single word theme (altercation, progress, change, education, incarceration, hope, etc). Assist students on the subject of using dialogue to produce voice in writing.

This assignment can be approached in small increments over a semester or report card period. The final products can be made into a film or audio production for web publishing or school film-day showing.