The Sound of Words: An Introduction to Poetry

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 09.04.09

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Background
  3. Rationale
  4. Objectives
  5. Strategies
  6. Activities
  7. Lesson One: Understanding What Is Poetry
  8. Lessons 2 and 3: "If We Must Die" by Claude McKay
  9. APPENDIX
  10. Annotated Teacher Bibliography
  11. Student Annotated Bibliography
  12. Notes

Listen to the Sound of My Voice: Teaching Poetry to Make Language Whole

Jeanette Anita Gibson

Published September 2009

Tools for this Unit:

Background

I teach American Literature at DeKalb Early College Academy. Our students are with us for two years, ninth and tenth grades; they are on an accelerated curriculum; our enrollment should never exceed 200 students; students are exposed to one semester of English Language Arts in the tenth grade; they take the college placement test (COMPASS) at the end of the tenth grade.

I have basically two types of students: above average students, many of whom do just enough to get by; and below average students whom we are mandated to admit because some of our students should be at the 45% in the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITSB).

We are on block schedule: four ninety-minute classes every day for 18 weeks. In their first year, they do ninth grade work in the first semester, and tenth grade work in the second semester. In their second year, they do eleventh grade work, American Literature, in the first semester or second semester because they do only one semester of language arts in the tenth grade and I am the only language arts teacher for this grade. The students are rotated, so I teach half of them the first semester and the other half the second semester. At the end of tenth grade, they do the college placement test, COMPASS. This means that I teach American Literature, an eleventh grade course, to tenth graders. In addition, American Literature culminates with an EOCT (End of Course Test) that is the final exam for the course and counts as 15% of the final grade. Because of the acceleration "issue," I have to incorporate writing instruction preparation, COMPASS preparation, and Georgia High School Graduation Writing Test practice in the one semester that I have them.

Because of all the things I am supposed to accomplish in one semester, I see my participation in this seminar as a blessing. It has inspired me to teach poetry, a segment of the American Literature curriculum, in a way that would strengthen students' listening skills; that would enable them to find the joy of language through poetry; that would strengthen their writing, reading and speaking skills; that would tap into their prior knowledge of rhyme and rhythm; that would provide a more interactive and less threatening way of learning for them. The need for the latter is magnified as we try to engage our students using the full range of media available to us. The traditional mode of delivery of instruction can be safely seen as an anachronism, suitable for the Industrial Revolution and the factory system. Students have to be engaged through more creative and arresting pedagogy; we need twenty-first century pedagogy for our twenty-first century students. This century is called the age of technology which, according to Ong, "is the age of convention and conference and discussion group, and of the oral brainstorming session." 5 These are all activities that listening to poetry will support.

I can devote three weeks to a unit on poetry, and reinforce the skills learned during the three weeks throughout the semester. This curriculum unit will begin in the third week of September and end after the first week of October. The unit will embedded within all three of my American Literature classes that will average 15-18 students each. The textbook for this class is Prentice Hall Literature: the American Experience by Kate Kinsella et al. 6 The majority of the poems studied will not be from this text; however, I will provide copies of nursery rhymes and selected poems: Robert Frost "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening," "Mending Wall," and "The Road Not Taken"; Langston Hughes"Harlem," "Ultimatum: Kid to Kid," "The Lament of a Vanquished Beau," "Mother to Son," "Words Last So Long"; Claude McKay, "If We Must Die"; Walt WhitmanSelected excerpts from om Leaves of Grass. These materials will be further supplemented by audio recordings of poems and selected musical pieces.

Comments:

Add a Comment

Characters Left: 500

Unit Survey

Feedback