Activities
Activity 1
Politics Day 1-3
Visual Imagery
I will ask my students to close their eyes and picture their favorite meal, snack, or dessert. Now I want you to write about it down in your day book. I want you to think about how you would feel if you came home after a long day at school and you were looking forward to eating the left over from your favorite meal, snack or dessert. But when you went in the kitchen to look for it you noticed it was gone. Now write about how you would feel in your daybook for a couple minutes. Turn and talk with a partner about your experience.
We are going to look at a poem by William Carlos Williams about a similar experience you just wrote about. Students will be given a copy of the poem "This is Just to Say" and asked to read it to themselves. Teacher will call on two different students so the class can hear the voice of the poem read aloud differently. After the poem is read students will turn and talk with a different partner about their reaction to William's poem. Students will ask themselves how imagery is used in the poem. Now we will look at a different version of the same poem. Students will be asked what it is called when another author makes a similar replica of another poets work. We will talk about parodies and any examples of other parodies students are familiar with. Students will be given a copy of Kenneth Koch's poem "This is Just to Say". Students will be asked to read it individually first. Then two students will be called on to read it to the class so everyone can hear the voice of the poem read aloud differently. Again students will turn and talk to a different partner. Students will be asked how imagery is used in the poem. As an extension activity students will be asked to write their own version of "This is Just to Say". Now, that we have read two poems with the same title and you have written your own, I want you to think about what they have in common and what is different about the poems. While you are thinking about those similarities and differences I would like you to place your responses into a 3 circle Venn diagram. Students will share their version of "This Is Just to Say" poems. Teacher will also share with the class the response from his wife Flossie Williams.
Activity 2
Politics Day 3-7
Introduction to Sonnet
Politics Activity
Students will complete an Anticipation Guide (Appendix 1) about America. Then they will turn and talk with their group about their responses to the generalizations. Picking one spokesperson from each group students will report to the class their findings. Students will be informed that we will be reading sonnets with the theme of America for the next couple days. When we have finished the poems we will revisit the anticipation guide to note how and if our responses changed.
In an effort to frontload information students will be given a picture of Colossus of Rhodes and the Statue of Liberty. Students will share information about what they know about either picture. Teacher will provide more background information that they will need to read the poem. Students will be given the poem "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus and asked to read it independently. Two students will be called on to read the poem aloud. Teacher will review with students the 2 kinds of sonnets. Students will be asked if they can identify which sonnet the poem is. Students will be asked if they can get in their groups and figure out the rhyme scheme or iambic pentameter. Once the poem has been read aloud teacher will model the Think Aloud Strategy. After the teacher has modeled the strategy students will be asked to turn and talk in their group to use the same strategy. One person will present from each group what they thought about while they were reading the text. Teacher will review with students' examples of literary devices. Students will be asked if they noticed any literary devices in the text. Hopefully the students will notice the simile in the first line and personification throughout the poem of the Statue of Liberty speaking to the immigrants. Additionally, the imagery of the way Lazarus describes the both the Colossus of Rhodes and the Statue of Liberty.
Activity 3
Politics Day 8-13
Teacher will give students pictures about the Race Riots of 1919. Using the pictures students will write on post it notes what the picture describes. Pictures will be posted on the bulletin board and doing a silent gallery walk students look at what their classmates wrote. After the gallery walk students will independently read the poem "If We Must Die" by Claude McKay. Once students read the poem independently 2 students will read the poem aloud to hear different perspectives. Teacher will review with student the two types of sonnets. Teacher will ask students if they can identify which sonnet the poem is. Students will be asked if they can identify the rhyme scheme or iambic pentameter of the poem. Teacher will model and explain the rules for Say Something prior to letting students get into groups and do the activity. Students will participate in this discussion for no less than 10 minutes. Teacher will review with students' examples of figurative language. Students will be asked if they noticed any figurative language in the text.
Teacher will prepare a slide show using pictures about African Americans history in America. The pictures will contain images of racism, segregation, Civil War, slavery, for example. Students will be given a handout of Probable Passage to activate prior knowledge about what they think will occur in the poem. Students will share their gist statements. Students will be given "America" by Claude McKay. Students will read the poem individually and 2 students will be asked to read the poem aloud so we can hear the vice and varying perspectives. Teacher will ask students if they can differentiate what kind of sonnet it is. Teacher will ask students if they can identify the rhyme scheme and or iambic pentameter of the poem. After reading the poem students will participate in the Say Something Activity. Students will participate in the discussion for no less than 10 minutes. Next students will complete a class graphic organizer of It Says I Say (Appendix 3). Students will be asked to pick the line in the poem that means the most to them. Then the, I say column they will be asked to write down what they have to say about the line. Teacher will review with students' examples of figurative language. Students will be asked if they notice any examples of figurative language in the text.
Activity 4
Politics Day 14 -17
Teacher will ask the students to write in their daybook about someone who means a lot to them and why. Students will be asked to explain the chain of events that have occurred between themselves and that person. Students will be asked to share why this person means so much to them with their partner. In an effort to activate prior knowledge students will be asked to complete a KWL chart about the Civil War, parts of a ship's deck, Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln. Students will be asked to bring in pictures or items so we can make the chart interactive. Teacher will bridge the gap on any content pieces prior to reading the poem. Students will be given a copy of "Oh Captain, My Captain" by Walt Whitman to read individually. We will pick 2 students to read the poems to hear the voice differences. Teacher will ask students if they can identify what kind of sonnet it is. Teacher will ask students if they can identify the rhyme scheme and or iambic pentameter of the poem. Students will participate in the Say Something Activity for no less than 10 minutes. Students will be asked if they can identify any examples of figurative language. Students will think back to the person they initially wrote about and try to write a sonnet about that person. If students want to pick another person they can.
Activity 5
Love Day 18-19
To begin this lesson students will be asked to free write about someone they love and why. We will turn and talk about the person we free wrote about. While we are sharing students will be asked how important it is to inform the person of your feelings and why.
Keeping in mind someone you love we are going to do the Tea Party activity with lines from the poem "Those Winter Sunday" by Robert Hayden. When we finish this activity students will be given a copy of the poem and asked to read it independently. Two students will be called on to read the poem. Teacher will review with students the 2 kinds of sonnets. Students will be asked if they can identify which sonnet the poem is. Students will be asked if they can get in their groups and figure out the rhyme scheme or iambic pentameter. Staying in the same groups students will be asked to use Think Aloud strategies to discuss the poem. After the groups have had 15 minutes to discuss the poems a member of each group will be asked to report out about what they thought about the poem.
Activity 6
Love Day 21-24
Teacher will ask if any of the students can recite a famous love poem. Teacher will front load information about Elizabeth Barrett Browning and the rationale of her poem How do I Love Thee. Students will be given a copy of the poem. 2 students will be asked to read the poem aloud. Teacher will review with students the 2 kinds of sonnets. Students will be asked if they can identify which sonnet the poem is. Students will be asked if they can get in their groups and figure out the rhyme scheme or iambic pentameter. Teacher will review with student's symbolism prior to analyzing the poem. In pairs students will be asked to do a line by line analysis of the poem using a graphic organizer (Appendix 4).
Activity 7
Love Day 25-30
For an extension love activity we will also look at Shakespeare's Sonnet 18. Teacher will ask if any of the students know who William Shakespeare is (the teacher will frontload additional information if necessary). Using any of the reading strategies or graphic organizers we have used throughout this lesson students will pick one to help them do a line by line analysis of Sonnet 18.
Example questions for class discussion
What does the metaphor mean in line 1? Explain the significance of line 2? What is the author trying to say in line 7 fair sometimes declines?
Activity 8
Love Day 31-34
Students will be given a handout of Probable Passage to activate prior knowledge about what they think will occur in the poem. Students will share their gist statements. The teacher will frontload information about the Trojan War by telling them the story and information about the William Butler Yeats. Teacher will pass out the poem "Leda and the Swan" for students to read independently. 2 students will be asked to read the poem aloud. Teacher will review with students the 2 kinds of sonnets. Students will be asked if they can identify which sonnet the poem is. Students will be asked if they can get in their groups and figure out the rhyme scheme or iambic pentameter. After 2 students read the poem aloud, students will be asked to draw what they visualize about the poem "Leda and the Swan". Then students will get into groups and use the Say Something strategy to discuss the poem in more detail. Students will be asked to reflect if what occurred in the poem could occur in real life. They will be asked to write their reasons why or why not in their day book.
Activity 9
Love and Politics Reflection Day 35
We have looked at poems about Love and Politics. Think about the all the poems that we have read do you have a favorite do you have one you want to forget. Do you have a poet you would like to read more of his or her work? Do you have a poet you want to ask him or her questions? Did you prefer the poems about love or politics? Take moment and think about the questions before you write your reflection about the unit in your daybook.
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