Scope and Sequence of Unit
Phase One
The scope of the unit will follow three phases. The first phase entails doing the readings above. In thinking about each of these phases for classroom use, the first phase will take the longest as it addresses a multitude of different readings that students will complete. In planning, I anticipate that in order to read, annotate, reread, discuss, and work through the poems above will take roughly two weeks of school. For the lessons revolving around reading poems for identity themes and poetic forms, I would attack breaking down theme and form for students with multiple poetry readings to get students thinking about the form of poems and content. There are multiple strategies to draw upon and many directions that a teacher could go in depending on student need and interest.
The objectives for the first phase of the unit come from the broader unit objectives: students will learn about ways that identity is constructed and how it can be used as a lens to reflect individual and categorize others and students will close read multiple poems that address identity construction looking specifically at style, structure, and theme in order to develop proficiency reading complex text.
A sample activity during this phase of the unit will involve making several key points about a particular genre of poetry that will be explored through a poem that addresses an issue of identity via a specific poetic framing device. For example, one lesson that will occur will be made about rhyme through a minilesson that is recorded on an anchor chart. There are three key points about rhyme will be included on a chart for classroom viewing:
Students will be provided with copies of the following two poems: "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar and "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson. Students will read "We Wear the Mask" independently. As they read the poem independently, they are marking the text using an annotation system that is part of close reading. They are looking to add their thoughts, identify words they don't know, and questions they might have. I will ask students to share out (as a type of formative assessment to guide my questioning). I will then read the poem out loud. I will ask students to think as they follow along to pay attention to the speaker in the poem. I will ask students to consider the poet's choice of "we" and the why someone would wear a mask by jotting a few notes down on their copy of the poem. I would continue to ask students questions about the poem; students would jot down their thoughts on the poem, discuss with their peers, and then we would come together and have a classroom discussion. Given that the specific teaching point for this point is observing the function of rhyme, I would discuss why rhyming is an important structure in the poem after I get kids to see that element within the poem. I would repeat a similar process for "Richard Cory." Generally, I would hope to go at the rate of roughly two poems a day.
Phase Two
The second phase will involve students producing their own poetry based on the forms that we explored in our reading. The second phase will involve students using elements of the poems that we read and discussed to produce their own poetry that deals with changes and identity; this will take roughly one week for students to think of topics and draft a few poems.
In this phase of the unit, several different forms will have been explored. Students will have access to anchor charts like the one above about rhyming to guide their drafting, to essentially play with poetry. It is going to be beneficial for students to produce roughly two poems that speak to the forms and thematic content of the unit. From these four poems that are drafted, students need to select two poems that they feel best reflect their work to pursue further in the third phase of the unit.
Phase Three
The third phase will focus on refining and sharing the poems that students have completed in order share their work online. The third phase of the unit will take roughly two weeks for students to get/share feedback and self-select their best two poems to be shared with an online audience. This should take roughly two weeks of getting peer feedback, my feedback, and refining their work. Students that are willing will work as editors throughout the year to maintain a blog of classroom poetry. Students will comment and respond to the work of their peers throughout the school year.
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