Teaching Strategies
When I teach this unit, there is a timeline of study. There is a time order sequence outlined in this unit, with poetry dating back as far as the 1800s, with Negro Spirituals and Hymns. As aforementioned, students will discover how beauty, race and acceptance are portrayed throughout. Within this context, students can also determine figurative elements, such as imagery and metaphor, and dig deeper into the author’s craft. The key to this unit is instruction through layers. Students will look at three layers when studying these poems. The layers follow a sequence, with students examining race at the forefront, followed by acceptance and concluding with beauty. When students read each poem they will consider the aspect of race that is outlined, why it is portrayed in such a way, and how the writer situated race. For example, does the writer situate race in a negative tone, or one that is uplifting, or both? From that, students can move on to acceptance. In the poem, are the people described accepted by their counterparts in America? Is this acceptance, or a cry to be accepted? Finally, does the writer show that these people embody beauty in America? Throughout this time order sequence, students will examine how times have changed or have not changed in regard to beauty, race and acceptance in America.
The strategies that follow are some methods that may be helpful in teaching this unit, and can be used in a wide range of grade levels, from elementary to high school, and even at the collegiate level.
Poetry Read Aloud
Students can read poems aloud. Students can use their voice to show inflection and place emphasis on meaning throughout. Students will be able to understand the breaks in lines, capitalization, and rhyming patterns, using their style of recitation to indicate this understanding.
Analyzing Poetic Formation
When being taught poems in this unit, students can review the format of a poem, how it is written, calling attention to rhyme, meter, syntax, etc. Students can analyze the format based on the time period. For instance, when analyzing Negro Spirituals, students can examine rhythm and repetition.
Figurative Language Hunt
Students can search for simile, metaphor, personification, symbolism, and imagery when reading poems in this unit. They can determine meaning and speak to the relation of figures of speech to the theme of the poem as a whole.
Examine Poems by Jigsaw
Students can review poems in pieces, and determine meaning gradually, as opposed to looking at the poem as a whole. For instance, students work in groups to determine the meaning of one stanza from the poem, while others are working on another stanza from the same poem. Students all come together to share afterwards.
Poetic Journals
Students can keep a daily log of how each poem depicts race, acceptance and beauty in America. Students can share out and what they say can be used to monitor understanding.
Using a Critical Lens to Understand Poetry
A critical lens can give students a refined outlook when reviewing poems in this unit. Students can examine poems and zoom in with a lens of race, acceptance and beauty. For instance, students can read poems with an “eye on” beauty and acceptance in Langston Hughes’ “I Too, Sing America,” as well as Runett Nia Ebo’s “Why God Made Me Black.” Students can take the lens a step further, and look at gender, and question whether men and women are viewed the same or differently through the embedded themes of race, acceptance and beauty. The use of lenses can help students gather greater understanding of the complex themes in the poems throughout this unit.
Comments: