Introduction to Voice
On the first day of our seminar, our instructor showed us an activity that is very appropriate to open a unit on voice.
Into: What is voice? Do you recognize someone by their voice? What qualities are described in a voice?
Through: Students will listen to three very distinctive musical artists and describe what they hear. The first description is very basic: low, high, deep, raspy, strong, weak. Students will then go further by guessing what type of person they imagine the singer to by judged by their voice. It is a good idea to not use music that is popular now because students will already have a picture in their head of what they artist looks like and this activity will not be as effective. A few artists to pick might be: Johnny Cash, Jodi Mitchell, Tracy Chapman or Etta James.
Beyond: Students will write down their ideas individually while they listen to the recording. A discussion will follow about the students initial description of the voice and their ideas about how the voice describes the individual.
Memoir
Into: Students will write "I remember" on their paper and journal all of their thinking for 10 minutes about that memory. Another prompt that might be effective is, What is you first memory or tell me about a first in your life like the first time you were kissed or the first time you got your heart broken. A modification for this is using a web or cluster to brainstorm ideas about the event. After, students can write about each idea in more detail.
Through: Students will read a few examples of memoirs. Two good authors I chose to use are Julia Alvarez, My English and Gary Soto's Living Up the Street. I chose Soto's collection of memoir narratives because they run a time line from when he was five years old to his mid twenties growing up in California. The various stories provide different examples of memoirs for students written in the first person. Also, the particular author is one that my students can relate to culturally but universally discusses themes of adolescence and coming of age that spans across cultures. Another reason that I think these memoirs are appropriate for my students is that the vocabulary is comprehensible for English language Learners. I don't want to turn the students off by giving them a text that they can't understand. Alvarez' My English is a text that we read during our seminar and I think that it gives meaning to those students who are trying to preserve their voice while learning a new language. Student authors are also effective strategies to engage the class. My students love looking at the writing of my past students. When they look at student writing they see something that tangible, not so far removed from themselves as published writing. They also notice mistakes in the student writing and it makes them realize that their writing doesn't have to be perfect either.
Beyond: After studying the samples of memoirs, students will begin drafting their own personal narrative. Students will engage in a writer's workshop after their draft is written. For the writer's workshop, I like students to work in partners reading their draft aloud. When they read their draft aloud they listen for mistakes and if it makes sense or if they really meant to say something or left something out. Another modification of the writer's workshop is placing all the drafts on a table in the center of the circle. Each student comes up to the table and takes one draft back to their seat with a post it note. After reading the draft students will write on the post-it note and attach it to the draft. Prompts to help the students respond should be provided. Examples of prompts might be: I feel, I think, I believe the writer's truth is, I can relate to this because, I agree/disagree, I like when you.
Poetry
Into: I like to ask students before starting a poetry unit to get out all of their ideas about what poetry is as well as their feelings toward poetry in general. Often, students feel very strongly about poetry either good or bad. It is useful to know if the students are resistant to a genre because of a negative experience in the past. To introduce the lesson, students will organize themselves in groups of 3-4. With chart paper and markers, students will write down everything that comes to mind about poetry. Some student responses that I've had in the past are: poetry is just for girls, it's romantic stuff, it's like rap, it sometimes rhymes. These responses demonstrate student knowledge of poetry conventions, what they relate it to as well as their personal feelings. Each group will share their ideas and explain briefly why they feel that way.
Through: Students will read three poems. I tried to choose poems that I thought would be controversial, or spark emotion or reaction in my students. I also chose poems that deal with issues that students can easily connect with. The Jauana Cole poem explained earlier in the unit is a really good poem to read when studying voice. This poem is unique because it is a living relative giving voice to a young girl who has passed away, so in effect a living person speaking for the dead. This gives way to conversations about how the dead have a voice, if they have a voice, and how are the dead memorialized by others in order to not lose voice. Unfortunately, so many of my students can relate to death of family and friends. At such a young age, these students need an outlet to voice their emotions about this difficult time in their lives. When I first started teaching at Cross, I noticed that students came to school with pins, some had one pin while others had five or even more. These pins had color photos of people that had died with a quote about them like, "you will never be forgotten" and the dates from birth to death. I noticed that so many students had these pins and it gave me an idea to have students incorporate these memories into their writing. An article was recently published in the New Haven Advocate about pins and the dead entitled, "Art of the living Dead". The article discusses the history of memorializing relatives dates back to the 18th century. Today, students often see their loved one for the last time in the casket and wearing a picture of them that was taken when they were alive gives comfort to those who are grieving with the loss. A friend of a Wilbur Cross High School student that passed away shares, "these are my friends who passed away. It needs to be worn as an eye-opener. There's stories behind these buttons." It is those stories that students can bring out in the classroom writing activities.
Another poem that I would like students to read is Martin Espada's
Niggerlips
. Espada is a New York native whose work can be appreciated by many regardless of age, occupation, class or race. The poem discusses themes of identity, feelings of being other and its effects on the individual. By using this poem, I can initiate a discussion on race and racism. In particular, I would like to discuss the power of words and the meanings behind words. The word, nigger is derogatory and demeaning to many. It has originated from years of struggle and turmoil for African Americans. Many texts include the word nigger to replicate dialogue from a particular time period. For example, Mark Twains'
Huck Finn
uses the word, nigger throughout the novel. This novel has been widely criticized for its use of the word and is banned in many districts. Students might also initiate a discussion on censorship; that is, what are we allowed to read and who dictates what is appropriate and what is not. Many students today use a variation of the word, nigger in their everyday vernacular. By changing the word, nigger to nigga many students argue that by renaming the word it takes on a new meaning, one of brotherhood and empowerment. Others suggest that by continuing to use this word regardless of its variations is a demonstration of ignorance and negates the struggle to fight racism and the connotations that go along with the word. Some students ignore the word and refuse to say it. Does one give the word more power by refusing to say it aloud? This is one of the questions posed in Emily Bernard's article, "Teaching the N-Word". In this article, Bernard shares her reflections on race as a black professor in an all white classroom. She observes and debates the meaning and usage of the word nigger. Bernard comments on her class discussion and individual conferences with her students and colleagues about race.
Another poem is taken from the New Haven Public Schools tenth grade curriculum entitled, "Brooklyn Heights, 4:00 A.M." by Dana Ferrelli. I believe that this poem is a student poem because I was unable to find any background information about the author. The poem takes place on a stoop in the city. An older woman is watching little girls across the street and reminiscing about your lost childhood. This poem is similar to the Poem for Juana Cole in that they describe the city through the eyes of an individual attending to the senses and the surroundings. As far as voice, these poems are very different from each other. Although the Juanna Cole discusses a little girl who died through violence, the voice created is inspirational and hopeful. The other poem produces a sadder voice, one of a childhood lost on broken dreams much like the broken beer bottles and cigarette filters that surround her. Despite the fact that Jauanna is dead her voice lives on and is more alive then ever through the words of the narrator while the other poem describes disappointment for a life unlived.
Beyond: After reading the poems, students will create I wonder why questions for each. We will chart the questions on the board as a class and then students will choose the question that they want to answer. Students will theorize a possible answer to the question and connect their response to evidence in the poem and in the world; that is what they know about people in general and their experiences. After students will swap journals with a partner, their partner will read the question and answer and agree or disagree with the answer. After agreeing or disagreeing, students will provide an alternative answer to the question.