Celeste Y. Davis
This unit was designed for Special Education students with learning disabilities and some social-emotional problems in grades 5-8. This unit, dealing with poetry, will expose students to six Black poets, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks, Alice Walker, and Nikki Giovanni. Students will become familiar with some aspect of each poet’s life and selected works by each poet. They will do some interpretation of the poems which will be presented to determine the meaning and become familiar with each author’s individual writing style. Once students have become familiar with the poetry, and writing style of the poets, we will then examine the historical time frame in which their writing took place and how this may have influenced the content of the material produced. Lastly, students are encouraged to create their own poetry based on a general theme.
(Recommended for Reading/Language Arts classes, grades 5-8)
Key Words
Poetry Afro-American General Special Education
