These poems can be taught so as to emphasize different skills. My primary focus will be the analysis of character traits. As my school’s philosophy encompasses this vein of thought, students already have a background in it. The second aspect will be to improve student’s reading and written expression skills. These lesson plans can be modified to place more of an emphasis on which skills needs to be taught.
Lesson One: ‘Willie’
In order to have students understand this poem, we will read it aloud and discuss it. Copies of the autobiographical excerpts describing Willie will be provided to be used to compare with the poem. Both versions show Uncle Willie as a strong individual who does not give up against difficult odds. After having discussed Willie and his strategies for dealing with difficult situations, students will be able to describe his character strengths and how he was able to use them to benefit him. Students will also be able to explain his role in influencing Angelou’s character development. As a secondary caregiver, he is not the obvious choice for having an impact on her character development. However because he was such a strong individual, she was able to learn a lot from him. Students will learn that our role models come in different packages and we should learn what we can from everyone we meet.
After exploring the poem in depth, students will select an individual who has influenced their own lives. They will brainstorm the character traits that led them to be so important. Then students will use the brainstormed information and, following Angelou’s format, create a poem. This poem has several stanzas, three of which end in the same word endings. Angelou also uses a form of repetition. These are aspects students will identify and use in their own poems.
These activities will take three days of class time. At the end of the third day students will be able to hand in their finished poem as well as their brainstormed charts about Willie.
Content Standard 1.0: Reading
Content Standard 2.0: Writing
Content Standard 6.0: English/Integrated Arts
Lesson Two: Geography
To create a fuller picture of Angelou’s life, a quick exploratory geography lesson could be used. Students will be given a variety of resources including her autobiographies and various web pages that are founts of information on Angelou’s life. Students will be assigned to find five locations where she has lived or visited. After they work in pairs to conduct their research, students would come together as a whole class to mark the different locations on a group map. Several places will be found, including St. Louis, Missouri; Stamps, Arkansas; San Francisco, California; Brooklyn, New York; and Cairo, Egypt. Before she became famous, Angelou traveled extensively for different reasons. Since her fame has increased, she has traveled even more extensively around the world.
This lesson will allow students to practice research skills, cooperative learning, and geographic skills. A message they will walk away form the lesson with is that the only restrictions we face are those we place on ourselves, be they emotional or geographic.
This activity will be finished in a period. After completing the assignment, students will receive a copy of the completed map.
Lesson Three: My Life has Turned to Blue
This lesson will involve the poem ‘My Life has Turned to Blue’. Students will read and discuss the poem. Then they will go through the poem and locate the different uses and references to color.
Color is an important aspect of this poem. Angelou uses it to subtly show her changes in attitude. Angelou also uses rhyming patterns to show changes in emotion. Students will examine the difference in the rhyming pattern in the first and second stanza compared to the third stanza. The role and effect of rhyming will be discussed. Students will decide if Angelou was successful at using color and rhyming to show subtle changes in mood.
After exploring these ideas, students will have the opportunity to try out strategies involving color and rhyming patterns. They will write a poem focusing on these tools. After they have had opportunities to revise and edit, they will share their poem with the class.
These activities will take four days to complete. Students will finish with specific examples of color in ‘My Life’ and their rationale for the effectiveness of it. They will also have a poem they write individually trying out using colors to convey meaning.
Content Standard 1.0: Reading
Content Standard 2.0: Writing
Content Standard 6.0: English/Integrated Arts
