With the hope of giving students the opportunity to learn about Latino poetry, and to be able to analyze and decode many of the social, cultural and political references of the poems without overwhelming them, I am going to gradually present historical and literary information.
The first day I introduce the unit, I will use the "
pass the bull"
strategy I open every lesson with. I toss around a foam bull toy, while asking various questions to students. These questions are related to material already taught in class: it could be grammar, or Spanish culture, for example. It is a valuable strategy since it helps me assess my students on a daily basis. It helps to get students focused, and it also helps to start the class in a good tone, since they like it a lot.
I will be asking students general questions about poetry, to grasp what their disposition is towards it. I will give each student a graphic organizer in which they will write what is poetry, they will name/list poets they know, and what they would expect to learn throughout the unit. This will help students to reflect on poetry and in the process of learning.
Immediately after this introductory activity, I will give students a copy of the poems
"On the Question of Race"
written by the Latino poet and performer Enrique Avilés and the poem with the same title written by Michelle A. Banks, in 1991. Both poems will be juxtaposed in the same page so students can contrast them easily after reading them aloud. Since a high percentage of the students at Career are either African-American or Latino, students will be asked to get into mixed groups and discuss what are the elements "stereotypically Hispanic" in the Quique Avilés version and what are the "African American stereotypes" in the Michelle A. Banks one. This activity has a double purpose: first, students will figure out by themselves how foolish stereotypes are, and second, they will actually contrast and compare each other's cultural heritage to find out they are not too different.
Following the exercise, the whole class will engage in a discussion about the absurdity of stereotypes. My intention with this opening lesson is to call students' attention to the subject matter in an effective way so they will be motivated.
Analyzing poems
Students will read and discuss in detail poems of Pablo Neruda, Aurora Levins Morales ("
Child of the Americas"
), Rhina Espaillat ("
You Call me by Old Names"
) and Nuyorican poets such as Pedro Pietri ("
Puerto Rican Obituary")
, Hernández Cruz, Tato Laviera, Carlos Conde ("
Así Era Yo"
) and Sandra María Esteves (
"Take Off Your Mask.")
Students will work with poems in groups, individually, or as a whole class. They will analyze the language of the poems (imaginative, political and cultural aspects) and closely examine the usage of Spanglish.
Music
Working with music will be crucial for the development of the unit. We will be using music as a tool whenever possible: Neruda´s poems interpreted by different international artists, Cuban and Puerto Rican trovadours, hip-hop and reggaeton songs. . .
I will be giving students the transcription of the poems and lyrics with numbered blank spaces (I choose in advance, depending on the grammar structures we are studying, vocabulary I want to review, etc.) Students will listen to the songs and/or poems at least a couple of times. The first time they will be asked to listen carefully and to read along to see if they understand. The second time they will fill in the blanks. The teacher will ask if a third time is necessary. If so, the teacher will write a "word bank" on the board to make it easier.
A couple of students will read the lyrics/poem as a way of correcting the exercise. We will stop in each stanza in order to analyze deeply the symbols, and images, and explain political and socio-cultural meanings. The teacher will question different students on their interpretation of different matters.
We will also be comparing different versions of poems interpreted by different artists. One example could be Pablo Neruda´s "
Poema XV":
we will first listen to Neruda read the poem (9.) After asking for impressions and interpretations from the students, we will listen to Alejandro Sanz reciting it (10) and then Adriana Varela (11) sing the poem with tango music. Students will compare them and write a short essay explaining how different voices can actually change the perception of the same poem.
Movies
Since this is essentially a literary unit, we will work with audiovisual resources. We will view fragments of
The Nuyourican Poets Café
(USA, Ray Santisteban, 1994) and The movie
Every Child is Born a Poet
(USA, Jonathan Meyer Robinson, 2002). The purpose is to show students the foundation of the Nuyorican Movement in the case of the first movie and, the interdependence between film and literature through the film adaptation of Piri Thomas´s
Down These Mean Streets.
Nuyorican Poets Café
The Nuyourican Poets Café (USA, Ray Santisteban, 1994) is a 14-minute documentary that features Miguel Algarín, one of the founders of the Nuyorican Movement and other poets such as Willie Perdomo, Ed Morales, Pedro Pietri and Carmen Bardeguez Morales.
The movie won 1995 New Latino Filmmaker´s Festival´s Best Documentary.
Every Child is Born a Poet
The movie
Every Child is Born a Poet
(USA, Jonathan Meyer Robinson, 2002) is a movie that combines poetry, documentary and drama. The movie is based in Piri Thomas´ autobiographical novel called
Down These Mean Streets
, written 1967.
The film includes different artistic products such as still photographs, rare archival footage, and dramatizations in order to explore the author´s use of creativity.
There will be a whole lesson to go along with the movie and the reading of selected fragments or chapters of the novel. Students will be able to study the connections of film and literature and how the two complement each other.
Glossaries
Poetry Terms
Since we are in a language class, this group is going to develop a glossary with poetry terms that appear while working with the poems. Students will have to put it together and organize it thoughtfully. They will have to present it to the teacher a couple of days before their presentation of the final project to the class. Parts of the glossary will be on the final assessment or quiz.
Spanglish Dictionary
Students will also collect "Spanglish" terms and expressions that appear throughout the unit. Explanations of these will be required.
Final Project
I would like to culminate the unit with a final project that will have students to look for a poem or song (or even write one if they feel confident enough), analyze it and make a physical project that they will be explaining and presenting to the rest of the class. There will be an alternative to this final project consisting on teaching hip-hop to the teacher. Students will have to present a physical project and an explanation to the teacher and students. This project will need to have connections to the Hispanic world: hip-hop in Spanish, the presentation being in Spanish, etc.
Even though students will get a detailed rubric, as always, some of the choices will be open so I leave a little window for creativity. I always do so, since I consider it is important for students to think and not only to follow directions!
