Overview
The purpose of this unit is to connect poetry with many facets of student’s lives. Students can experience many forms of poetry within literature, history, and the world. Not only is poetry in the form of texts, but it also takes on many other variations. Many things in today’s society still rely upon and reflect poetry from the past. Poetry is seen in music and song, film, television, speeches, greeting cards, billboards, and in cannons of great literature. It is timeless, because it always has relevance. Poetry can also take on a rigid format or be freely expressed. It can be an emotional outlet and a form of release. Reading and writing poetry is a way to share in the feeling and connect with past generations, great authors, cities, countries, eras, friends, and family. Poetry gives emotional insight into the subject on which it is written or on the author who has written it.
Desired Student Outcomes
~Understanding of poet’s inspirations, histories, techniques, and themes
~Broadening of awareness of how authors use elements of poetry to convey a central theme or message
~Understanding the fundamentals of mood, tone, simile, metaphor, and symbolism
~Understanding of poetic influence on specific bands and songwriters, and how that influence in evident in their songs
~Expanding of knowledge of historical, social, and political context surrounding bands and songwriters
~Experiencing Sonnets written by Shakespeare and other authors
~Understanding how to determine rhyme scheme and meter in sonnets and other forms of
poetry
~Understanding the history of sonnets and learn briefly about other authors who use this form of poetry
~Experience through literature analysis through examination of A Taste of Poetry…Chicago Style.
~Awareness of how poetry can connect students with their city and culture
~Understanding of how poetry can create mood, feelings, and expression
Possible Whole Class Activities
~Participate in discussions of poetry excerpts from A Taste Of Poetry…Chicago Style
~Participate in field trips to local landmarks
~Participate in a poetry reading
~Journal reflections
~Class discussions on poetry
~Class poetry reading
~Read and listen to various songs and watch various music videos
~Discuss fundamentals of tone, mood, simile, metaphor, and symbolism after reading texts on the subjects
~Discuss biographical information about specific songwriters and poets
~Participate in discussion on the meanings held within individual sonnets that are studied
~Participate in reading sonnet aloud and listening for rhyme scheme and meter
~Develop methods on how to count rhyme scheme and meter in sonnets
~Via overhead, use methods learned on how to count rhyme scheme and meter in sonnets apply it to another form of poetry
Possible Small-Group Activities
~Participate in discussion groups on various poems in Chicago Style
~Research Chicago poets and their poems
~Discussion and analysis of poetry focusing on technique, form, and theme
~Discuss regarding poetic influence on songs and music videos
~Discuss regarding historical background of various songs
~Analyze the meaning of a particular song
~Peer review groups
~Participate in discussion on tone and themes of sonnets presented
~Apply learned methods on how to count rhyme scheme and meter in sonnets
~View Robert Frost video
Possible Individual Activities
~Journal response that reflect students’ feelings towards their city and the poems that are written about Chicago
~Develop and publish their own poem based on the city they live in (Chicago)
~Read and present a poem that they have found or written about Chicago
~Journal reflections on specific poems and poets
~Design a piece of art, a song, or a photograph based on a specific poem
~Write individual response essay based on a specific poem
~Develop their own poem emulating a specific poet
~Keep a reader-response journal about materials read, heard, and/or discussed in class relating material to the students' experiences
~Compose essay about a song of the student's choice and how it has been influenced poetically
~Compose essay about a song of the student's choice discussing historical background of the song
~Compose essay comparing a specific poet and songwriter based on biographical information learned
~Via the Internet research history on sonnets
~Via the Internet research famous authors of sonnets
~Via the Internet locate a sonnet not covered in class and individually figure out rhyme scheme, meter, and meaning of the sonnet
~Give presentation on poem dissected from research on Internet
Resources
~Poets and Patrons Club of Chicago. A Taste of Poetry…Chicago Style. USA: Poets and Patrons Club, 1996.
~Frost, Robert. Selected Poems. Gramercy Books: New York, 1992.
~www.ketzle.com/frost
~www.everypoet.com/archive/poetry
~www.robertfrost.org/body.html
~Video on Robert Frost-His Life and Work-TV and VCR needed
~Art supplies-colored paper, crayons, markers, glue, tape, scissors, stapler
~Journal Notebooks
~"Break On Through", The Doors - The Best Of The Doors
~The Beat Reader
~Tales Of Mystery And Imagination: Edgar Allan Poe - The Alan Parsons Project
~"The Perfect Drug" (video), Nine Inch Nails – Closure
~"The Times They Are A-Changin’", Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, vol. 1
~The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings By Edgar Allan Poe, Edgar Allan Poe
~The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell, William Blake
~Shakespeare for Idiots
~Norton Anthology of British Literature
Materials
~Art supplies-colored paper, crayons, markers, glue, tape, scissors, stapler
~Overhead
~Internet
~A/V equipment
~CD player
Organization of Unit
Week 1:
Teacher will give a brief introduction to sonnets. Students will be instructed to use Internet during class time for research. Students will be building a brief account of the history of sonnets, famous authors, and one example of a sonnet. Students will write a brief summary of what they have discovered and turn it in to teacher. The Teacher will take the compiled work and make an advanced presentation on history of sonnets, Shakespeare, and other authors of sonnets.
This week covers State Goals 3 and 4.
Week 2:
Teacher will either play a reading of a sonnet or read it aloud. This will be done three times. The first time the students will be instructed to listen to the sonnet. The second time the students will be instructed to listen and try and determine the meaning. The third listening the students will be instructed to listen for rhythm in the sonnet. The teacher will orientate a discussion on what was heard. This discussion will be for now directed at the rhyme and meter of the sonnet. The teacher will hand out a copy of the sonnet heard and a sheet on the rules and definitions of rhyme and meter. This will lead into a teacher-orientated lecture on the use of Iambic Pentameter in sonnets. Students will be instructed on methods of determining rhyme scheme and meter. This skill will be tested in small groups. Students will break into groups of three or four and discuss the meaning of sonnet presented by the teacher. This will be done using only the text itself as a source. Students will also be given another sonnet and asked to determine rhyme and meter using instruction and methods provided by the teacher in lecture given previously. Also, groups will be required to determine meaning of sonnet. Each group will then present the sonnet showing rhyme scheme, meter, and explaining meaning to the whole class.
This week covers State Goal 1.
Week 3:
Students will return to the Internet and locate a sonnet not covered in class. The assignment will be to individually repeat what the groups had done the previous week and present it. After presentations the teacher will give a lecture showing how other types of poetry have rhyme scheme and meter. This will be demonstrated via an overhead projector. The whole class will discuss poem presented and together determine new form of rhyme scheme and meter from new poem that is not a sonnet.
This week covers State Goal 3.
Week 4:
On the following day in groups, students will reflect and discuss prior experiences with Robert Frost. Any new information discovered will be recorded in their journals. Further information will be given to students via a video on Frost followed by a teacher-centered introduction lecture on his teaching and themes.
The next meeting will entail group work in which students will read three Frost poems. I these groups, for the next several meetings, students will analyze the poems by focusing on technique, form, and theme. Students will keep a record of all group discussion that will be submitted for evaluation.
This week covers State Goals 1 and 3.
Week 5:
The students will be assigned to create a piece of art, a song, or photography based on a theme, idea, or concept found in a poem by Frost. They will be given the next two class periods to work on this project in class. The students will also create a poem of their own in class using Frost’s techniques, form, and themes. As the students near the completion of the unit, they will write in their journals and reflect on what they have learned about Frost and his poetry.
This week covers State Goal 3.
Week 6:
Together the class discusses how the city that they live in effects their lives. This discussion will include sub discussions of:
1. Education
2. Business/work
3. Social life
After discussion students will write in their journal how the city they live in has affected their lives. They may also want to add what their life may be like if they lived in another city; another state.
Class will be introduced with the reading of a poem about Chicago. Students will then receive a copy of A Taste of Poetry…Chicago Style and an introduction to the work that will be completed in the next few weeks. Together, the class will brainstorm landmarks in Chicago or their town as possible field trip sites that they may want to visit.
Students will break up into small groups of three in order to discuss and analyze one poem from A Taste of Poetry…Chicago Style. Some questions they may want to focus on will include:
1. How has the city played a role in this poem?
2. What is the mood, feeling, or attitude of the author?
3. What is the author trying to say in this poem?
4. How do you feel about the poem?
Class will break 5 min early so that students may reflect their discussions in their journals.
This week covers State Goals 1 and 3.
Week 7:
Students will take a field trip to their designated landmark in order to reflect how the city affects the people who live in it. While at the site, they will make notes on some ideas that they would like to discuss in class and possible write their own poem about.
The next day the class will discuss how they felt about the field trip and discuss the following questions:
1. What have they learned about the city?
2. Have any of the poems they have read portray the landmark they have seen?
3. How do poets use setting to create the mood of a poem?
Students will meet in the computer lab. In their small groups of three, they will meet at a computer station. Here, they will search the web for various authors from Chicago. They will document details about this author’s life and work. Students may also look for poems, books, or movies that are based on Chicago.
This week covers State Goal 4.
Week 8:
Students will break into their small groups of three and discuss ideas for their individual poems. They will consider setting, plot, narrator, mood, feelings, etc… Students will break 5 min. early so that they can write their ideas and plans for their poems in their journals. They will also compose a rough draft of their poem for the next class.
Students will again meet in their groups of three and exchange poems. Each student should have his poem read by every member in the group. Each member of the group shall answer the following questions on each poem:
1. Do I know where this poem is taking place?
2. What mood is the author creating?
3. Is the author trying to make me feel a particular way?
4. What is positive about this poem?
5. Is there anything that the author can do to improve upon this poem?
While reading these poems each member of the group may feel free to correct and edit grammatical errors before passing the poem back to the author. After all the poems have been read, the group will discuss each individual poem, providing feedback and information for the author to revise. Each student will be expected to return next class with a revision of his poem.
This week covers State Goals 3 and 4.
Week 9:
This week will be centered on review of mood, tone, simile, metaphor, and symbolism using texts from a prior lesson. Because the study of poetry through music places much of its emphasis on these fundamentals, they are an important part of the basis students will form in analyzing a song. Students will also be introduced to the idea of song as a poetic sub-genre, and the importance of biographical and historical background.
To get an idea as to where students’ experiences lie in studying song, during this week, there will be several whole-class discussions regarding the fundamentals of poetry stated above along with discussions based on students’ experiences with music they listen to. Also, at this time, students will begin their response journals to be kept throughout the unit. The journals will include student responses to class discussions, materials heard, and materials read in class, and may be a starting point for their essays to be written later.
This week covers State Goals 3 and 4.
Week 10:
During the tenth week, the students will focus on the historical background of various songs as well as how the songs have been influenced by poets throughout history. As an entire class, the students will listen to a number of songs such as “Break On Through” by The Doors, “The Times They Are A-Changin’” by Bob Dylan, selections from The Alan Parsons Project’s Tales Of Mystery And Imagination: Edgar Allan Poe, and watch the music video for “The Perfect Drug” by Nine Inch Nails.
Along with responding in their journals to these pieces of music, the students will hold small group discussions regarding the historical context surrounding the songs (for example – what was happening politically and socially when Bob Dylan wrote “The Times They Are A-Changin’”?) They will also hold small group discussions regarding poetic influence evident in songs (for example – how is the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe used in The Alan Parsons Project’s album?)
Together as an entire class, the students will learn about poets’ and songwriters’ biographical background. The poets and songwriters will be taught to the students as parts of the same lesson – for example, students will read William Blake’s The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell while they study The Doors’ “Break On Through” because of his influence on Jim Morrison’s songwriting as well as where The Doors got their name.
Then, based on knowledge learned from historical context and biographical information combined with knowledge of fundamentals of poetry, the students will begin to look at how to analyze a song.
This week covers State Goals 3 and 4.
Week 11:
Depending on how far the class gets from Week 10, Week 11 may be spent in much the same way – studying songs and holding small-group discussions. However, during this week, an essay will be assigned where each student may choose from one of the following three topics: composing an essay about a song of the student’s choice and how it has been influenced poetically, composing an essay about a song of the student's choice discussing historical background of the song, or composing an essay comparing a specific poet and songwriter based on biographical information learned. Also during Week 3, there will be peer review groups held in order to help students with their essays.
This week covers State Goals 3 and 4.
Assessment
~Test
~Essay
~Portfolio
~Presentations
~Teacher observed behavior
~Graded group work
~Individual meeting with students to discuss any questions or problems they are running into during the course of the unit.
~Journals
~Credit given for in-class work, participation, and discussions
~Self-assessment