Date:
Subject: Literature – 6th / Unit: 4 - Poetry
Lesson # 1
AIM(s)
SWBAT determine the central idea or ideas of a poem by inferring the author's major statement about a topic or idea.
Do Now – 8 Minutes
______I have my blue pen and at least two pencilsout.
______My agenda is open and the homework is copied.
______Last night’s homework is on top of my agenda.
______My vocabulary packet is underneath my class packet.
______Everything else except my IR book is away.
Fill in today’s aim:
  • SWBAT______
  • What is poetry?Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful. ~Rita Dove
  • Why do we bother to read and write poetry?To have great poets there must be great audiences too. ~Walt Whitman
  • How are poems unique from other kinds of literature?Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted.~Percy Shelley
  • Is it ever possible to find the true meaning of a poem?I've written some poetry I don't understand myself.~Carl Sandburg
1)Which quotation (or image) interests you the most? Why?
2)Do you like poetry? Why or why not?
3)What do you already know about poetry?
4)What questions do you have about poetry?
Vocabulary – 15-20 Minutes
  • (see worksheet)

Text Introduction – 2-5 Minutes
HOOK/PURPOSE – We are going to try and understand a type of literature different from what we’ve read so far: poetry. Poetry is many of the things you’ve just named. Poetry often asks an important question or explores an interesting idea. Unlike a story or a nonfiction article, poetry does this through play with language and by creating an image or series of images that invite us to think about the question or idea in a new, fresh, and moving way. Just as when an artist creates a painting, they use different styles of brushstrokes, poets use language like brushstrokes.
Mini-Lesson – 10-12 Minutes
  • Let me show you how I do this. As I read, I pay attention to what the big idea or central topic of the poem is. This is the subject of the poem or the idea that the whole poem is about. Follow along with me as I read and see if you come up with the same idea I do for the central idea. (Read aloud “A Psalm of Life”. As you read underline life, soul, death, grave, dead and funeral each time you see them.)
  • Hmm… this is a tough poem. There are some really big words in here, but I think I can still figure out what the central idea is and that will help me better understand the poem.
  • Okay, you’ll notice that I underlined the word life a lot of times that seems to a very important idea to the poem, but I also underlined the word soul and noticed that it came up a lot of time along with a lot of words that have to do with death or a funeral or being dead. So what is the central idea? It has something to do with life and with death. I think it has to do with how we live our lives, but the idea of death plays into that, too.
  • So I’m going to write How we live our life and in parenthesis (death) next to it as the subject, because I think that death has something to do with the subject.
Read aloud the poem, underlining phrases that help you understand what the author is saying about life and death as you go.
A Psalm of Life
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Tell me not in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou are, to dust thou returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, - act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sand of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solenm main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
  • Okay so, now that I’ve gone back to through, I’m in a better place to figure out what the author is saying about life and about death. He starts out by warning us not to see “life as but an empty dream” Okay, so he wants us to know that life isn’t just about dreaming. It’s not a dream, but something more than that. Then in the next paragraph he tells us “Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not the goal.” Here is saying that life isn’t just about getting to the grave or to death. It’s for real. This is our only life. You really have to live it. This is helping me to see what the author is saying and understand a little bit more about the connection.
  • I notice that later on he says, “Time is fleeting” meaning that there isn’t a lot of time and then later on he says, “Be a hero in the strife” meaning that we should work hard, or strive, to be a hero. (As you think aloud the above thoughts, jot down notes in the margins next to the lines you’ve underlined.)
  • Okay, so I’m going to pause here because I have a hypothesis about what the author’s major statement about life and death is. He seems to be saying that life is short so we have to live life to its fullest. Take a look at the lines I underlined in the next stanza “Trust no Future… Act- act in the living Present” What do you think Longfellow is saying here? What does it have to do with the central message that I’ve come up with so far? Think for a moment. Now turn and share with your partner. What did you come up with?
  • Review Criteria
CRITERIA / 1 POINT EACH
Clearly state the central idea
Choose relevant textual evidence
Make and explain justifiable inferences about the textual evidence
Total / POINTS EARNED: ______/3
Guided Reading Stopping Points and Independent Practice – 40 Minutes
  • We are going to read through the last 3 stanzas, stopping at each one and you will decide with your neighbor if there are any lines that support the central idea.
  • Now you are ready to try this with your partner on another poem, which is a song by The Black Eyed Peas, titled “Where is the Love?” As I play this song for you, follow along in your text and underline any words that help you figure out what the central idea or subject is.
Play the song while scholars follow along. The song can be accessed here:
Where is the Love? By The Black Eyed Peas
What's wrong with the world mama?
People living like they ain’t got no mamas
I think the whole world’s addicted to the drama
Only attracted to the things that bring you trauma
Overseas yeah we tryin to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here livin
In the USA the big CIA the Bloodz and the Crips and the KKK
But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And If you hatin you're bound to get irate
Yeah madness Is what you demonstrate
And that's exactly how anger works and operates
You gotta have love just to set it straight
Take control of your mind and meditate
Let your soul gravitate to the love y'all
(Chorus)
People killing people dying
Children hurtin you hear them crying
Can you practice what you preach
Would you turn the other cheek?
Father Father Father help us
Send some guidance from above
Cause people got me got me questioning
Where is the love?(where is the Iovex3)(the Iove2x)
It just ain't the same all ways have changed
New days are strange is the world the Insane?
If love and peace so strong
Why are there pieces of love that don't belong
Nations dropping bombs
Chemical gases filling lungs of little ones
With ongoing suffering
As the youth die young
So ask yourself is the loving really strong?
So I can ask myself really what is going wrong
With this world that we living In
People keep on giving in
Makin wrong decisions
Only visions of them livin and
Not respecting each other
Deny thy brother
The wars' going on but the reasons' undercover
The truth is kept secret
Swept under the rug
If you never know truth
Then you never know love
Where's the love y'all?(I don't know)
Where's the truth y'all?(I don't know)
Where's the love y'all?
(Chorus)
I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder
As I'm getting older y'all people get colder
Most of us only care about money makin
Selfishness got us followin the wrong direction
Wrong information always shown by the media Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting their young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see In the cinema Whatever happened to the values of humanity Whatever happened to the fairness and equality Instead of spreading love, we're spreading animosity Lack of understanding, leading us away from unity That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling under That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling down
It's no wonder why sometimes I'm feeling under
I gotta keep my faith alive, until love is found
(Chorus)
Now with your partner go through the following steps:
  1. Decide what the subject is.
  2. Reread and underline any lines that help you understand what the Black Eyed Peas are saying about that subject.
  3. Discuss what that line tells you about the subject and add notes next to the line showing what you decided.
  4. Write down what the author’s claim about the subject is in a complete sentence.
Once partner time is over have scholars share out their claims and explain how the evidence supports them.
  • You’ve done some fabulous work analyzing two poems today and pulling out the central ideas of the poems and what the author has to say about those ideas. You are now ready to try this on your own. You are going to read “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes. Go through the same steps that we’ve gone through with the last two poems.
  1. Read the poem and underline words that give you an idea of what the subject is.
  2. Write down the subject.
  3. Reread and underline any lines that help you understand what the author is saying about that subject.
  4. Next to each line you underline write down what that line tells you about the subject.
Write down what the author’s claim about the subject is in a complete sentence.
Mother to Son
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
--- Langston Hughes
Exit Ticket – 10 Minutes
In your own words, describe what the poem is mostly about. Support your answer with relevant details from the poem.
Homework
  • Not Yet Top Quality Exit Slip
  • Vocabulary (see worksheet)

Annotated Visual Anchor
  • (see above)

______November ______, 2011

Literature - Boskovski Own it!

6thGrade Literature – Unit 4, Day 1
Poetry
Aim(s):
SWBAT determine the central idea or ideas of a poem by inferring the author's major statement about a topic or idea.

Do Now:

1)______I have my blue pen and at least two pencilsout.

2)______My agenda is open and the homework is copied.

3)______Last night’s homework is on top of my agenda.

4)______My vocabulary packet is underneath my class packet.

5)______Everything else except my IR book is away.

6)Fill in today’s aim:

_ _

  • What is poetry?Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful. ~Rita Dove
  • Why do we bother to read and write poetry?To have great poets there must be great audiences too. ~Walt Whitman
  • How are poems unique from other kinds of literature?Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted.~Percy Shelley
  • Is it ever possible to find the true meaning of a poem?I've written some poetry I don't understand myself.~Carl Sandburg

7)Which quotation (or image) interests you the most? Why?

______

______

8)Do you like poetry? Why or why not?

______

______

9)What do you already know about poetry?

______

______

10)What questions do you have about poetry?

______

______

DO NOT GO ON.

Guided Notes

In poetry, authors often introduce us to a ______through important details.

The ______of a poem is the ______or ______the author wants us to ponder after reading the poem.

To find the ______, we must first find the ______and then identify what the author says about this subject. To do so, watch me ______.

[J1]

I Do/We Do:

A Psalm of Life
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Tell me not in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou are, to dust thou returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, - act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sand of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

Subject: ______

What does Longfellow say about life? ______

______

What pieces of evidence can help me explain this central idea to a reader?

Describe what the poem “A Psalm of Life” is mostly about[J2].

1

Where is the Love? By The Black Eyed Peas

What's wrong with the world mama?

People living like they ain’t got no mamas

I think the whole world’s addicted to the drama

Only attracted to the things that bring you trauma

Overseas yeah we tryin to stop terrorism

But we still got terrorists here livin

In the USA the big CIA the Bloodz and the Crips and the KKK

But if you only have love for your own race

Then you only leave space to discriminate

And to discriminate only generates hate

And If you hatin you're bound to get irate

Yeah madness Is what you demonstrate

And that's exactly how anger works and operates

You gotta have love just to set it straight

Take control of your mind and meditate

Let your soul gravitate to the love y'all

(Chorus)

People killing people dying

Children hurtin you hear them crying

Can you practice what you preach

Would you turn the other cheek?

Father Father Father help us

Send some guidance from above

Cause people got me got me questioning

Where is the love?(where is the Iovex3)(the Iove2x)

It just ain't the same all ways have changed

New days are strange is the world the Insane?

If love and peace so strong

Why are there pieces of love that don't belong

Nations dropping bombs

Chemical gases filling lungs of little ones

With ongoing suffering

As the youth die young

So ask yourself is the loving really strong?

So I can ask myself really what is going wrong