Day Four-- African American Poets

Audre Lorde

Poem: "Power" (passed out previous day)

Quotation on writing "Power" (on overhead)

Tracy Chapman

CD: Tracy Chapman (self-titled)

Song: Behind the Wall (Copies of Lyrics here)

My Poem

by Nikki Giovanni

copies for all, available here.

Darryl Strawberry Asleep in the Field of Dreams

by Paul Beatty

copies for all, available here

The Revolution Will Not Be Televized

by Gil Scott-Heron

Lyrics (copies for everyone, available here) and recorded version (available from soundtrack for the film "The Hurricane" or various Gil Scott-Heron albums)

Film:

The Hurricane (starring Denzel Washington)

Cued up to fight scene towards the middle, which plays Gil Scott-Heron's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televized" as its backdrop.

Content Standard 1.5:	Respond (personally, analytically, and critically) to a variety of oral, visual, written, and electronic texts, making connections to their personal lives and the lives of others (or providing examples of how texts influence their lives and their role in society).
Content Standard 9.3:	Synthesize content from multiple texts representing varied perspectives in order to formulate principles and generalizations.
Content Standard 5.1:	Select, read, listen to, view, and respond thoughtfully to both classic and contemporary texts recognized for quality and literary merit.
Content Standard 8.2:	Students will describe and use characteristics of various narrative genres and elements of narrative technique to convey ideas and perspectives.
Content Standard 3.3	Read and write fluently, speak confidently, listen and interact appropriately, view critically and represent creatively.
Content Standard 9.1	Analyze and reflect on universal themes and substantive issues from oral, visual, and written texts.
Content Standard 10.1	Students will identify how their own experiences influence their understanding of key ideas in literature and other texts.
Content Standard 5.3	Analyze how the tensions among characters, communities, themes and issues in literature and other texts reflect the substance of the human experience.
Content Standard 7.1	Students will use a combination of strategies when encountering unfamiliar texts while constructing meaning.

Students will come into the classroom with their homework from the night before. The teacher will divide the class into groups of three, attempting to split people up so that each group has members who chose different methods of re-writing the poem in. Once in groups, the teacher will tell the group to read each other's papers, all the while focusing on the question (which will be written on the board) "How did the meaning of the poem changed as it was re-written in a different genre?". Students will discuss this for about three minutes, when the teacher will bring the groups back to a full-class discussion again. The teacher will go around to the different groups and have them share their experiences of the three pieces that they read (each other's works), and how the meaning of the poems had changed (if at all) by re-writing it in a different genre. There will be a recorder in each group that will share with the rest of the class the group's responses. Did re-writing it change their interpretation of it at all? What was the process like? The re-written papers will then be turned in to the teacher. After the large group discussion, the teacher will put a quotation from Audre Lorde on the overhead that details her decision to write "Power". The teacher will ask a volunteer to read it aloud, and then the class will discuss the quotation and segue into the rest of the poems being taught for the day. Especially stressed will be the part where Lorde says she wanted to run someone over with her car, but instead she wrote a poem. The concept of civil disobedience and non-violent protest will be brought up.

After discussing the Audre Lorde quote, the lights will be turned off, and the poem/song "Behind the Wall" by Tracy Chapman will be played on CD. After hearing it, the teacher will pass out the lyrics. The students, already sitting in a circle, will participate in a discussion about the poem -- what issues it brings up, why it is or isn't effective, why Tracy Chapman wrote it, what she was hoping to accomplish by writing it, who she wrote it for.

After the Tracy Chapman song, Nikki Giovanni's "My Poem" will be read by two volunteers in the class. The first time it is read, students can do whatever they normally would do when a poem is being read -- follow along on the page, for example. The second time it is read, students will be instructed by the teacher to close their eyes and just listen closely. After reading it aloud, students will be asked to respond in a free-write about the poem, in whatever manner they choose. The free-write will last about three minutes. After the freewrite, the teacher will ask the students to look through their freewrite and underline a sentence or phrase that really brings out the meaning of their entire piece. After doing so, the teacher will bring out a piece of posterboard that says "Our Poem" large in the center. As students are going around the room offering their phrase or sentence reactions, the teacher will write them on the posterboard around the "Our Poem" title. A short discussion will follow, talking about the social aspects of the poem, and what Giovanni means by the word "revolution".

Following the discussion, a film clip from "The Hurricane" will be played. The film clip features a time of unrest in the movie, and the backdrop is Gil Scott-Heron's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televized". After viewing the short clip, the teacher will pass out copies to the entire poem, and the teacher will play the poem in its entirety on CD. While it is playing, students will be asked to write a free-write about how Giovanni's and Scott-Heron's idea of "Revolution" is similar or different. Volunteers will be asked to share their responses after the poem is completed.

After 3-4 volunteers have shared their response, the segue will be using film. However, in this case the film will not be played in class, but a poet's response to a popular film will be read. Paul Beatty's "Daryl Strawberry Asleep in the Field of Dreams" will be passed out to the class. The teacher will read it aloud first, and then a student volunteer will be asked to read it. Because time may be running short by now, a short discussion will be started regarding the poem. A poll will be taken of students who have seen the film, and they will be asked if they noticed any of the problems that Beatty is talking about. What do they think of Beatty's criticisms?

After this brief discussion, the teacher will remind the students that they have been exposed to a lot of different poets over the course of the week. The students will then be told that they will be doing a presentation on any poet discussed in class (or any other African-American poet) on Monday. The presentation will include a visual representation of the poet, a brief biographical sketch, the well-rehearsed reading of one of the poet's poems, and then a brief description as to why the student chose that poem to highlight. The homework assignment for the night is to come to class tomorrow knowing which poet they would like to do.

Teacher Will:	Students Will:
Ask students to raise their hands based on the type of literature that they chose to re-write Audre Lorde's "Power".	Raise their hands, according to whether they re-wrote "Power" as a short story, a drama, a journal entry, or some other sort of literature.
Attempt to divide the class into groups of three, with a wide diversity within each group as to the type of literature they chose. Ideally, groups should include one person who re-wrote "Power" as a short-story, one person who re-wrote it as a drama, and one person who re-wrote it as a journal entry. However, this may not be possible, depending on what the students chose to do the night before.	Get into groups based on the teacher's preferences for having groups with a wide diversity of literary types.
Explain to students their activity, which is to read each of the other students in the group's re-creations of "Power" and then have a discussion based on how the meaning changed or did not change between genres, if re-writing changed the students' interpretation of the poem at all, and what the re-writing process was like. A recorder in each group will record the group's answers and comments to these questions and then share with the rest of the class.	Participate in small group discussion on re-writing "Power" and record the group's responses.
Assess student learning by observing, floating around, and answering questions.	Participate, and ask questions if any.
Go around the room sharing responses to the questions above.	Share responses.
Facilitate large group discussion on the general themes that came up amongst the groups. Put Audre Lorde's quotation about why she wrote "Power" on the overhead and ask a student volunteer to read it. What does the quotation mean? Bring up points of social activism in poetry (particularly in the African American community), civil disobedience, and non-violent protest.	Participate in large group discussion, volunteer to read Lorde's quote.
Collect homework assignment.	Pass in homework assignment.
Introduce Tracy Chapman's "Behind the Wall" by turning out the lights and asking students to listen closely to the poem's lyrics. Play the song.	Listen closely.
After completing song, facilitate large group discussion about it, based on the questions of what issues it brings up, why it is or isn't effective, why Tracy Chapman wrote it, what she was hoping to accomplish by writing it, and who she wrote it for.	Participate in teacher-guided, student-centered discussion based on aformentioned questions.
Pass out Nikki Giovanni's "My Poem". Ask two volunteers to read it aloud, pausing in between each reading. The first time, have students read along, and the second time, have students close their eyes.	Listen closely to the readings of the poem. The first time, read along, and the second time, close eyes and listen closely.
Ask students to participate in a free-write about the poem, capturing their initial gut reactions to hearing it twice. The freewrite will last three minutes.	Participate in free write.
Ask the students to read through the freewrite they just wrote, and underline one sentence or phrase that really stands out as the most important.	Read through freewrite they just wrote, and underline one sentence or phrase that really stands out as the most important.
Bring out posterboard that says "Our Poem" in the middle of it. Start going around the circle, asking students to share their phrase or sentence. Write them randomly on the posterboard around "Our Poem". When completely around the room, the posterboard should be full of students' phrases.	Go around the circle, sharing the phrase or sentence that they chose to underline.
Facilitate large group discussion on what is on the posterboard. Hopefully the concept or word "Revolution" will come up. The teacher will ask what the students thought Giovanni meant by the term.	Participate in teacher-guided, student-centered discussion based on aformentioned questions.
This will segue into the playing of the clip from "The Hurricane", which features Gil Scott-Heron's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televized" as its backdrop. After viewing the short clip, the teacher will pass out copies to the entire poem, and the teacher will play the poem in its entirety on CD. The teacher will ask students to participate, while listening, in a free-write about how Giovanni's and Scott-Heron's idea of "Revolution" is similar or different.	While it is playing, students will be asked to write a free-write about how Giovanni's and Scott-Heron's idea of "Revolution" is similar or different.
Ask students to volunteer free-write responses to the aforementioned question about the term revolution. Facilitate more discussion by asking why the filmmakers chose to use the Scott-Heron soundclip in the film and as the backdrop of that particular scene.	Volunteers will be asked to share their responses after the poem is completed. Participate in large group discussion.
Segue into another film, "Field of Dreams". Ask how many students have seen it. Then pass out Paul Beatty's "Darryl Strawberry Asleep in the Field of Dreams". The teacher will read it aloud, and then a volunteer will be asked to read it aloud.	Listen, participate.
Start a short discussion will be started regarding the poem. A poll will be taken of students who have seen the film, and they will be asked if they noticed any of the problems that Beatty is talking about. What do they think of Beatty's criticisms?	Listen and participate in whole-group discussion.
Explain homework/final project.	Listen & ask questions, if any.

1.	Students will understand importance of using poetry as social tool for social change, particularly in the African American community.
2.	Students will gain new perspective to the African American experience, by interpreting and analyzing poetry written from an African American perspective.
3.	Students will gain understanding of the importance of the notions of civil disobedience and non-violent protest.
4.	Students will recognize recurrent themes and writing strategies used for encourages social change.
5.	Students will understand how looking at something in a different genre than what it was originally written helps to increase the understanding and level of interpretation of the piece of literature.
6.	Students will see the marriage of social activism and poetry in a number of genres, including film, rap music, and folk music.
7.	Students will practice oral speaking and reading skills while futher developing their comfort and confidence in front of a group setting.

1.	Why did the poet write this poem?
2.	What were they trying to accomplish by writing this poem?
3.	Were they successful in what they were trying to accomplish? Why or why not?
4.	Who is the audience for this poem? A white audience or an African-American audience, or both?
5.	Did any of the poems manage to make you look at something differently?
6.	How is the term "revolution" used similarly or differently in the two different pieces that use it?

1.	Students must be able to react and respond to poetry.
2.	Students must be able to participate in large and small group discussions.
3.	Students should respond both affectively and analytically to poetry.
4.	Students should be able to get into the minds of the authors, thinking about their strategies for social change, who they are writing to, and why they wrote the things they did.