| Suggested Grade Level: Middle School, specifically seventh grade. Length of time to teach this unit: Approximately two weeks. Specific activities are given, but a daily schedule is not included to allow for differences between classes. Goal: The main question of this unit is "what is poetry?" By focusing on working class poetry, this unit provides a necessary introduction to this often complicated literary work. This unit of study is only an introduction to poetry, and obviously this question will not be completely answered. However, students will have a better understanding of poetry, and a good base to continue the study of poetry. By the end of this unit, students will be able to read and discuss poetry in groups as well as write poetry that has meaning to their lives. A secondary goal of this unit is to investigate the question "how does work shape us?" Students will investigate how work shapes the poets that we read, the in-class guests who share about their work experiences, as well as themselves. Objectives and TEKS Objectives: 1. The student will evaluate and discuss working class poetry as a class and in small groups. 110.23b 4(A), 11(A,B,C,D), 12(A,H,K) 2. The student will conduct Internet research on authors and subjects of working class poetry studied in class. 110.23b 13(A,C,D,G,H) 3. The student will create as artistic depiction of a chosen poem as a group. 110.23b 13 (F,I) 4. The student will present a chosen poem through an artistic depiction to their class, and then to nursing home residents or elementary school students. 110.23b 5(B,C,E,F) 5. The student will provide a self-assessment of their individual involvement in the group poetry project and presentation. 110.23b 5(D) 6. The student will generate interview questions as a class, and, with a group, interview a chosen guet speaker. 110.23b 5(B), 20(A,C) 7. The student will conduct Internet research on the work of the guest speaker in order to understand this form of work more thoroughly. 110.23b 13(C,D,G,H) 8. The student will write a poem with a group about the guest speaker they interviewed and the type of work the speaker does. 110.23b 13(I), 15(C,H), 18(H), 21(A) 9. The student will complete a self-assessment as to their involvement in the group poem project. 110.23b 19(A,C) 10. The student will write a poem individually about work personally conducted. 110.23b 15(C,H) 11. The student will include correct spelling and grammatical construction in each poem written. 110.23b 16(C,D,E,F), 17(C,F,G) 12. The student will publish both the group poem and the individual poem on the Internet through the collaborative class web page. 110.23b 18(G) Resources: Levin, J.(Ed.). (1997). Poetry for young people: Walt Whitman. New York: Sterling. Oresick, P., &Coles, N. (Eds.). (1990). Working classics: poems on industrial life. Urbana: University of Illinois. Butcher paper and markers for brainstorming Computers with Internet access for research and class web site 5 guest speakers (number of speakers will depend on the number of groups in each class) An established class web page to post poetry written by students |
| Working Class Poetry |
| Jenny Fuller |