LESSON TWO: Performance Poetry as Social Commentary

                             

LESSON DESCRIPTION

Students research poets and poems and complete the student Research Summary.

 

GRADE-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS

LS2         Create concise presentations on a variety of topics.

LS1         Use active listening behaviors.

IL1          Locate and use secondary sources to select relevant information.

CA6        Participate in formal and informal discussion of issues and ideas.

CA7        Identify and evaluate relationships between language and culture.

§         Conduct research to answer questions and evaluate information and ideas

§         Use technological tools and other resources to locate, select and organize information

 

LESSON MATERIALS

§         Sources of literature

o        None

 

§         Supplies 

o        Computer lab/library

 

§         Handouts provided

o        Student Research Summary

 

§         Words to Know

o           evaluate

 

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 

Students complete the Student Research Summary and present their group findings to the class.  Scoring guide provided.

 

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

  1. Assign a topic or author for research to each student. Give instructions for completing the Student Research Summary.

 

  1. In a computer lab and/or library, student conduct research, taking notes on the Student Research Summary: topic, date, bio/definition, and sources. Remind students they will be performing a poem and may find one they like during this research.

 

Ideas

Possible suggestions for research topics:

Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, James Wheldon Johnson, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Allen Ginsberg

 

Websites:

www.kerouac.com

www.nku.edu~diesmanj/poetryindex.html

www.slampapi.com

 

 

  1. Assign small groups organized according to their era (ex. Beat poets or time period) and the authors from the era.

 

  1. Groups compile information into a short summary and prepare for an oral presentation. One student from each group gives the presentation.

 

 

  1. Prompt students to take notes in preparation for an oral quiz following the presentations.

 

  1. Oral quiz

Idea

Sample quiz questions:

What social issues contributed to the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance?

What was the relationship between war and the Beat poets?

What cultural concerns impacted Hip Hop poetry?

Name one poet from each era: Harlem Renaissance, Beat, Hip Hop, and Slam.

List two characteristics of Slam poetry.

 

 

 

 

  1. Collect Student Research Summary and quiz answers.

 

Questions

for

Students

 

What are all of the methods poets have used over the past century to get their message to an audience?

How have these methods changed?

Why have these methods changed?

What does that say about poetry today?

How has poetry changed in the last century?