Literacy Benchmark Assessment: Mini-Lesson On Still I Rise
Literacy Benchmark Assessment:
Mini-Lesson on Still I Rise by Maya Angelou Jennifer Bell
Grand Canyon University: EED-525
December 3, 2014
Still I Rise Reading Mini Lessons
The seventh grade students at Tapestry Charter School will begin their poetry unit with “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou. This lyric poem, while optimistic, deals with important themes such as slavery, racism, and overcoming trauma. The students will dissect the poem, first looking at vocabulary and figurative language, later analyzing structure and narrative, in order to practice fluency, and move on to full comprehension of the symbolic text, line by line. Finally, after gaining meaning, the students will reflect on how the themes of the poem resonate in …show more content…
Is music poetry?
Poetry is an art form that makes a statement, tells a story, and expresses feelings and ideas.
Types of poetry: haiku, ballad, ode, ABAB poem, ABAC poem, blank verse, sonnets, etc.
What do the students know about Civil Rights and Slavery?
What do the students know about Maya Angelou?
Born in 1928 and died May 2014
She is best known for her series of autobiographies, the first being I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) that tells her life up to the age of 17. This book is a coming of age story, which tells how literature can help overcome racism and trauma.
Active in the Civil Rights movement, poet, writer, playwright, dancer, actress, film director
Named “America’s most visible black female autobiographer”
Maya Angelou experienced severe trauma as a child. A friend of her family attacked her. When the man was brought to justice and subsequently killed, she became mute for five years. Her life is an example of triumph over obstacles.
Read poem and highlight vocabulary.
Students will take turns, reading one stanza at a time. After each stanza is read, students will highlight unknown vocabulary. Students will participate in a discussion to uncover meaning of words.
Assessment/Journal …show more content…
They students were reading a text over a much longer period of time, and experiencing comprehension questions with a build. There was much more room for inferencing and prediction strategies. The students got to know the characters over time, with a lot more depth. They were able to question the motives of a character, make connections to the real world, and determine the importance of the big ideas in the text. The text itself was more thoughtful and language rich. There was just more time to really absorb the material and develop a love of reading. While I understand the reading level of the older students is more advanced, I have witnessed longer reading units before, and feel the fourth and fifth grade students could make more connections with a more in depth text at their level. For this reason, I chose to spend a majority of my observation time at the middle
Mini-Lesson on Still I Rise by Maya Angelou Jennifer Bell
Grand Canyon University: EED-525
December 3, 2014
Still I Rise Reading Mini Lessons
The seventh grade students at Tapestry Charter School will begin their poetry unit with “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou. This lyric poem, while optimistic, deals with important themes such as slavery, racism, and overcoming trauma. The students will dissect the poem, first looking at vocabulary and figurative language, later analyzing structure and narrative, in order to practice fluency, and move on to full comprehension of the symbolic text, line by line. Finally, after gaining meaning, the students will reflect on how the themes of the poem resonate in …show more content…
Is music poetry?
Poetry is an art form that makes a statement, tells a story, and expresses feelings and ideas.
Types of poetry: haiku, ballad, ode, ABAB poem, ABAC poem, blank verse, sonnets, etc.
What do the students know about Civil Rights and Slavery?
What do the students know about Maya Angelou?
Born in 1928 and died May 2014
She is best known for her series of autobiographies, the first being I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) that tells her life up to the age of 17. This book is a coming of age story, which tells how literature can help overcome racism and trauma.
Active in the Civil Rights movement, poet, writer, playwright, dancer, actress, film director
Named “America’s most visible black female autobiographer”
Maya Angelou experienced severe trauma as a child. A friend of her family attacked her. When the man was brought to justice and subsequently killed, she became mute for five years. Her life is an example of triumph over obstacles.
Read poem and highlight vocabulary.
Students will take turns, reading one stanza at a time. After each stanza is read, students will highlight unknown vocabulary. Students will participate in a discussion to uncover meaning of words.
Assessment/Journal …show more content…
They students were reading a text over a much longer period of time, and experiencing comprehension questions with a build. There was much more room for inferencing and prediction strategies. The students got to know the characters over time, with a lot more depth. They were able to question the motives of a character, make connections to the real world, and determine the importance of the big ideas in the text. The text itself was more thoughtful and language rich. There was just more time to really absorb the material and develop a love of reading. While I understand the reading level of the older students is more advanced, I have witnessed longer reading units before, and feel the fourth and fifth grade students could make more connections with a more in depth text at their level. For this reason, I chose to spend a majority of my observation time at the middle