Free Homeschool Poetry Lesson (by date, latest first)

Explore United States history through the art of haiku with the History in A Haiku Activity! This comprehensive kit is designed to enrich and engage students in their understanding of U.S. History while honing their creative writing skills. With carefully curated historical prompts, research resources, and a structured writing process, this activity offers a dynamic way to learn about various U.S. historical topics and craft expressive haikus.

Key Features:

• 30 Fascinating Historical Prompts: Choose from a diverse range of 30 U.S. historical topics that span different cultures, regions, and time periods.
• Grading Rubric: A comprehensive grading rubric guides students in meeting the criteria for historical accuracy, creative expression, language use, and more.
• Step-by-Step Guide: A detailed lesson plan and instructions make it easy to implement the activity effectively in your classroom.
• Extensions and Variations: Discover ways to extend the activity with group collaboration, multimedia integration, and exciting variations to cater to diverse learning preferences.
• Bonus Challenge: Encourage creativity with a bonus challenge that offers students the opportunity to earn extra credit by incorporating unique historical references.
• Grading Scale: A clear grading scale ensures students understand the evaluation process and helps you provide constructive feedback.
• Teacher Instructions: Detailed teacher instructions and suggestions for variations provide you with a flexible framework to adapt the activity to your classroom's needs.

Benefits:

• Enhance Historical Understanding: Foster a deeper understanding of world history by researching and connecting with different cultures and periods.
• Develop Creative Writing Skills: Cultivate creativity and descriptive language skills as students craft haikus that convey historical messages and imagery.
• Engaging and Interactive: The activity actively involves students in research, critical thinking, and artistic expression, making history come alive.
• Tailored Learning: Choose prompts that align with your curriculum or pique students' interests, creating a personalized learning experience.
• Meaningful Assessment: Assess historical understanding, language skills, and creativity through a well-defined grading rubric.

Immerse your students in the past, inspire their creativity, cultivate a deeper appreciation for history and language, and bring history to life in your classroom!

This lesson was designed to be used on the first day of a year-long 11th-grade American Literature course. The lesson includes a poetry packet with 7 poems by diverse American authors. Each of the poems raises important questions about what "America" represents. A land of freedom and equality? A refuge for immigrants? A diverse and inclusive nation? Or a land with entrenched inequality? A saber-rattling evil empire?

Here is a list of the poems:

1. Ada Limón, "A New National Anthem" (2018) — our new Poet Laureate!

2. Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus" (1883)

3. Walt Whitman, "I Hear America Singing" (1860)

4. Langston Hughes, "I, Too" (1923) — responding directly to Whitman!

5. Claude McKay, "America" (1921)

6. James Lasdun, "The Question" (2012) — is America "good or bad"?

7. Tony Hoagland, "America" (2003)

This resource also comes with a classwork packet that features discussion questions on the poems by Ada Limôn, Emma Lazarus, and Langston Hughes. The discussion questions come on three handouts, each of which contains 7 questions about a particular poem. Each handout also has a quick write where students can answer one of the questions in writing.

How might the concept of "America" represent a set of ideals and promises? Has this nation lived up to its ideals and promises? How might the idea of America be different from the reality?

Thank you for choosing Rigorous Resources!

Happy teaching!

Adam Jernigan, Ph.D.

adamjernigan@gmail.com

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Rigorous Resources is your one-stop shop for resources on American literature. Every unit was designed by a Ph.D. with a research specialization in American literature. Feel free to check out these complete units on canonical texts by diverse American authors:

Complete Unit on Tommy Orange's There There

Complete Unit on Arthur Miller's The Crucible

Complete Unit on Frederick Douglass's Narrative

Complete Unit on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

Complete Unit on Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

Complete Unit on Nella Larsen's Passing

Complete Unit on J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye

Complete Unit on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun

Complete Unit on Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye

Complete Unit on Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese