Lesson 2

By the end of the lesson, ESOLs will:

1. Provide an analysis of a collection of English-language poetry reflecting the students’ cultural backgrounds.

2. Describe the meaning of figurative language used in the poetry we analyze.

3. Describe to peers unique cultural elements found in the three poems we analyze, including the foreign language used in each of these poems.

By the end of the lesson, ESOLs will demonstrate increasing proficiency in the performance of the following functions and their forms:

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Functions:

1. Breaking apart words by their syllables to analyze the meter of a poem.

2. Highlighting uses of figurative language and sound devices to identify them.

3. Translating foreign language used in the example poetry in their own language.

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Forms:

1. Students will draw a line (“|”) between syllables of a word when counting the feet found in a line of poetry (“Shall| I| com|pare| thee| to| a| sum|mer’s| day”)

2. Students will use the following colors when highlighting figurative language and sound devices:

   • Yellow: Similes

   • Green: Metaphors

   • Blue: Personification

   • Pink: Alliteration

   • Red/Orange: Assonance

3. As the three poems in today’s unit are in students’ heritage languages, they will share what the poem means in English.

By the end of the lesson, ESOLs will demonstrate an understanding of the following vocabulary words:

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Content

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Personification

• Alliteration

• Assonance

• Foot (poetry)

• Syllable

• Rhyme Scheme

• Stanza

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Academic

• Annotate

• Analyze

• Translate

Special Cross-Cultural Considerations for ESOLs: Although the vast majority of our students (six of the eight students in total) are from the Philippines, it is important that we make some inclusion for all of our English Language Learners. Thus, like with yesterday, as we select poetry using the heritage languages of the classroom, it is important that all three languages (Tagalog, Spanish, and Samoan) are represented in some respect.

 

Materials: Needed materials for this instruction include the poems “In a Neighborhood in Los Angeles” by Francisco X Alarcon, “My Mother Tells Me About Lolo” by Marianne Chan, “Stepping Stones” by Albert Wendt, and “my heart is home” by Maricia Skinna; five highlighters (one in yellow, green, blue, pink, and orange); and two poetry analysis forms.

 

Lesson Sequence
 

MOTIVATION: Before the start of class, to assess my students’ understanding of the content covered in yesterday’s class, as a bell ringer students will individually analyze the poem “my heart is home” by Marcia Skinna. Using a poetry analysis form and the five highlighters from yesterday, students will analyze the poem to determine the meter of the poem, the rhyme scheme if there be any, and any figurative language or sound devices featured in the text. As with yesterday, students will use the strategies we covered in class yesterday including drawing a line for each syllable of the poem, labelling the end rhymes of each line of poetry, and highlighting for different forms of figurative language to help them as they analyze. We will then review once students have finished.

 

PRESENTATION: After students have finished describing their results for the poetry analysis, I will then provide a presentation that they will use to personally evaluate how well they did. This will include showing them how they should have drawn lines to identify the meter of the poem, a discussion on the rhyme scheme based on what was provided in a poem, and the types of figurative language and sound devices that were featured in the poem. For the latter, in addition to helping students identify these examples of figurative language and sound devices, we will highlight any examples of similes and metaphors featured in the text to describe their figurative meaning as brought up by the author.

 

PRACTICE/APPLICATION: After our discussion, I will pair students into two groups to analyze two poems of cultural significance to them. The three poems featured in this activity include “In a Neighborhood in Los Angeles” by Francisco X Alarcon, “My Mother Tells Me About Lolo” by Marianne Chan, “Stepping Stones” by Albert Wendt. While Francisco X Alarcon and Albert Wendt’s poems are smaller in size to account for the demographic makeup of the class (Alarcon is a Mexican-American author while Albert Wendt is Samoan), I selected a larger poem for my Filipino students to encourage cooperation when analyzing the poems.

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For each group, there will be 3 Filipino students (at least one of lower English proficiency and one of higher proficiency) and one student who does not speak Tagalog as their heritage language. Each group will begin with either Alarcon or Wendt’s poem, using the same strategy as earlier to identify the meter, rhyme scheme, figurative language, and sound devices of the poem. Once the analysis portion of this poem is finished, then the non-Tagalog speaking student will take some time to explain the usage of either Spanish or Samoan in the poem to allow the group to understand the overall message communicated in the poem. As for Chan’s poem, both groups will analyze the poem – with different designated responsibilities for each student. The Filipino students with lower English proficiency will begin by identifying the Tagalog words and phrases featured in the poem, allowing the group not only to understand the meaning of these words and phrases, but to also help the non-Tagalog speaking student in each group to understand the pronunciation to give them a better impression of the rhyme scheme and meter of the poem. From there, while the non-Tagalog speaker can begin identifying the rhyme scheme and meter of the poem, the Tagalog speakers with higher English proficiency will look for types of figurative language and sound devices – both in English and Tagalog, if applicable.

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After the poetry analysis is complete, groups will begin by sharing what the poems by either Alarcon or Wendt. In addition to reading these poems to the groups who did not read them, students will share what they learned about the meter, rhyme scheme, figurative language, and sound devices featured in their poem. They will discuss by sharing what they learned from the non-Tagalog speaking student about the non-English phrases featured in the poem and their cultural significance. As for the poem “My Mother Tells Me About Lolo” by Marianne Chan, we will discuss together as a class what we found out about the poem’s meter, rhyme scheme, figurative language, and sound devices. Afterwards, my Filipino students will describe to the class about the Tagalog words and phrases featured in the poem. While it is supposed that students will have some unanimity in this discussion, there is the possibility that due to variances in regional dialect among my Filipino students, there might be different interpretations that we can discuss in further detail.

 

EXTENSION: Like with yesterday, if students are still demonstrating some deficits in their learning from today’s activity, I have a few extension activities in mind. First of all, I can continue providing different common poetic forms including villanelles to help students practice the structure and rhyme scheme of different kinds of poetry. Likewise, I can continue having students look at their reading in their English Language Arts course to help them identify and analyze different types of figurative language and sound devices used by the author.