Anthony Pozdol SCED 301 Summer 2014

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LESSON PLAN#5 (Day 9 of Unit)

SUBJECT: English/Language Arts
Unit Theme: Survival and Oppression
Topic/Title: Art as Catharsis I (Taking the Power Back)

GRADE LEVEL: 10th

NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 24

LESSON DURATION: 50 Minutes

STATE STANDARDS:
CCSS Reading Standards for Literature Grades 9-10: 1.) Cite strong and thorough textual
evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn
from the text.

CCSS Speaking and Listening Standards Grades 9-10: 1.) Initiate and participate effectively
in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others ideas and
expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used
in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact
of specific word choices on meaning and tone.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research,
reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a
range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

OBJECTIVES:

Students will be able to summarize perspectives role in creating meaning.

Students will count on previously built knowledge to identify inaccuracies of a settings
portrayal.

Students will be able to differentiate the meanings between two works of similar genres
written with similar themes.

Students will apply a historical lens to their reading of various forms of writing.

Students will be able to cite inferred meaning in a text.

MATERIALS/RESOURCES:
Anthony Pozdol SCED 301 Summer 2014
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For students: Paper; pen or pencil; Copy of lyrics to I Wish I was in Dixie; Copy of Song
for a Dark Girl by Langston Hughes.

For teachers: Chalkboard/Whiteboard; Chalk/Markers; Copy of lyrics to I Wish I was in
Dixie; Copy of Song for a Dark Girl by Langston Hughes; Projector; Projection Screen;
Computer; Internet; Speakers.

NOTE: Immediately preceding this lesson, the history teacher has provided the historical
context of the Harlem Renaissance. He has highlighted the period as the rise of the African-
American artist. In fact, in many ways this was the dawn of the African-American artist.
With the space to finally operate as such, much debate took place between African-
American artists themselves as to what that kind of art should look like. Should it be
completely new? Should it pay homage to African tradition? Should it be a hybrid of
tradition and popular American art? All debating aside, this period was crucial for the
African-American, because it gave them a platform and a voice. A platform and a voice gave
them the opportunity to speak new meanings, and those who create meaning, are
increasingly empowered.


LESSON INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES

A. Write on the board Auschwitz. Draw a circle around it to begin a web or mind-
map stemming from the word. Inform the class that you are playing a bit of a word
association game by yourself. Attach to the word Auschwitz other words/phrases
like: hope; opportunity; freedom; sunny; a city for the family; peace.

Call the class to attention and verbally describe for them Auschwitz in complete
sentences based on the words youve associated with it on the board. Now,
considering that the previous week was spent studying and discussing Maus at
length, the students should know that the words you wrote on the board arent the
words that come to mind when they think of Auschwitz. They might think of
words/phrases such as: desperation; concentration camps; poisonous gases; death;
genocide. Invite them to come to the board and write down these words/phrases
and attach them to Auschwitz if they find your descriptions and story misleading
(hint: they absolutely should). This will provide a complete contrast to what you
wrote as the teacher, and will shift how we think of Auschwitz (as it should).

Illustrate by this exercise the power of hearing additional perspectives. I have far
too much power if I alone define Auschwitz for everyone. I can provide a completely
biased and inaccurate description, but if Im the only one given the platform to say
it, its the meaning most, if not all will adopt. But because youve grown familiar with
the horrible things that have taken place in Auschwitz in the past, youve spoken and
created a more accurate meaning. (10 Minutes)


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B. Development: Instruction and Activities
1. Show a video for the song I Wish I Was in Dixie you can access from the
following URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQmO-WfEkk4 . As the song
plays asks the students to think about how the song makes them feel. What is the
mood of the music and the singing? As they are listening and thinking, pass out
copies of the lyrics to the song. Erase the Auschwitz mind map from the board,
and start a new one stemming from the word, Dixie. (4 Minutes)
2. Once the song has ended, invite the entire class into another word association
game. Ask them how this song about Dixie felt (Sample answers: fun, goofy,
happy). As they are giving their answers write them down on the mind map on
the board. Next, have them look at the lyrics in front of them. Stress the
importance of reading the text at face value at this point of the exercise. What
does the phrase I wish I was in Dixie imply about the kind of place Dixie is?
(Sample answer: its a desirable place) What about the word hooray, what kind
of feeling does that attach to Dixie? (Sample answer: joy) This whole time you
should be filling out the mind map with the students answers. Add your own if it
hasnt been provided, and use In Dixie Land where I was born in as textual
evidence as to Dixie feeling like home. Attached to Dixie at this point should be
words like: home, joy, desirable, fun, goofy, happy. (6 Minutes)
3. Pass out copies of the Langston Hughes poem, Song for a Dark Girl. Choose 3
students to read one stanza each. Choose them before the reading begins, so that
when one person reaches the end of their stanza, the next person picks right up
where the previous reader left off. (2 Minutes)
4. Point out to the students, that we again see Dixie in this poem. In fact it begins
with the ending line of the song we just heard. Whats happening in this poem?
Based on whats happening, whats the tone or the mood of the piece? Now, re-
play the word association game with Dixie via the mind-map on the board. What
new meanings emerge? (5 Minutes)
5. At this point, provide the students some historical background on Dixie and the
song that inspired the Hughes poem. (8 Minutes)
It was kind of a Confederate National Anthem.
Lyrics initially intended to reflect the mood of the US in the late 1850s
towards the growing abolitionist movement.
Followed the popular minstrel theme that slavery was a positive institution.
Minstrel shows by the way were most often variety shows performed by
white people in blackface. And they spoke in mocking and exaggerated
African-American dialect.
I Wish I Was in Dixie is written from the point of view of a freed slave
longing for his plantation.
6. Define art as catharsis in this unit, as the oppressed peoples outlet to advocate
for new meanings, new rights, and new opportunities in spite of the systems that
exist and have existed to oppress them.
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Give this example: Hughes counters this notion of African-Americans wishing
they were back in the delightful Dixie, by showing a scene that accurately
depicted the kinds of things that actually happened way down south. His
response to that wish is that no one would ever wish that. His response to
the giddy folk song that made light of a people groups suffering is he turns it
into a blues song. He changes the genre, and he changes the meaning. Hughes
is exercising power, and learning to thrive in the face of adversity. (5
Minutes)

C. Closure

1. For homework, have the students answer the following prompt in their journals
in no less than half of a page: (2 Minutes)

Consider how Langston Hughes redefined Dixie to the American public. Now, think
of the term Chiraq. How is this idea of Chiraq being glorified? In what ways can
we redefine it in a way that brings awareness to the actual shame from which the
nickname was birthed?

2. Ask the class if they have any questions on the idea of art as catharsis? Do they
need another example to understand its functions? If there are no questions,
give them the remaining time to discuss their final assessment projects with
their groups briefly.(6 Minutes)



D. Differentiated Instruction/Assessment

For Mary and Jerry, most accommodations would be focused on the journaling
homework. The one measure Id probably take for the both of them is that Id
contact their parent(s)/guardian(s) to give them a heads up that the second week of
the unit will involve reflecting in their journals on the concepts and ideas discussed
in class. Parents will be sent home specific instructions on the given prompts and
the key ideas, and encouraged to discuss them with their children. Parents should
double check to make sure their child has done the journal assignment and help if
needed. For Mary specifically, I will check daily to make sure her assignment
notebook is accurately filled out and that she is clear on what she is being asked to
do.

To accommodate Ray, it will be important to communicate to his parent(s)/
guardian(s) that he will need their assistance with journaling from home. Ray will
be given the option of having his parent/guardian type out his thoughts as he speaks
them addressing the prompt, or Ray can have them record his thoughts via
audio/video recording device. Ray will also be sent home with audio versions of the
poems studied in class. In class itself, Ray will regularly be seated near the exit.

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ASSESSMENTS

Formative:
There is a running journal that began on the second day of the unit. On this particular day,
students will be asked to journal from home about the term Chiraq. This entry has to be
at least one half of a page in order to receive credit. There will be no letter grades assigned
to each journal entry. Students will simply be given a point for each entry, and deducted a
point from each missing entry. This is an exercise that allows them to practice writing and
even more so engage in critical thinking and making thematic connections. By the end of
the unit, when I collect these journals, I will have a better idea as to the quality of learning
taking place and the progress that has been made.