In this lessons students will be able to explain how a poet explores particular contexts within a poem and discuss useful quotes in order to prove their ideas (A01, 2, 3). The poem is part of AQA's anthology of Literature exam poems. The poem, if you don't know it, illustrates Agard's anger at the inadequacy of teaching of black history taught in schools and how certain figures are still unknown by many. It is a conflict poem which explores the themes of prejudice and ignorance which can be linked to other poems taught within a unit. It's particularly useful to compare to 'The Émigrée' by Carol Rumens and 'Tissue' by Imtiaz Dharker.
The lesson starts with asking students what context is. The next few slides introduce them to key words relating to colonialism as well as some facts about the British / European occupation of Agard's homeland, Guyana. There are also some facts about the famous black people he lists: Toussaint L’Ouverture, Nanny of the Maroons, Shaka the Zulu, etc. This background information will help them contextualize his feelings which are presented in the poem.
In pairs, they're asked to use the WPSLOMP acrostic to annotate the poem and there is a slide with it on to be presented on the board.
The lesson ends with a chance for students to write independent essay paragraphs with AQA's exam success criteria but this can be adapted for your course. There are 3 options on how to approach essay writing: 'layers of meaning', PEA, or the 'reading ladder' which follow the same idea. There is then an opportunity to self or peer assess according to the key skills.
As with all my lessons, there are 'Talk for Writing' activities and Challenge tasks for more able students.
Attached is;
- A powerpoint with the lesson clearly outlined
- Essay PEA styles sentence starters writing frames for weaker students.
- Links to online videos/readings (see 'Notes' under slides).
The lesson starts with asking students what context is. The next few slides introduce them to key words relating to colonialism as well as some facts about the British / European occupation of Agard's homeland, Guyana. There are also some facts about the famous black people he lists: Toussaint L’Ouverture, Nanny of the Maroons, Shaka the Zulu, etc. This background information will help them contextualize his feelings which are presented in the poem.
In pairs, they're asked to use the WPSLOMP acrostic to annotate the poem and there is a slide with it on to be presented on the board.
The lesson ends with a chance for students to write independent essay paragraphs with AQA's exam success criteria but this can be adapted for your course. There are 3 options on how to approach essay writing: 'layers of meaning', PEA, or the 'reading ladder' which follow the same idea. There is then an opportunity to self or peer assess according to the key skills.
As with all my lessons, there are 'Talk for Writing' activities and Challenge tasks for more able students.
Attached is;
- A powerpoint with the lesson clearly outlined
- Essay PEA styles sentence starters writing frames for weaker students.
- Links to online videos/readings (see 'Notes' under slides).
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