Black Protest Poetry SoW (8 Lessons)

This is adapted from a longer scheme of work I taught for a mixed ability Y9 class on protest poetry in early 2020. Most lessons deal with a single poem or song and look at both context and language analysis. There is a ppt for the assessment that I did with the class comparing how language is used in two of the poems studied.

Lesson 1: general introduction to protest poetry
Lesson 2-3: timeline overview of African-American history and analysis of the poem ‘Strange Fruit’
Lesson 4: Analysis of ‘Still I Rise’ by Maya Angelou
Lesson 5: Analysis of a protest song by ‘Sisters Uncut’ in the context of UK Austerity post-2010
Lesson 6: Analysis of ‘Black’ by Dave, performed at the 2020 BRIT Awards
Lesson 7: Assessment prep
Lesson 8: Overview of the history of hip hop and its connection to UK Grime; brief look at Stormzy’s BRIT Awards performance from 2018

I’m sharing this for free but if you like the resource then please consider sending a donation to the Black Curriculum project via their website
(This isn’t a project I’m involved with, they’re just a great group doing important work for improving the teaching of Black British history in the UK).