Lessontitle: MindsEyeBloodbyNaomiShihabNye

Standardsthislessonaddresses:

Unit:Whoarewe?

(allapplicable:state,districtscope/sequence,ELPS,CCR,national,school,and/ornetwork)

9thgrade
(3)Reading/ComprehensionofLiteraryText/Poetry.Studentsunderstand,makeinferencesanddraw
conclusionsaboutthestructureandelementsofpoetryandprovideevidencefromtexttosupporttheir
understanding.Studentsareexpectedtoanalyzetheeffectsofdictionandimagery(e.g.,controllingimages,
figurativelanguage,understatement,overstatement,irony,paradox)inpoetry.
(B)writeapoemusingavarietyofpoetictechniques(e.g.,structuralelements,figurativelanguage)anda
varietyofpoeticforms(e.g.,sonnets,ballads)and

Objective(s)forstudentlearning:
(framethisintermsoftheobservableoutcomeofwhatstudentswillbeabletodousingBloomstaxonomysameastheknow/skilledatUbDStage2
section)

Studentswill
1) Analyze(Makeinferencesanddrawconclusions)abouttheelementsofpoetryregardingtheeffectsof
dictionandimagery
2) Writeapoemusingfigurativelanguage

AssessmentEvidence:
(howwillyouknowstudentsmettheobjective?performancetask(s)and/orotherevidencesuchasquizzes,tests,academicprompts)

1.Journalentryresponsetopoem
Writeajournalentrytoresponseusingoneofthefollowingquestionstoaddressthemainideaofthe
poem:
Howdoesgeographyormigrationplayintothepoem?
Whichwordsorphrasesareconnectedtoidentityeitherliterallyormetaphorically?
Howdoesthespeakersculturalbackgroundorcommunityidentityplayintotheirpersonal
identity?
Useatleast2quotes(textualevidencefromthepoem)inyourjournalresponse
23paragraphs
2.Poem
Usingwhatyouvelearnedandwhatwevetalkedaboutinclassaboutsensoryimageryandmetaphorin
poems,writeyourownfreeversepoem(doesnotneedtouseanyrhymeschemeorstanzastructure,but
youcanifyoudlike)thatrepresentswhoyouareyouridentity.
Beforeyoubeginwritingyourpoem,brainstorm2030keywordseitheraboutyouridentitythatconvey
strongimages,feelings,orassociations.

Understanding(s)&EssentialQuestion(s)thislessonaddresses(ifpartofaUbDunit):

Geography,migration,andculturaldiffusionareactiveforcesthataffectcommunitiesandindividuals
Howdowemediatebetweenourpersonalandcommunityidentities?

InstructionalActivity/StudentLearningExperiences:MindsEye

writeoutprocess/stepsbelow
namespecificstrategiesyouareusingandwriteoutallofthestepsofthestrategy
describethecurriculum/contentANDpedagogy/process)

besureyouarecarefullythinkingabouthowtoopenthelesson,includingfollowingthestrategysstepsoriftherearenot
specificopeningstepshaveanintentionalopeningtothelesson(ex.anticipatoryset/hook,advanceorganizer,review)
howwillyoucheckingforunderstandingthroughoutthelesson?writethisoutspecificallywhenandhow

1.Select2030keywordsfromthetext

[Languages,true,hands,clot,Shihab,blood,flag,root,fig,civilized,plead,Palestinian,palms,shootingstar,
name,country,heart,neither,reach,graze,Arab]

2.Explaintostudentsyouwillbereadingwordsandto"createmoviesintheirminds"students
eitherdrawapicture,askquestions,makeaprediction,ordescribetheirfeelingsinresponse
tothewords,an"endproduct"asaframeofreferencefortheirvisualizations

ThisstrategyiscalledMind'sEye.I'mgoingtoreadtoyousomewordsfromatext/article/document.I
wantyouto"createmoviesinyourminds."AsIreadeachword,drawapicture,ask/writequestions,
makeaprediction,ordescribeyourfeelingsinresponse.AsIcontinuereading,youcanaddontoor
refineyourpicture/thoughts.TrytovisualizethewordsI'mreadinginoneofthoseways
Havestepswrittenoutonprojector/boardwiththedifferentwaysstudentscanrecordtheir
visualizations

3.Readthewordsslowlyoneatatime,withemphasisstudentsrefinetheirimageswitheach
wordstudentsstudentsdeveloptheirendproductsandsharetheminpairs/small
groups/wholeclass
[Languages,Arab,true,hands,clot,Shihab,blood,flag,root,fig,civilized,plead,Palestinian,palms,
shootingstar,name,country,heart,neither,reach,graze]
Afterreadingallofthewords,tellstudentstocontinuetothinkaboutthewordsandrefinetheir
products(elaborate,makeadjustments)for34minutesindividually
Ingroupsof3,studentswillsharetheirproductsandexplaintheirmoviesintheirminds
Volunteerssharetheirproductswiththeentireclass

4.1
5.Instructstudentstoreadthetext,comparingtheirinitialideaswithwhattheydiscovered
whilereading
Now,youllreadthewholetextwhichis

apoembyNaomiShihabNyecalledBlood.Asyouread,
thinkbacktotheinitialideasyouhadasIreadthewords.Comparewhatyouinitiallyimaginedtothe
storytheentirepoempresents.
Whatimagesdidthewordswereadbeforeconjureandhowdotheyrelatetothepoem?Howdoesthe
poemusemetaphorsandsensoryimagerytocommunicateideas?WhenIfirstreadoutthewords,did
youthinkIwasreadingwordsfromapoem?Why/whynot?

2
6.Discussion
Starttothinkaboutthesequestions(studentstake23minutestothinkandjotdowntheirideasandthen
discussinthesamegroupsofthreeforeachquestionset):
Whatdoyouthinkthispoemabout?Thinkbacktothekeywordswereadatthebeginningofclassand
theproductsyoumade.
Whatpredictionsdidyoumake?
Whatdidimagesdidithelpyouimagine?
Whatquestionsdiditmakeyouask?
Whatdiditmakeyoufeel?
Whatdoesthepoeticvoice(speaker)feelabouttheirownidentityandculturalbackground?
Howdoesgeographyormigrationplayintothis?
Whichwordsorphrasesareconnectedtoidentityeitherliterallyormetaphorically?
Howdoesthespeakersculturalbackgroundorcommunityidentityplayintotheirpersonal
identity?
1
2

Anadditionalstepaddedtomoredirectlyaddressobjectives
UsuallythisstepisnotincludedinMindsEyestrategy,butthislessonincludesadeeperclassdiscussion


7.Encouragestudentstoreflectontheprocessandtypesofthinkingtheyarecomfortablewith
(visualization,questioning,exploringfeelings,predicting)3
Howdoyouthinkthetypeofvisualizationyouusedrelatestothetypeoflearningyouaremost
comfortablewith?NexttimewedoaMindsEyelessonwouldyoutrytouseadifferentmethod?How
couldthisbechallengingforyouorhelpyouunderstandtextsbetter?

Lessonclosure:
ExitslipDoyourelatetoNaomiShihabNyespresentationofidentity?Whatisyourfavoritelineofthepoem
andwhy?

Differentiation:
(identifythelearnerpreferencessuchasMIandLSaswellasanydifferentiationforreadinessandinterest)

LS:SelfExpressive(respondingtothewordsandcreatingaproductinstep3)Interpersonal(combinationof
individual/reflective,smallgroupandwholeclasswork)Understanding(askingquestionsaboutatext
inquisitive)

MI:VerbalLinguistic(wordandtextbased,writtenassessments)Spatial(studentscanspatially/visually
recordtheirassociationsandideas)InterpersonalIntrapersonal

Accommodation:
(howareyougoingtoaccommodatetheuniqueneedsofspecificstudents?forexample,accommodatinglanguagelearnersandmodifyingforspecial
educationstudentsbespecificlistingstudentsbynamecanhelptoensurethatyouarerecognizingandmeetingtheirindividualneeds)

MaterialsandResources:
(studentandteachermaterials,includingtechnology,materialresources,humanresources,orcommunityresources)

Scratchpaperandpens/pencils
Projector
Handoutsofpoem
BloodbyNaomiShihabNye,below

AtrueArabknowshowtocatchaflyinhishands,
myfatherwouldsay.Andhedproveit,
cuppingthebuzzerinstantly
whilethehostwiththeswatterstared.

Inthespringourpalmspeeledlikesnakes.
TrueArabsbelievedwatermeloncouldhealfiftyways.
Ichangedthesetofittheoccasion.

Usuallythisstepisfollowedbyteachstudentstousethisstrategyindependently

Yearsbefore,agirlknocked,
wantedtoseetheArab.
Isaidwedidnthaveone.
Afterthat,myfathertoldmewhohewas,
Shihabshootingstar
agoodname,borrowedfromthesky.
OnceIsaid,Whenwedie,wegiveitback?
HesaidthatswhatatrueArabwouldsay.

Todaytheheadlinesclotinmyblood.
AlittlePalestiniandanglesatruckonthefrontpage.
Homelessfig,thistragedywithaterribleroot
istoobigforus.Whatflagcanwewave?
Iwavetheflagofstoneandseed,
tablematstitchedinblue.

Icallmyfather,wetalkaroundthenews.
Itistoomuchforhim,
neitherofhistwolanguagescanreachit.
Idriveintothecountrytofindsheep,cows,
topleadwiththeair:
Whocallsanyonecivilized?
Wherecanthecryingheartgraze?
WhatdoesatrueArabdonow?