Lessontitle:MetaphoricalExpressionNaomiShihabNye

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) Studentswillbeabletoanalyze(makeinferencesanddrawconclusions)apoemfortheeffectsof
dictionandimagery(studentswillhavebeengivenapreassessmentbeforethis.Theywillhavealready
lookedatapoemandwroteresponsestoafewprompts).
1) Writeapoemusingfigurativelanguageandmetaphor

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

1.Journalentryresponsetopoem
Writeajournalentrytoresponseconsideringthefollowingquestions:
Howdoesgeographyormigrationplayintothepoem?
Whichwordsorphrasesareconnectedtoidentityeitherliterallyormetaphorically?
Howdoesthespeakersculturalbackgroundorcommunityidentityplayintotheirpersonal
identity?
Basedonthesequestions,thinkabouthowthepoetistryingtocommunicatetheiridentity
whatarethemainideas?Whatconclusionsdoyoudraw?
Howaremetaphorsusefulinunderstandingidentity?
Useatleast3quotes(textualevidence)inyourjournalresponse
34paragraphs
2.Poem
Usingwhatyouvelearnedandwhatwevetalkedaboutinclassaboutsensoryimageryandmetaphorin
poems,writeyourownfreeversepoem(doesnotneedtouseanyrhymeschemeorstanzastructure,but
youcanifyoudlike)thatrepresentswhoyouareyouridentity.
Beforeyoubeginwritingyourpoem,brainstorm2030keywordseitheraboutyouridentityorthat
conveystrongimages,feelings,orassociations.

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

Geography,migration,andculturaldiffusionareactiveforcesthataffectcommunitiesandindividuals
Howdowemediatebetweenourpersonalandcommunityidentities?

InstructionalActivity/StudentLearningExperiences:

writeoutprocess/stepsbelow
namespecificstrategiesyouareusingandwriteoutallofthestepsofthestrategy
describethecurriculum/contentANDpedagogy/process)
besureyouarecarefullythinkingabouthowtoopenthelesson,includingfollowingthestrategysstepsoriftherearenot
specificopeningstepshaveanintentionalopeningtothelesson(ex.anticipatoryset/hook,advanceorganizer,review)
howwillyoucheckingforunderstandingthroughoutthelesson?writethisoutspecificallywhenandhow

1.Introducethecontentandsetthesceneusinganintroductoryactivitythathooksstudents'attention
andhelpsstudentsloosenandstretchtheirminds.
StandandShareactivitytogettoknowoneanother
Askquestionsaboutstudentinterest.Forexampleaskwhoplaysasport?Whatisyour
favoritetypeofmusic?WhatisyourfavoriteT.V.show/food/color?Whatisyour
favoritebook/reading/poem?
Thesequestionsaretohelpstudentsunderstanddifferencesandsimilaritiesaboutone
another.
Beforethestandandshareisoveraskstudentsifthereisanythingelsetheywantto
knowaboutoneanother.Allowforwaittime.

2.Provideareading,lecture,orotherinformationsource(s)pertainingtotheessentialcontentofthe
lesson.Askstudentstogatherinformationusinggivencriteria.
StudentswillalreadyhavethecopyofBloodbyNaomifromthepreviousday.
Askstudentstoquietlyrereadthetexttorefreshtheirmemories.
Clarifyanyquestionsthestudentsstillhaveaboutthetext.

3.Usingtheprovidedinformationsources,modelmetaphoricalthinkingwithstudents.
Gototheboardandmodeltheprocess.
WriteontheboardLoveiswar
Askstudentshowislovelikewar?Writetheirideas/feelingsontheboard
Whataretheimplicationsofwar?
Whataretheimplicationsoflove?
Howaretheyalike?

4.Presentstudentswithtwoitemsformetaphoricalcomparison,oryoumaychoosetochallenge
studentstodeveloptheirownmetaphors.Encouragecreativityandflexibility.
Thestudentswillcomeupwiththeirownmetaphorsforthepoem.
Thiswillhappenindividuallyforthefirst5minutestoallowstudentstobrainstorm.
Studentswillbreakintosmallgroupsandcomeupwithametaphortogether.
**Basedonpreassessment,studentswillbegroupedhomogeneouslybasedonlevelof
understandingwiththepoem**
Studentswhoareunderstandingmetaphorsmaycomeupwithanewmetaphorintheir
groups.

 Forstudentsstrugglingwithmetaphorstheteacherwillguidethemandsuggesta
theme.AnexampleforthepoemBloodcouldbeGoingbacktoyourootsinwhicha
studentcouldrelatethattoculturalidentityinthepoem.(Addanotherexample)

5.Askstudentstoshareandexplaintheirmetaphors.Discussvariationsandtheabilityofmetaphors
toexplaininmultipleways.
Askstudentstoshareingroupsfirstandheareachothersideaseitherwithcreatinganew
metaphororworkingononetheteachergivesthem.
Thenshareasaclassandaskonepersonfromeachgrouptosharetheirmetaphor(ortheone
giventothem)andtheirunderstandingofitasagroup.
Begindiscussionabouthowmetaphorscanhelpinvariousways
Therearemultiplemetaphorsforonesubject.
Discusshoweachpersonwhosharedtheirmetaphorwascorrectintheirowncontext.

6.Buildinopportunitiesforstudentstoreflectontheirunderstandingofthecontentandtheir
comfortwiththeprocessofdevelopingandexpandingmetaphors.
Studentswillcontinuewritingintheirjournalstoexpandtheirthinkingofmetaphorsand
figurativelanguage.

7.Askstudentstoapplywhattheyhavelearnedinawritingactivity,anoralpresentation,acreative
project,oranothermeaningfulsynthesistask.
Studentswillbecontinuingthepoemassignmentfromthedaybeforetoapplywhattheyhave
learnedaboutusing/identifyingmetaphors.

Lessonclosure:
Howcanmetaphorshelpyouunderstand/relatetopoetry?

Differentiation:
(identifythelearnerpreferencessuchasMIandLSaswellasanydifferentiationforreadinessandinterest)

MI:SelfExpressive,Interpersonal

LS:VerbalLinguisitc,Intrapersonal

BasedonapreassessmentstudentswillgroupedhomogeneouslyontheunderstandingBloodtheyreadthe
daybefore.Ifstudentsaremeetingtheobjectivebasedontheuseofmetaphorsandfigurativelanguagefrom
thelessonoverthepoemthedaybefore,theywillbeingroupswiththeoptiontoproducetheirownmetaphor.
Ifstudentsareneedingfurtherhelpwithhowtoidentify/understandmetaphors,theywillbegivenametaphor
oftheteacherschoiceformorepracticeingroups.

Accommodation:
(howareyougoingtoaccommodatetheuniqueneedsofspecificstudents?forexample,accommodatinglanguagelearnersandmodifyingforspecial
educationstudentsbespecificlistingstudentsbynamecanhelptoensurethatyouarerecognizingandmeetingtheirindividualneeds)

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

HandoutsofthepoemBlood
Notebooksfortheirjounralentry
HandoutsofBloodbyNaomiShihabNye

Blood
ByNaomiShihabNye
"AtrueArabknowshowtocatchaflyinhishands,"
myfatherwouldsay.Andhe'dproveit,
cuppingthebuzzerinstantly
whilethehostwiththeswatterstared.(14)
Inthespringourpalmspeeledlikesnakes.
TrueArabsbelievedwatermeloncouldhealfiftyways.
Ichangedthesetofittheoccasion.(57)
Yearsbefore,agirlknocked,
wantedtoseetheArab.
Isaidwedidn'thaveone.
Afterthat,myfathertoldmewhohewas,
"Shihab""shootingstar"
agoodname,borrowedfromthesky.
OnceIsaid,"Whenwedie,wegiveitback?"
Hesaidthat'swhatatrueArabwouldsay.(815)
Todaytheheadlinesclotinmyblood.
AlittlePalestiniandanglesatoytruckonthefrontpage.
Homelessfig,thistragedywithaterribleroot
istoobigforus.Whatflagcanwewave?
Iwavetheflagofstoneandseed,

tablematstitchedinblue.(1621)
Icallmyfather,wetalkaroundthenews.
Itistoomuchforhim,
neitherofhistwolanguagescanreachit.
Idriveintothecountrytofindsheep,cows,
topleadwiththeair:
Whocallsanyonecivilized?
Wherecanthecryingheartgraze?
WhatdoesatrueArabdonow?