- I can analyze how the structure of "Calling Dreams" contributes to its meaning. (RL.7.4, RL.7.5)
- I can determine the meaning of figurative language in "Calling Dreams." (RL.7.4, L.7.5)
- I can identify a theme and explain how it is developed over the course of "Calling Dreams." (RL.7.2)
Focus Standards: These are the standards the instruction addresses.
- RL.7.2, RL.7.4, RL.7.5, L.7.5c
Supporting Standards: These are the standards that are incidental—no direct instruction in this lesson, but practice of these standards occurs as a result of addressing the focus standards.
- RL.7.1
Daily Learning Targets
Ongoing Assessment
- Opening A: Entrance Ticket: Unit 1, Lesson 8
- Work Times A and B: Analyze Poetry: "Calling Dreams" note-catcher (RL.7.2, RL.7.4, RL.7.5, L.7.5)
Agenda
Agenda | Teaching Notes |
---|---|
1. Opening A. Engage the Learner (5 minutes) 2. Work Time A. Read and Analyze Structure: "Calling Dreams" - RL.7.5 (20 minutes) B. Read and Analyze Language: "Calling Dreams" - RL.7.4, L.7.5c (10 minutes) 3. Closing and Assessment A. Determine and Explain Theme - RL.7.2 (10 minutes) 4. Homework A. Synthesis Questions: "Calling Dreams": In preparation for the end of unit assessment, students complete Homework: Synthesis Questions: "Calling Dreams." Students also read Georgia Douglas Johnson's short biography in their anchor texts and answer synthesis questions. B. Independent Research Reading: Students read for at least 20 minutes in their independent research reading text. Next, they select a prompt and write a response in their independent reading journal. |
Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson
Opportunities to Extend Learning
How It Builds on Previous Work
Support All Students
Assessment Guidance
Down the Road
|
In Advance
- Ensure there is a copy of Entrance Ticket: Unit 1, Lesson 8 at each student's workspace.
- Post the learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see Materials list).
Tech and Multimedia
Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout previous modules to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.
Supporting English Language Learners
Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 7.I.A.1, 7.I.B.5, 7.I.B.6, 7.I.B.8, 7.I.C.10, 7.I.C.12, and 7.II.A.1.
Important Points in the Lesson Itself
- To support ELLs, this lesson provides teacher-led and peer-collaborative analysis of the structure, language, and themes in the poem "Calling Dreams" by Georgia Douglas Johnson. While analyzing poetry may be challenging, the teacher and peer support throughout the lesson will help ELLs successfully participate in the analysis. In this lesson, students are gradually released by writing their theme paragraphs in pairs.
- ELLs may find it challenging to understand the poem despite the supports provided in the lesson or suggested below. Remind students that all readers struggle to understand poetry. It is like a puzzle that needs solving. Recommend students read and reread the poem. Then they can use the in-class vocabulary supports to comprehend each line. Finally, they can discuss their understanding of the poem in their home language.
Vocabulary
- contraband, countermand, impede (A)
- connotation, rhyming couplets (DS)
Key
(A): Academic Vocabulary
(DS): Domain-Specific Vocabulary
Materials from Previous Lessons
Teacher
Student
- Techniques anchor chart (one for display; from Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 2, Work Time B)
- Domain-specific word wall (one for display; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time B)
- Academic word wall (one for display; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time A)
- Harlem Renaissance Themes anchor chart (one for display; from Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 3, Closing and Assessment A)
- One Last Word by Nikki Grimes (text; from Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Closing and Assessment A)
- Vocabulary log (from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 2, Opening A)
- Independent reading journal (one per student; begun in Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 6, Work Time B)
New Materials
Teacher
Student
- Analyze Poetry: "Calling Dreams" note-catcher (example for teacher reference)
- Techniques anchor chart (example for teacher reference)
- Harlem Renaissance Themes anchor chart (example for teacher reference)
- Homework: Synthesis Questions: "Calling Dreams" (answers for teacher reference) (see Homework Resources)
- Entrance Ticket: Unit 1, Lesson 8 (one per student)
- Analyze Poetry: "Calling Dreams" note-catcher (one per student and one for display)
- Homework: Synthesis Questions: "Calling Dreams" (one per student; see Homework Resources)
Assessment
Each unit in the 6-8 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize students' understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.
Opening
Opening | Levels of Support |
---|---|
A. Engage the Learner (5 minutes)
|
For Lighter Support
For Heavier Support
|
Work Time
Work Time | Levels of Support |
---|---|
A. Read and Analyze Structure: "Calling Dreams" - RL.7.5 (20 minutes)
"I can analyze how the structure of 'Calling Dreams' contributes to its meaning."
"What is the subject of the poem? What does the speaker in this poem want?" (The speaker in the poem wants the right to try to make her dreams come true.)
"Is there anything notable about how the lines are arranged or how the lines relate to each other?" (The poem rhymes, two lines at a time. It is also broken into two groups of lines of four.)
"And now at length I rise! I wake!
"What is the effect of having the two lines rhyme?" (The two lines together start and complete an action that the speaker does. She proclaims that she rises and wakes, and then she walks out into the morning. The rhymes help to connect the lines together to show that they are related.)
|
For Lighter Support
For Heavier Support
|
B. Read and Analyze Language: "Calling Dreams" - RL.7.4, L.7.5c (10 minutes)
"I can determine the meaning of figurative language in 'Calling Dreams.'"
"What connotation do these words convey? Is it positive or negative, safe or dangerous? How does this connotation affect the idea of 'fate' that the speaker is describing?" (The words have a connotation of darkness or danger, and this makes fate seem like a dark or harsh force.)
"What are these phrases telling us about the condition of the speaker? Is it a negative or positive position? What words help to show us that meaning?" (The speaker is in a negative position. The words "against the ground" show that she is being held down, perhaps, and "dusty years" have a connotation of being unpleasant or old.)
"What change do you see here? What are these phrases saying about her journey? What associations do we have with morning? With break?" (These phrases mean that she is overcoming her difficulty. She is getting up and walking into a new day. We often think of "morning" as being positive, and this is a positive change.)
|
For Lighter Support
For Heavier Support
|
Closing & Assessments
Closing | Levels of Support |
---|---|
Review the appropriate learning target relevant to the work to be completed in this section of the lesson: "I can identify a theme and explain its development over the course of 'Calling Dreams.'"
"Based on your analysis, what is a theme of this poem?" (Everyone has the right to follow their dreams, and with determination you can overcome obstacles to reaching your dream.) "How does the structure of the poem and the way the couplets are related to each other help develop the theme?" (The couplets show the author's thoughts, desires, and actions as she moves from demanding her dreams to realizing them. She begins by stating her desire, then describes her difficulties, and finally states that she is going out to achieve her dreams. This develops the theme of the importance of following dreams as it shows how the author could find great meaning in her quest.) "How does the author's use of figurative language develop the theme?" (The author uses figurative language to describe the "dusty years" that the speaker was down on the "ground." This shows the difficulty she faces. The author uses figurative language such as "stride into the morning break" to show that the speaker is rising into a new day and a new hope for achieving her dreams.)
|
For Lighter Support
For Heavier Support
|
Homework
Homework |
---|
A. Synthesis Questions: "Calling Dreams"
B. Independent Research Reading
|
Copyright © 2013-2024 by EL Education, New York, NY.