There are eight texts used in the five consecutive lessons. These texts were selected because of their themes, linguistic features, and text structures. I chose songs, slam poems, and written poems below or just at an 8th grade reading level so they are accessible to all students, including struggling readers. “Little Father” by Li-Young Lee and “Knock Knock” by Daniel Beaty are used in lesson 3.2.1, I use these texts for the structure lesson. In “Little Father”, the speaker discusses the three different ways he views death (spiritual, physical, and emotional). In each stanza, he describes three places where he buried his father (heaven, place where the actual body is buried, and the grief that we carry with us in our minds). In “Knock Knock”, there is no rhyme scheme or stanza …show more content…
In lesson 3.2.2, students listen to “Perfect Soldiers” by Gabriel Cortez. The poet uses several examples of metaphors and similes to inform his readers of the risks diabetes poses to the health of young people. In lesson 3.2.3, I teach a song called, “Homecoming” by Kanye West and a slam poem called, “I Am a King” by Alexis Marie. The entire song of “Homecoming” is a personification making the city of Chicago a girl and the speaker uses an extended metaphor to convey his feelings for his hometown by comparing it to a lost girlfriend. In “I Am a King”, the narrator discusses racial issues by using the examples of hyperbole to make her poem powerful and meaningful. For lesson 3.2.4, I use “Twice the First Time” by Samuel Williams. In the song, the speaker discusses African American labor, Hip Hop and the cultural space that it occupies, using many examples of sound devices. In lesson 3.2.5, I use two poems to discuss the ways to organize stanzas and lines in poetry. I selected a poem called, “Did I Miss Anything?” by Tom Wayne. The two different perspectives present in the poem are that of the student and the