Lesson Plan: Melissa Tan

(ETA: blogger seems to have messed up my formatting and I have no idea how to fix it. Have done what I can- my apologies for the weirdly spaced texts on the end)

Students:

About 30 mixed ability students. Sec 3 express.

Environment:

Classroom with CD/ mp3 player/ computer

Duration of lesson:

60 min.

Pre- requisites:

Students have some basic knowledge of how to approach an unseen poem, to identify themes and some devices.

Goals:

Students will solidify their understanding of themes in poetry.

Students will appreciate the effect of literary devices.

Students will be able to draw a link between literature and life via the theme of the poems.

Objectives:

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

Identify and explain the overarching themes of the poems in a comparative context, citing from the text in at least three instances to support their answer. Identify at least two poetic devices and explain how they contribute to the effectiveness of the text.

Demonstrate an awareness of and empathy for the situation of the old.

Lesson:

(10 min)

‘Hook’ activity:

- Teacher plays ‘When I’m 64’ by The Beatles, and holds a small discussion about ageing and being old.

- Students are encouraged to discuss the positive and negative aspects of being old as voiced in the song.

(10 min)

‘Bridge’ activity:

- Class is given the nursery rhyme about an old lady who lived in a shoe.

- Teacher then facilitates a very brief new-historicist reading of the rhyme, focusing on the economic situation of the old lady (too many children, and only broth and no bread)/ the use of hyperbole to emphasize this (living in a shoe).

(35min)

Main activity:

- Teacher now hands out ‘Woman in a Shoe’ by Marge Piercy and introduces the concept of intertextuality. He/She then highlights poetic devices which the students may want to look out for, and refreshes the concept of theme to scaffold the students’ reading. (5 min)

- Students read and discuss the poem in groups of 4-5. (15 min)

- Groups are required to share their emotional responses to the poem and its social message. They will have to justify this by considering tone of the poem, its theme and message, poetic devices, and its literary and thematic links to the nursery rhyme. This will be done as a general class discussion. (15 min)

(5 min)

Conclusion:

- Teacher sums up the discussion and highlights the ways in which the class has accomplished their literary analysis, in order to cement their understanding of the process.

- Teacher then guides discussion into a brief reflection on ageing, helping students to see the link between the text and their context.

- (Optional homework- depends on how much the teacher has to mark that week) Students are encouraged to reflect on the theme of the poem in their literature journals.

Rationale:

Literature is the distillation of life through the medium of language. It is a powerful tool by which students can engage with the world around them, to appreciate different perspectives via an exercise of empathy, but also to learn the technicalities of the art in order that they may themselves harness the power of language for greater self-awareness and expression. In this situation it is hoped that literature will teach not just examinable syllabus content but also important social and emotional skills which the students will take into their adult lives.

Dewey has argued that education is a ‘process of living’. Every engagement in a classroom setting is thus not an isolated, inert occurrence, but has profound ramifications for a student’s development. Introducing students to texts that have wider societal implications can aid this process, encouraging students to explore their views on such issues within a controlled environment, and helping them develop life skills.

In this lesson the topic of age can help prompt a discussion about the elderly in the present-day context. Students will be able to engage in a Frereian dialogue on the issue and learn to evaluate but also respect each others’ opinions, as well as the stance of the poem. It is hoped that the lesson will help students reflect more consciously on the issue, apart from aiding their capability with literary analysis.

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Appendix: Handout

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.

She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do;

She gave them some broth without any bread;

Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

Woman in a Shoe

There was an old woman who lived

in a shoe, her own two shoes,

men’s they were, brown and worn.

They flapped when she hobbled along.

There was an old woman who lived

in a refrigerator box under

the expressway with her cat.

January, they died curled together.

There was an old woman who lived

in a room under the roof. It

got hot, but she was scared

to open the window. It got hotter.

Too hot, too cold, too poor,

too old. Invisible unless

she annoys you, invisible

unless she gets in your way.

In fairy tales if you are kind

to an old woman, she gives you

the thing you desperately need:

an unconquerable sword, a purse

bottomless and always filled,

a magical ring. We don’t believe

that anymore. Such tales were

made up by old women scared

to be thrust from the hearth,

shoved into the street to starve.

Who fears an old woman pushing

a grocery cart? She is talking

to god as she shuffles along,

her life in her pockets. You

are the true child of her heart

and you see living garbage.

-- Marge Piercy

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When I’m Sixty-four

When I get older losing my hair,

Many years from now,

Will you still be sending me a valentine

Birthday greetings bottle of wine?

If I'd been out till quarter to three

Would you lock the door,

Will you still need me, will you still feed me,

When I'm sixty-four?

oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oooo

You'll be older too, (ah ah ah ah ah)

And if you say the word,

I could stay with you.

I could be handy mending a fuse

When your lights have gone.

You can knit a sweater by the fireside

Sunday mornings go for a ride.

Doing the garden, digging the weeds,

Who could ask for more?

Will you still need me, will you still feed me,

When I'm sixty-four?

Every summer we can rent a cottage

In the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear

We shall scrimp and save

Grandchildren on your knee

Vera, Chuck, and Dave

Send me a postcard, drop me a line,

Stating point of view.

Indicate precisely what you mean to say

Yours sincerely, Wasting Away.

Give me your answer, fill in a form

Mine for evermore

Will you still need me, will you still feed me,

When I'm sixty-four?

- Paul McCartney, performed by The Beatles