I don’t know about you, but I was blown away by Amanda Gorman’s poem “The Hill We Climb.” I found it inspiring and amazing for being so young. Here are some resources to teach Amanda Gorman’s inauguration poem.
If teaching this poem may be controversial where you teach – check out this blog post on my tips for teaching political texts.
PBS has gathered video and text of Amanda’s poems. They have included google docs and padlets to help support remote learning. After examining the poems, students write a free response or poem. PBS has also included extension activities such as reading additional poems by black poets, discussing mood and tone, an allusion scavenger hunt, interviews, and Amanda’s Ted-Ed talk.
2. Lesson of the Day from the New York Times
This lesson starts with building students’ background knowledge about Amanda. It then teaches about Occasional Poetry and the tradition with links to other occasional poetry. After all this background knowledge the New York Times has provided guiding questions for discussion and analysis. For extension, they have ideas for writing your own occasional poem, creating an animated poem, writing a reader’s theater script, and a paired text.
3. Teach This Lesson from Teaching Tolerance
Teaching Tolerance starts by checking for student’s understanding about the tradition of reciting poetry at presidential inaugurations. Next teachers and students read the poem together and discuss guiding questions. They have provided resources for understanding the role of creative expression and democracy, which is an interesting take on the lesson. The lesson ends with a discussion on the bigger idea of democracy.
4. Teach This Poem from Poets.org
This lesson starts with a whip-around about Martin Luther King, Jr. since the Inauguration takes place near this day and students listen to the end of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech with a discussion of what King wanted for our country. Then students read the poem silently and note the words and phrases that they notice before listening to the poem and adding to their list. The lesson ends with discussion and optional extension activities.
