Walt Whitman Lesson Plans

1. Crossroads: Middle School Unit VII Describe America at the close of the 19th century
...y that will assess knowledge gained throughout the unit. Description of lesson/activity: 1. Students will gather all notes and written material from Unit VII. 2. The teacher will introduce the lesson by sharing excerpts from "I Am An American" by R.L. Duffus and the poem "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman; both accompany this lesson. Through discussion the teacher and students should identify elements of both writings that indicate the answer to the question posed by the unit, "What, Then, Is This American?" 3. The teacher should assign a culminating writing assignment: Using information from our stu...

2. Big Apple History . Lesson Plans . Poetry of the City | PBS KIDS GO!
...ts Putting it _ Big Apple all Together Arts & Entertainment Business & Politics New York Living Grade Level: 4 to 8 (middle school) Parents & Teachers _ Subject Matter: creative _ writing, _ American literature Time Allotment: approximately 2 class periods _ Overview Among the great American poets, Walt Whitman broke new ground with his lyrical commentary on New York City and its citizens. Rather than hew to convention and European poetic traditions, Whitman offered a free verse that captured the rhythms and rituals of everyday urban life. With this activity, students will learn about Whitman and _ about p...

3. Rhythm, Verse and Rhyme:
The Literacy Assistance Center's Rhythm, Verse and Rhyme: COMPOSING A LIST POEM Age: Nine through adult Topic: Poetry "catalog verse" Web Sites: Walt Whitman http://www.poets.org/LIT/poem/wwhitm02.htm http://www.poets.org/LIT/poem/wwhitm02.htm Allen Ginsburg http://www.poets.org/LIT/poem/aginsb02.htm Objectives: To provide an opportunity for self-expression To collaborate with a partner and compose a list poem To practice reading and writing skills Mater...

4. Literature of the Gilded Age
...e traditions continued after the Civil War; however, not surprisingly, there was a significant change with the growth of realism in the literature?a realistic and sometimes critical portrayal of life. The new approaches to the novel, essays, and poetry that emerged after the Civil War gave rise to Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Henry James, Stephen Crane, Theodore Dreiser, Willa Catha, and Kate Chopin. As an educated woman, Nellie Taft was certainly familiar with the works of these authors. Objectives: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to the great figures in the literary w...

5. Lesson 2 - Speaking in Grave Tones
...the designated gravestones from the "Cemetery Research Organizers" Typical Mourning Art Symbols Worksheet: Mourning Art Matching (and answer sheet) English Phyllis Wheatley poem "An Hymn to the Evening" Biographical information on Wheatley (in Activities IIB) Biographical information on Rowson and Whitman Worksheet: Poetry and Hymns Poems: Susanna Haswell Rowson "To Time;" Walt Whitman "A Noiseless Patient Spider" Hymn: Dr. Nares "Amsterdam" top of page Activities Materials in Context Activity 1: Social Studies Class Speaking in Grave Tones Excerpts from A. Discuss what students observed about the Over Th...

6. Desert
Bibliography Video and Computer Discs: Walt Disney's "A Living Desert" Video Arnowitz Studios, "The San Diego Zoo Presents: The Animals! 2.0" For Macintosh Computers, Mindscape, 1994. Student Materials: Baker, Lucy. Life in the Deserts. Two-Can Publishing, NY. 1990. Baylor, Byrd. Before You Came This Way. Clarke, Irwin, & Company, Toronto. 1969. Bayl...

7. America Poems
...America. Part 2: Poems about America. 1. As a class, quickly read several poems about America, discussing them briefly and talking about the authors attitudes toward America. Depending on how many poems you read and discuss, this may take an extra hour. Suggested poems: o "I Hear America Singing," Walt Whitman o "I, Too" Langston Hughes o "America," Claude McKay o "Shine, Perishing Republic" Robinson Jeffers o "Who Runs America? Allen Ginsberg o "I Am Waiting," Lawrence Ferlinghetti o "This Land is Your Land," Woody Guthrie (lyrics) 2. After this whole class discussion, have each student write a poem that...

8. 1900 America: Historical Voices, Poetic Visions
...the turn-of-the-century United States, this interdisciplinary lesson integrates use of primary resources with historical and literary analysis. Students work in groups and express themselves creatively through a multi-media epic poem. The artistic models for the students' multi-media epic poem are Walt Whitman's Song of Myself (1855) and Hart Crane's The Bridge (1930). These epic poets capture, interpret, and give meaning to their particular time and place. Students look to do the same with the year 1900, relying upon relevant primary resources sounds, images, words and their own creative and interpretati...

9. Poetry
...rton Anthology of American Literature. 4th ed. New York: Norton . McGowan, Martha, ed. (1989). Literature: Experience and Meaning. San Diego: Harcourt. Suggested poems: "Diving Under the Wreck"Ý by Adrienne Rich "British Valor Displayed" by Francis Hopkinson "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" by Walt Whitman "The Mermaidens' Vesper Hymn" by George Darby "Stars" by Emily Bronte "The Sea-Limits" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti "Star-Gazer" by Dylan Thomas "The Star-Spangled Banner" by Francis Scott Key Ý 3.Ý Art supplies including markers, construction paper, scissors, and glue. 4.Ý Handouts on the poetry terms...

10. :: NASA Quest > Space ::
...scent pearl, Saturn, a halo of rings, A slice of moon, a crescent brooch. Bright rubies splay Antares in this midnight masquerade. From Space Songs, by (Holiday House, New York) (c) 1988 by Myra Cohn Livingston. Used by permission of Marian Reiner for the author. When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer Walt Whitman (1819-1892) When I heard the learn'd astronomer, When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them, When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon unaccoun...