Abbreviated Lesson Plan

Objective: 

Students will be able to better understand Martin Espada's poem, "Jorge The Church Janitor Finally Quits" by reflecting on times in their lives when they felt invisible. 

CCSS:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

Activities: 

1. Students will do a quick-write about a time they felt isolated, alone, or invisible. They will then be invited to share out. 

2. Students will listen to the poem while jotting down their thoughts on a printed out copy of the poem.

3. Teacher will read the poem out loud, stopping intermittently to allow students voices to be heard by letting them share their opinion, whether it be "up" or "down."

4. After the re-read is done, students will have a chance to share out on their opinions of the poem and how it connects to themselves and the world.

5. Exit Ticket (see "Assessment' for details on the Exit Ticket).

Assessment: 

Students will be given an Exit Ticket with the following prompts: 

1. How does "Jorge The Church Janitor Finally Quits" relate to you, personally?

2. How can "Jorge The Church Janitor Finally Quits" relate in a more grand sense to our society?

Students' answers to these questions demonstrate understanding of the poem with text to self and text to world connections.

Rationale: 

Using the Up-Down-Both-Why method, students will be able to make connections between text and self, allowing them to be able to apply the text to greater world connections in social justice. The lesson itself doesn't feature too much reading or writing, but just enough for students to reflect, while also allowing students to have a free discussion. Students will also be able and encouraged to show vulnerability in their text to self connections, creating a sense of comradery in the class. Allowing the students to indicate an "up" or a "down" in their opinion helps them engage with the piece on a more meaningful level.

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 14, 2021 at 7:12 PM

    I like that this lesson really promotes student opinions! I think it is helpful that you included the teacher will stop intermittently to allow students' voices to be heard — in my own experience, this was never done enough. Since I really like your quick write about feeling alone/isolated/invisible, the day before this lesson, students could read other poems or short stories with similar themes as a way to introduce the concept. I think this could also be helpful for students while reading the poem the next day because they would be making connections! After this lesson, I think it would be great for the students to do a writing assignment (maybe a narrative, a poem, or a song) that will allow the students to dive deeper into a time they felt alone/isolated/invisible.

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  2. Sarah N.November 14, 2021 at 8:03 PM

    Hi Sage,

    I want to start off by saying that I like that your objective allows students connect directly with the text while writing and/or sharing about personal experiences. Your exit ticket questions will give a clear indication of whether your students can "determine a theme or central idea of a text" while also keeping the lesson relevant to their lives.

    (a) Invisibility, a topic sure to come up in this lesson with culturally relevant literature, speaks to many marginalized groups, especially Latinx students. This lesson plan allows students to share their struggles and pain in a supportive and safe environment which will give students the chance to see that they are not alone. This is so important! and it may come with high emotions. I think that before this lesson, it may be worth it to have a mini lesson on classroom discussion expectations.

    (b) The day after this lesson, In order to expand on real-world connections to the text, I could see students coming up with their own interview questions for people in the workforce. They may eventually conduct real interviews which will give students a chance to see these feelings of isolation, loneliness and invisibility come to life.

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