1. Women Voices: Untold Stories Through Poetry Unit
AAPI
Women Voices: Untold Stories Through Poetry Unit
Grades 4-5
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2. AAPI Women Voices: Untold Stories Through Poetry (Grades 4-5)
LESSON 1
Unit Introduction
Central Idea
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3. Basic Structure of a Poem Prose Structure: Poetry Structure:
Sentence Line
Paragraph Stanza
Be sure to point out that in poems, lines do not necessarily have to be complete sentences. Likewise, a stanza can range from only one line to many, many more.
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4. AAPI Women Voices: Untold Stories Through Poetry
AAPI is short for:
Asian American and Pacific Islander
We will explore how poems are used to discuss many different subjects.
Poets explore different issues, topics, and ways of thinking through poetry.
Introduction to the unit, specifically the meaning of AAPI and poetry
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5. AAPI Women Voices: Untold Stories Through Poetry
Themes of personal conflict and self-discovery through personal story-telling of the poets
Explore ideas of family, community history, and change
Discover how these AAPI women work through their struggles by focusing on and writing about their personal experiences
Come from diverse backgrounds and experiences and the creative work they make shows that AAPI culture and histories are important
Using their voice to transform and add to the depiction of AAPI culture and experiences
Explain the importance of the themes, focusing on how these authors use writing and poetry as a medium to share their experiences and to engage in self-reflection and transformative story-telling. Students should recognize the importance of poetry as a way to express oneself, tell one’s truth, and make one’s voice heard, particularly for marginalized and vulnerable communities that haven’t had such opportunities in the past.
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6. AdvancingJustice-LA.org 6 AASC.UCLA.edu
Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner
Born in the Marshall Islands. Moved to Hawai’i at the age of 7. Moved back to the Marshall Islands at the age of 25
Climate activist. Addressed United Nations Climate Summit in 2014
Writes about nuclear testing conducted in the Marshall Islands, militarism, the rising sea level as a result of climate change, forced migration, racism in America
From 1946 to 1958, the U.S. conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. Equal to 1.6 Hiroshima-size explosions per day
During World War II, in 1945, the U.S. dropped two nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The teacher may have to explain/facilitate a discussion around what a climate activist is and also explain what the UN is. These explanations will help students better understand the significance and impact of Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner’s work.
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7. Fighting Climate Change Video
Central Idea Handout
Explain to students that the class will watch a short video about Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner at a United Nations climate conference.
Play Fighting Climate Change with Poems: Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner [run time 03:56] (
Pass out Central Idea Handout & handout of “2 Degrees” to students.
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8. Fighting Climate Change with Poems:
Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner
Ask a few students to share something they learned, something they found interesting in the video.
This is a good opportunity to bring up the significance of the unit again: Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner said in the video that she’s using poetry as a way to fight climate change. She’s using poetry to tell the story of her homeland and share the concerns of her people with huge audiences.
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9. Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner: “2 Degrees”
As you read “2 Degrees”:
Highlight or underline your favorite lines
Star the lines that make you think differently about the poem’s title, “2 Degrees”
Think about what the central idea of the poem might be—circle the lines or stanzas that relate to the central idea
Pay close attention to the last stanza of the poem
*Students should have a copy of the Central Idea Handout & handout of “2 Degrees” at this point. Please pass these out if you have not done so yet.
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10. Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner: “2 Degrees”
Have the students popcorn read the poem, stopping after each stanza to give students a chance to ask questions about unfamiliar words or phrases.
Pictures source:
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11. 2 Degrees: Central Idea Handout
Lines from the Poem
Your Meaning
Scientists say
if humans warm the world
more than 2 degrees
then catastrophe will hit
Example meaning:
Scientists & experts warn that if the Earth warms more than 2 degrees Celsius, many different natural disasters, such as storms, fires, rising sea levels, will happen and harm the world.
Thousands, millions displaced
left wandering
wondering
what
happened?
Go over the first row with the class. Ask a student to read the lines in the chart and ask them what they think the lines mean. If necessary guide them to the key words of 2 Degrees (the title of the poem), catastrophe, warm the world, etc. to lead them to an interpretation that mentions climate change and 2 degrees being the maximum or tipping point.
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12. 2 Degrees: Central Idea Handout
3. What is the central idea of the poem? 4. Using the chart on the your handout and looking back at what you marked on the poem, find which lines support the central idea. Write three of those lines/phrases. 5. What message is Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner sending in the last stanza?
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13. 2 Degrees: Central Idea Handout
3. What is the central idea of the poem? Climate change is a significant problem with very real consequences, especially for at-risk and less- protected populations such as the people of the Marshall Islands (where the author is from).
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14. 2 Degrees: Central Idea Handout
4. Write three lines/phrases that support the central idea of the poem.
Stanza 7: “I tell him for my islands 2 degrees
(lines 4-7) is a gamble
at 2 degrees my islands,
the Marshall Islands will already be under water
this is why our leaders push
for 1.5”
Stanza 8: “Seems small
like 0.5 degrees
shouldn’t matter
are just crumbs
like the Marshall Islands
must look
on a map
just crumbs you
dust off the table, wipe
your hands clean”
Stanza 5: “Scientists say if humans warm the world more than 2 degrees then catastrophe will hit” Stanza 6: “Imagine North American wildfires increasing by 400% animal extinction rising by 30% fresh water declining by 20% thousands, millions displaced left wandering wondering what happened?”
The first two examples are more generally about climate change while the second two examples relate more specifically to the Marshall Islands
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15. 2 Degrees: Central Idea Handout
5. What message is Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner sending in the last stanza? Kathy is trying to make the point that while discussions about climate change are important, it is also important and necessary to remember and think about how climate change impacts people’s lives, specifically those in the Marshall Islands.
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16. Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner: “Tell Them”
Mark any words that you do not understand or know the meaning of. We will go over these together.
As you read “Tell Them” for homework:
Think about what the central idea of the poem might be—mark the lines or stanzas that relate to the central idea
Pay close attention to the last stanza of the poem
Fill out the table in the Central Idea Handout
Hand out copies of “Tell Them” to the students. Give them a couple minutes to quietly skim over the poem on their own and note any words they may not know. Spend the new few minutes with students sharing words they noted and trying to figure out what they might mean, providing definitions for words students are having trouble with.
Students are to complete the pages pertaining to “Tell Them” in the Central Idea Handout for homework.
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17. Lesson 2 Preview
Lesson 1 Central Idea Review: Reading & Practicing with “Tell Them” by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner
Simile and Metaphor:
What is a simile? What is a metaphor?
Practice identifying and understanding the meaning of similes and metaphors
Similes & Metaphors in Poetry: “Tell Them”
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18. Unit Introduction & Central Idea
Women Poetry Lesson 1:
Unit Introduction & Central Idea
Curriculum Developer:
Prabhneek Heer
Curriculum Contributors:
Patricia Kwoh
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