Teaching to the Heart: Poetry, Climate Change, and Sacred Spaces

Positives

• The lesson plan is more of a narrative, with the teacher leading her class through the steps, so teachers utilizing the lesson can follow those steps in sequence.
• There are links to related resources at the bottom of the webpage.
• The video of the poem is visually stunning and has an engaging narration. 
  

Additional Prerequisites

• Teachers will need to click a link to download the lesson plan.
• Although the embedded video has closed captions, the captions occasionally differ from the narration. 
• Teachers can click the enclosed link for a transcript of the poem read in the video or use the poem exemplars included in the downloaded lesson plan.  It will be helpful for students to read through the poem before hearing it performed.
• A mindfulness moment is part of the lesson, so teachers may wish to review local SEL policies.
• Students should understand climate change, global warming, and how sea levels are affected.
• Teachers may want to write a model poem and share their writing process like the teacher in the resource did.
• Teachers can share this resource via social media or print it.
  

Differentiation

• English teachers will recognize the use of repetition and personification in the poem, and the lesson includes an activity in which students work together to identify those poetic elements and others, such as metaphors, similes, alliteration, and others.
• The teacher mentions historical milestones brought about by people protesting so history teachers can utilize this lesson to begin a unit on civil disobedience. 
• The included poem mentions several countries and regions, so geography teachers may wish to have students create a poem map and then have students research the places mentioned.
• Teachers with English language learners can bracket one stanza like the teacher in the narrative does and look to how she supports her English language learners as an example.
• This lesson includes an introduction to mindfulness moments in the classroom. Teachers can incorporate the body scan as a regular activity.