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Essential Question

  • How do you find courage in the face of fear?

New Student Handbook

  • Middle School Challenges

    • Middle school can be intimidating, especially for new students.

  • Group Activity

    • Develop ideas for a handbook on building courage to face middle school fears.

    • Consider common fears, such as:

    • Worries about getting to class.

    • Discuss methods to address each fear.

    • List topics to cover in the handbook and share ideas with other groups.

Childhood Fears

  • Reflect on personal experiences

    • Think about fears from childhood, whether real or imaginary.

    • Activity: Sketch something that frightened you with a caption explaining your sketch.

Engage Your Brain

  • Prepare for the poem “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” by Maya Angelou.

Focus on Genre: Lyric Poetry

  • Characteristics of Lyric Poetry

    • Typically short, emphasizing emotional intensity.

    • Written in the first-person point of view, revealing the speaker’s thoughts and feelings.

    • Often incorporates repetition, refrain, and rhyme for melodic effect.

    • Various forms include sonnets, odes, and elegies.

Explain Speaker

  • Definition of Lyric Poem

    • “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” is a lyric poem featuring a single speaker expressing personal ideas and feelings.

    • The poem's speaker may be a fictional character, and clues can help identify them.

  • Inferences and Analyzing the Speaker

    • Use a chart to analyze the speaker:

    • Questions to ask:

      • Who is speaking?

      • How do I know?

      • What ideas and feelings does the speaker communicate?

      • Why?

Background on Maya Angelou

  • Biography

    • Born Marguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri (1928–2014).

    • Experienced childhood trauma leading to five and a half years of silence.

    • Eventually pursued a career as a singer, actor, and writer.

    • Gained fame through her autobiography, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" (1970), becoming an international literary figure.

    • Recognized as a fearless and inspiring voice.

Analyze Structure: Repetition and Refrain

  • Poetic Devices

    • Structure and elements reinforce mood and meaning.

    • Repetition emphasizes important ideas, conveys speaker’s attitude, reveals author’s purpose, and adds musical quality.

    • Refrain is a repeating phrase or set of phrases throughout the poem.

  • Example from Poem

    • Annotations regarding the refrain:

    • Line Example: "Shadows on the wall / Noises down the hall / Life doesn’t frighten me at all"

    • Discussion on the refrain’s impact on speaker’s voice, mood, and message.

Annotate the Text

  • Annotation Instructions

    • Mark clues in lines 1-12 regarding the speaker's identity.

    • Infer and discuss:

    • Identity of the speaker in the poem.

    • Why they might express those feelings.

    • Reflection on how these clues aid understanding of the poem.

TURN AND TALK

  • Partner Discussion

    • Discuss childhood fears commonly experienced.

    • Consider advice the poem’s speaker would offer children facing these fears.

Analyze Structure: Repetition and Refrain Continued

  • Annotate and Interpret Lines 13-21

    • Identify the repeated phrase.

    • Discuss its purpose and the idea it emphasizes.

    • Examples of fears expressed in the poem:

    • "I go boo / Make them shoo / I make fun / Way they run"

    • Reflection on fears like tough guys or panthers represented in the poem.

Review and Reflect

  • Essential question revisited: How do you find courage in the face of fear?

  • Analyze the poem’s structure and voice through the refrain and repetition discussed earlier.

Test-Taking Strategies

  • Assessment Practice Questions

    • Question 1 (Parts A & B): Analyze the speaker’s response to fears.

    • Part A Options:

      • A. The speaker goes back to sleep.

      • B. The speaker stays inside at night.

      • C. The speaker smiles and makes fun of fears.

      • D. The speaker does not read or listen to scary stories.

    • Part B Excerpts: Identify relevant excerpts supporting the correct answer.

    • Question 2: Select excerpts showing the importance of imagination in the poem.

    • Mention specific lines illustrating these themes.

NOTICE & NOTE

  • Review of Annotations

    • Analyze responses based on the notes taken while reading.

  • Draw Conclusions

    • Analyze speaker’s age, personality, and point of view from specific lines.

  • Compare Imaginary vs. Real Fears

    • List and discuss scary things and how the speaker responds to them.

  • Evaluate Changes in Line Length

    • Discuss how this change impacts reading experience.

  • Synthesize Refrain Meaning

    • Discuss the repeated phrase and its significance in conveying the poem's meaning.

    • Question speaker’s true feelings about fear.

Writing and Activities

  • Academic Vocabulary Usage

    • Incorporate words like evident, factor, indicate, similar, specific into discussions and writings.

  • Create a Lyric Poem

    • Write a poem about facing childhood fears, utilizing first-person perspective, repetition, and a refrain.

  • Research Assignment

    • Compare and contrast two versions of a poem by Maya Angelou, including a poem from her presidential inauguration.

  • Speaking & Listening Activity

    • Prepare and present a choral reading of "Life Doesn’t Frighten Me," adjusting rhythm and expressions as needed to convey meaning effectively.