Ilse+WA

 I. **Results** A. Primary goal: What do you want the students to understand more fully about "Song of Myself"? Frame this as a question.

What does the poem say about suicide?

Why is this topic important to Whitman? It relates to the larger theme of death within the poem, yet connecting the idea of lowly and criminalized things. Connects with Whitman's contemporary 19th century ideas of suicide.

How does this topic connect to other themes or concerns of the poem? Connects to death, egalatarianism, the theme of immortality is connected. There is no end to the end. The end of life is not the end of all things. Death is a part of life.

How might this topic or question engage students' interest and/or experience? Suicide is a social issue, but they have encountered it in fiction. Thinking of the morals behind suicide. How arbitrary are these views? Who is telling you these views are true? It is just as much a focus and topic now as it is then.

How does this topic or question related to broader issues in literature? How is this used as a theme, motif in literature. Is suicide always considered bad? Think Kate Chopin?

How does it relate to broader cultural or social issues? Relates to how people view and consider suicide in our culture. Glorification of suicide? Euthanasia?

B. Secondary goals: what do you want students to understand about reading poetry? about how to write about poetry? about how to connect text and context?

The 'I' is never the author, when we are talking about the poem: what is the poem giving us? Words in the poem are the key to understanding the poem.

II. **Evidence of learning**: How will students demonstrate that they are answering the question? What will your evidence of student learning look like? A types of writing/evidence: i. formal writing or project (summative) essay; curation; rhetorical; Small group discussion. Formal writing: group writing? Questions to talk about in a small discussion group, then generate this into a small paper of their own. Walk away from the group with an answer to the question. Enhancing their questions.

ii. informal writing (formative)

B. How will this show you that they've learned? how will you evaluate its success or failure in relation to your goals? Asked to communicate their ideas and then formulating this into a paper. Known they succeeded in their final paper: a good personal interpretation? How much they used the poem to back up their ideas: connections between the textual evidence and their connection to an idea.

III. **Design** A. what knowledge or skills will students need in order to produce their evidence of student learning? Knowledge about the poem, engaging in close reading of the poem. Personal evaluation of suicide Bring in cultural and historical knowledge of 1855. (historical background of the period)

knowledge about the poem; cultural or historical knowledge; knowledge about Whitman? skills in reading? skills in analysis/making connections? skills in writing?

-skills in distinguishing suicide in the poem, versus the personal interpretation of suicide.

B. what kind of activities will develop these knowledges and skills? what kinds of things will students need to do to acquire these knowledges and skills? reading; writing; finding; collaborating; -Read the poem, read the cultural object, read article about suicide -talk and discuss in small groups about the questions that are in my prompts. -Suicide.org (go into that website, and answer a list of questions?) -use the blog as a spot for the draft, and students to comment on -a draft of their paper is created on line, peer review of paper that needs to incorporate these comments. C. how will you structure these activities? do some have to come before others? which? why? are some more or less important than others? are some more or less formal than others? -reading is the start, writing is the most important, collaborating is the fundament of it all.