In this lesson the students focus on how different personalities deal with loneliness. This is the first lesson of the unit which introduces the theme and the poetry that they will analyze, examining the causes and consequences of the loneliness of these characters in poetry. During this process students explore how this emotion relates to their own lives. Students interpret several poems through the process of collaboration, journal writing, oral reading, and whole class discussion. The Beatles' recording of "Eleanor Rigby" introduces the whole class to the theme, and a changing combination of poems from the following list or others suitable for the theme: "The Fool on the Hill," Paul McCartney "Miniver Cheevy," Edwin Arlington Robinson "Richard Cory," Edwin Arlington Robinson "The Woman at the Washington Zoo," Randall Jarell "The Boxer," Paul Simon "Alone/December/Night," Victor Hernandez Cruz "Ex-Basketball Player," John Updike

NCTE English Language Arts Standards: 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features.

Pre-requisite Skills  (help)

None

Teacher Information  (help)

Poetry abounds with lonely speakers or characters. The important aspect of choosing the poetry is that students can easily identify the emotion and extract meaning from the poems.

Assessment  (help)

Lesson 1: Informal journal writing

Student Activity  (help)

Activity 1: Whole class listens to audiocassette recording of "Eleanor Rigby" and follow the words to the song on a handout. After the recording, teacher reads the song aloud to students. Activity 2: Each students responds in a journal entry: What kind of person was Eleanor? Why do you suppose she was lonely? Any clues in the poem? Have you ever felt alone? Students pair share their responses. Whole class convenes to offer summaries and conclusions. Common points are listed on poster paper or chalk board. Activity 3: Whole class participates in reading and listening to the selected poems of this lesson. Students choose three poems they would like to examine closely. They list the poems in order by preference and add a reason for each poem they choose. Teacher polls the class and divides it into poem-alike groups of three to five, making adjustments to group size and chosen poem if necessary.

Technology Requirements/Integration  (help)

none

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