Lesson Plan: Refugees and the Power of Words – Using Their Stories to Create Found Poems

Subjects:

English Language Arts; Social Studies

Lesson Duration:

One 50-minute class period

• Alternative or extension activity: one class period

Essential Questions:

• How are the experiences of refugees from Vietnam in the 1970s similar or different from those of refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine today?
• Has the United States improved its treatment of refugees over the past 50 years?
• What can we learn about the needs of refugees by reading about and learning from their experiences?

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• Compare and contrast the experiences of refugees across different time periods.
• Complete a found poem to synthesize their understanding of the theme and main idea of the video, and practice skills related to the structure of language and use of words to convey meaning.

Materials:

• Retro Report video “How the U.S. Has treated Wartime Refugees” (Transcript)
• Student Activity handout
• Refugee Stories: Found Together alternative or extension activity handout (complete as a class)
• Found Poem Google Slides template
• [Optional] Found poem rationale and instructions for teachers: Using Found Poetry for Literary Analysis and Synthesis, Yates
• Found poem Example: Found Poems from “I Have a Dream” Speech | ReadWriteThink
• How to use Padlet instruction sheet

Procedure:

1. Provide students with the Student Activity handout and the video transcript.
2. Activate prior knowledge by having students free-write for one minute about the images, words or phrases that come to mind when they hear the word “refugee.”
   1. After the freewrite, it may be beneficial to have students categorize/classify their ideas in small groups or as a whole group. This discussion will allow the teacher to address any biases or misconceptions students may have about refugees.
3. Next, show the Retro Report video “How the U.S. Has Treated Wartime Refugees”
   1. Allow students to complete a Think-Pair-Share of one takeaway from the video.
4. Explain to students that they will be using the video transcript to create their own found poem.
   1. Transcripts are provided with all Retro Report videos, so this strategy is transferable to other videos.
5. Explain to students what a found poem is, its purpose, and how they will create one. You may project slide 2 of the Found Poem Google Slides template for students.
6. Show students an example, from ReadWriteThink, of a found poem created from Martin Luther King Jr’s. “I Have a Dream” speech.
   1. This may also be found on slide 3 of the Found Poem Google Slides template.
   2. It is assumed that students will have a basic knowledge and understanding of the format of a poem. However, it may be advantageous to review the elements of poem structure (stanza, line, use of punctuation and line breaks) while showing the example found poems before having students write their own.
7. Direct students to read the video transcript and complete the first two sections of the student activity handout.
8. Once they have completed their poem, have students share their creations either digitally on Padlet, a classroom discussion board (see instruction sheet), or on a shared Found Poem Google Slides template for students (make your own copy of this presentation so that you may share the link with your students on the activity handout; set the permissions to “anyone may edit” prior to assigning to students). As an alternative, have students write their poem on paper to be posted on the classroom walls to allow other students to access, read and reflect on their classmates’ poems. This could be in the form of a gallery walk or silent discussion activity.
9. You might also consider having students discuss and compare and contrast the ideas found in their creations and help them make connections to what is being studied in class (in this case treatment of refugees).
10. Directions for creating a found poem:
    1. What is found poetry?
    2. Found poetry is a type of poetry where writers piece together words, phrases, details and imagery to create a new piece of writing from the parts of other pieces of writing. Think of found poetry as a literary version of a collage.
    3. Historically speaking, students would create found poems with only the words and phrases found in other pieces of writing, but this can be adjusted to allow students to incorporate their own words and thoughts as a way of making sense of and analyzing a piece of literature, informational text, or any other form of writing.
    4. What skills do students exhibit when creating found poetry?
    5. Found poetry requires students to analyze and synthesize information, so there are lots of skills involved. First, students will be required to closely read a text and determine the overall themes. Second, students will need to determine the main ideas, important details and powerful words that authors use in writing, and how these contribute to the message the author is trying to convey. Finally, students will need to understand how to use words to compose complex thoughts and images.
    6. What are the steps of creating a found poem?
    7. Students will need to be provided with a specific reading. In this case, students will be reading the transcript from the Retro Report video “How the U.S. Has Treated Wartime Refugees.”
    8. Students should read the transcript and fill out the first section of the student activity sheet to gain an understanding of the theme of the piece.
    9. After students have determined the theme, they should go back through the reading and note the important details, words, images, phrases and quotes. that stand out to them and help them best understand the overarching theme/mood/tone of the piece. Emphasize to students that they should select words and phrases, not passages of several consecutive sentences.
11. Finally, students should create their found poem with the words and phrases they have selected from the piece. This can be done digitally or on paper. Have students write or type these phrases and words on paper or on the provided template, then work to rearrange them into a poem. Allow students to respond to, make connections with and analyze the text by including their own words or phrases.
    1. Below the last line of their poem, students should add a concluding thought or reflection. This should be included on their final draft.
    2. What to do once the found poems are complete?
    3. Students will share their creations either digitally or post them around the class.Then, students will read and analyze the found poems of their classmates.

Alternative (or Extension) Activity:

1. Have the students in your class collectively write a found poem with the Refugee Stories: Found Together alternative (or extension) activity.
2. Steps 1-4 of the Procedure above (“watch the video”) would be the same, as would the general introduction to students of found poems.
3. Next, explain to students that they will be reading more stories about refugees and will be creating a class found poem based on their readings.
4. Provide students with access to various refugee stories. You may use websites like Exodus Refugee, Save the Children, and U.N. Refugees as starting points to find and select stories about and from refugees, or feel free to find additional stories to use as part of this lesson. Based on what works best for your students, you may assign students specific stories or let students choose.
5. Have students read their assigned story and complete the corresponding section of the Refugee Stories: Found Together handout.
   1. Provide students with the opportunity to share about their refugee story.
   2. Determine whether students will do this in small groups, in pairs, or as a class.
6. Next, tell students to choose a sentence or quote from their story to use as part of the class found poem. This can be completed digitally on a site like Padlet or on a smartboard, or done on strips of paper and posted somewhere in the class.
   1. Students write or type their sentence/quote and post them somewhere the whole class can see.
   2. Each student then gets the opportunity to rearrange one line of the poem.
   3. Once the poem has been rearranged and complete, each student should write on their activity sheet a theme statement for the class poem.
7. Finally, students should complete the writing assignment on the activity sheet in which they write a paragraph explaining (with support) what responsibilities, if any, countries like the United States have to refugees who are fleeing war and mistreatment.

About the Author:

Kim Yates teaches 11th and 12th grade ELA, Mass Media, and dual-credit writing and literature courses at Pineville Independent Schools in Kentucky. She holds Master’s degrees in Education and in English, and has taught for 13 years at the high school and collegiate levels.

Standards

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies: 

6-8th Grade

• D2.Civ.1.6-8. Distinguish the powers and responsibilities of citizens, political parties, interest groups, and the media in a variety of governmental and nongovernmental contexts.
• D2.Civ.13.6-8. Analyze the purposes, implementation, and consequences of public policies in multiple settings.
• D2.Geo.4.6-8. Explain how cultural patterns and economic decisions influence environments and the daily lives of people in both nearby and distant places. 
• D4.1.6-8. Construct arguments using claims and evidence from multiple sources, while acknowledging the strengths and limitations of the arguments.
• D4.7.6-8. Assess their individual and collective capacities to take action to address local, regional, and global problems, taking into account a range of possible levers of power, strategies, and potential outcomes.

9th-12th Grade

• D2.Civ.1.9-12. Distinguish the powers and responsibilities of local, state, tribal, national, and international civic and political institutions.
• D2.Civ.5.9-12. Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.
• D2.Civ.8.9-12. Evaluate social and political systems in different contexts, times, and places, that promote civic virtues and enact democratic principles. 
• D2.Geo.12.9-12. Evaluate the consequences of human-made and natural catastrophes on global trade, politics, and human migration.
• D4.7.9-12. Assess options for individual and collective action to address local, regional, and global problems by engaging in self-reflection, strategy identification, and complex causal reasoning.

Common Core Literacy Standards:

6-8th Grade

Literature

• RL.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.
• RL.5: Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot.

Information Text

• RI.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• RI.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

Writing

• W.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
• W.5: With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed
• W.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Speaking and Listening

• SL.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacherled) with diverse partners on grade 6-8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly

Conventions of English

• L.5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

9th-12th Grade

Literature

• RL.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
• RL.5: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact. 

Information Text

• RI.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).

Writing

• W.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
• W.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. 

Speaking and Listening

• SL.1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Conventions of English

• L.3: Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening