This lesson plan adapted from classroom ideas presented in Chapter 1 'Where Life and Art Intersect' from Nikki Giovanni in the Classroom, pp. Once students can see these connections in their own writing, the connections between poet and poems becomes natural to them. Life and art intersect in the classroom as well as on stage or in a published volume' (11-12). As Carol Jago explains, 'Though at first some think I go too far to equate what they have written with what ‘real poets' create, the more we look for distinctions between their best work and published poetry, the more their objections subside. As they share their poems with the class, teacher and student can 'talk about how it feels to use details from their own lives as raw material for their art' (12). In the case of a poem by Nikki Giovanni, for instance, students can move from 'identify the speaker as black and from the country' to 'think about what they can tell from the poem about attitudes, about what they think might be priorities in life' (11).Īfter such an exploration, students are ready to write poems of their own on similar topics. Learn more about the poet's life and work at her website, which includes a chronology of important events in her life and a full list of her published works.A close reading of a poem helps students go beyond identifying simple and obvious characteristics to explore the poet in more depth. Watch Nikki Giovanni recite 'Nikki-Rosa' in this video from 2014. Learn more about the history of the Black Arts Movement, and its connection to the Black Power Movement, in this article from the New York Public Library. This page also includes links to other poems by the poet, articles that talk about Giovanni, and other related information. Read about Nikki Giovanni's poetry and critical responses to her work in this biography at the Poetry Foundation. This collection includes a range of poems by Black Arts Movement writers, as well as podcasts and essays about their work. Explore this special feature at the Poetry Foundation website to learn more about the Black Arts Movement. Collection of Work from the Black Arts Movement

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