The Expanding Canon: Teaching Multicultural Literature

	Introduction

	Lesson Plan 1

	Lesson Plan 2


		Explore two poems using four approaches.

		Share your views on the discussion board.

Author: Keith Gilyard
Title of work: Poemograhies

Overview
Alfredo Lujan uses the reader-response approach to explore Keith Gilyard's poetry. The students examine the meaning of the title Poemographies, work in small groups to discuss several of Gilyard's poems, and create their own visual "poemographies" in response to Gilyard's work. Gilyard meets with the students, reads from his collection, and leads them in a response-based writing activity.

Preparation
To prepare for the lesson, view The Expanding Canon video program 2, Part I. Online, review the Session 2 theory overview, strategies, information about the authors and literature, resources, and the downloadable print guide. Also read Poemographies -- selected poems available in the print guide.

Materials
Teachers will need the following supplies:

board and/or chart paper
a screen or monitor on which to show a clip featuring Keith Gilyard from the The Expanding Canon video program 2, Part I (optional)
copies of the selected poems from Keith Gilyard's collection Poemographies

Standards
Standards for the English Language Arts

Summary

Day 1
1. The class discusses the meaning of the word "poemographies."
They observe that the title could represent a combination of poetry and geography, poetry and photography, poetry and biography, or poetry and autobiography.

2. Students divide themselves into small groups, based on their interpretations of the word "poemographies." Students interview others in their group about their interpretations of the poems.

3. Lujan then asks students to create visual interpretations of Gilyard's poetry at home.

Day 2
1. Students present their visual "poemographies" to the class, explaining their individual creative choices.

2. The class walks to a plaza in downtown Santa Fe, where they meet with Keith Gilyard. Gilyard reads his poem "the hatmaker" to the class. (Teachers may want to show students a clip featuring Keith Gilyard from The Expanding Canon video program 2, Part I.)

3. Gilyard tells students how he likes to capture the sights and sounds of his environment in his poetry. He asks students to walk around the plaza to collect images and impressions to create their own poems.

4. The students share their poems with the whole group and then ask Gilyard questions about his life and his work.

Lesson Plan 2

The Expanding Canon: Teaching Multicultural Literature