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Understanding Elections Through Poetry

By Stephanie Hasty

Published

Module overview for implementing election reflection with poetry in your classroom

Grades
9-12
Difficulty
Introductory
Time Estimate
90
Tags
Understanding Elections Hero Image

Pacing

Note: This is just one example of how to pace the unit. This is paced for a 48‐​minute class period. Each day’s lesson has a daily plan. Suggestions for poems are below. Use what you know works in your district, school, and classroom. The lessons are made for small groups but could also work with each student choosing a poem to work with or the whole class working on one poem.

Schedule

Monday

Monday routines can include:

  • Vocab introduction
  • Using a prompt for timed writing about the election process (see examples below)
  • Easing into the mini unit by examining a work of art or watching a video about elections in the United States and abroad etc.

Tuesday

  • Introduciton to Elections

Wednesday 

  • Analyzing Poems and Connecting Them to Elections

Thursday 

  • Day 3 Continued

Friday

  • Closing this mini unit might include finishing presentations, journal work, etc.

Resources

Note: These are just ideas of works that could be used. This list is not exhaustive. Use what you know works in your district, school, and classroom.

POETRY

  • Teach Living Poets
  • “Election Year” by Donald Hall (1984)
  • “Election Day, November, 1884” by Walt Whitman
  • “Ode to the West Wind” by Percy Shelley
  • “Praise Song for the Day” by Elizabeth Alexander (2009)
  • “The Candidate’s Letter” by John Greenleaf Whittier
  • “Inaugural Poem” by Richard Blanco (2013)
  • “The Ballot Is a Power” by John Pierpont
  • “On the Pulse of Morning” by Maya Angelou (1993)
  • “One Today” by Richard Blanco (2013)
  • “The People, Yes” by Carl Sandburg (1936)
  • “The Second Coming” by WB Yeats (1919)
  • “Democracy” by Langston Hughes (1949)
  • “A Litany for Survival” by Audre Lorde (1978)
  • “To the States” by Walt Whitman (1860)
  • “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay (1919)
  • “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman (2021)
  • “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman (1860)
  • “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus (1883) •“Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes (1935)

TEACHER AIDS

  • “Three Words You Need for Your Next Hard Conversation: Oops, Ouch, Whoa”
  • “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors”
  • “Project Zero’s Thinking Routines”
  • “TP-CASTT Poetry Analysis”
  • “Poetry Analysis TSP-FASTT”
  • “DIDLS (Diction, Imagery, Details, Language, and Sentence Structure)” “Poetry Explications”
  • “The Electoral Process,” iCivics
  • “Overview of the Presidential Election Process,” USA​.gov
  • “Election Basics,” Crash Course, PBS
  • “The Election Process Infographic,” US Embassy and Consulate in Thailand
  • “Elections,” Retro Report

Common Core State Standards

English Language Arts

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6–8.1: Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6–8.2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6–8.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6–8.2: Determine the central ideas of a text and analyze its development; provide an objective summary.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6–8.6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9–10.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9–10.2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development, including how it emerges and is shaped by details.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9–10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings, and analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9–10.1: Cite strong textual evidence to support analysis.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9–10.2: Analyze themes or central ideas of a text and how they are developed.

Writing 

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6–8.1: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9–10.1: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9–10.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.