Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Ms. Watson, and I'm delighted you've decided to join me today to read more Maya Angelou.

We're going to be looking at her phenomenal poem, which is called "Phenomenal Women." So when you are ready, we'll get started.

So by the end of today's lesson, you will have explored Maya Angelou's poem, "Phenomenal Woman," and your exploration of that poem will include an appreciation of its contexts.

That is what was happening in the world around her when she wrote that poem.

So let's get started.

These are the four key words I would like you to focus on because they will unlock your learning today.

Now the first phrase is civil rights activist, and that is a person who advocates, that speaks up for social and political equality for those who have been denied equal treatment.

And if something is phenomenal, it means extraordinary or remarkable, often beyond usual expectations or understanding.

It's a phenomenon, and discrimination.

If you practise discrimination, you treat someone unfairly, usually because of a certain characteristics that could be age or ethnicity or gender, and to belittle somebody is to dismiss them as unimportant.

Can you see that the word little is in there to make them seem little and less than you? Now, if you would like a little bit of time to familiarise yourself with the key words, please feel free to pause the video, and then rejoin the lesson when you're ready.

So this is the outline for today's lesson.

We're going to start by reading "Phenomenal Woman," and then we are going to look at the context of the poem.

So let's go.

So the five poems listed below were all written by the American poet Maya Angelou.

The titles are "Life Doesn't Frighten Me," "Phenomenal Woman," "Equality," "Still I Rise" and "Caged Bird." She wrote far more poems than just these and she also wrote books, but these are the five poems that I would like us to think about.

And in particular, I would like you to think about "Phenomenal Woman." What do you think the poem might be about? And is the title similar or different to the other four poems in this list? I'd like you to pause the video while you have a discussion about that.

And if you are working by yourself, just pause the video and make a few notes.

So off you go.

Welcome back.

That was a really interesting discussion you had there.

And you might have noticed, for example, that "Phenomenal Woman" is the only poem there that refers specifically to the idea of woman or women.

And that the word phenomenal is quite more formal in some ways than say a word like frighten, and "Still I Rise," sort of like more complexity possibly to the language.

So let's move on.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which of the following are synonyms for phenomenal? Is it A, remarkable, or B, interesting, or C, extraordinary, or D, beautiful? Have a think.

Make your choice.

Did you say A and C? Those are the right answers.

I think when we're looking at this poem, it is important to understand that something that is phenomenal may not be beautiful.

It might be, but it doesn't mean the same thing.

And I think that Maya Angelou might be talking about the kind of qualities that women can have that are not just about being beautiful, which is the more conventional ones that are expected of them.

Very well done.

Let's move on.

Now, what I would like you to do is to read the poem, "Phenomenal Woman" twice.

You're going to need to find it yourself, and when you have it, just read it through twice.

Sometimes when I'm reading poems, I like to start with a very quick read, that's the first one, to get a sense of what it is like, overall.

And then I slow down, maybe really quite exaggerate how slowly I read so that I can really savour the words, and think about what the poet is saying.

And when you have done that, when you have read the poem twice, I would like you to discuss these questions.

There are four questions, here they are.

"What do you think the main message of the poem is?", and "What do you think the speaker is like," and "Why do you think this?" And when you're asked a question like why about a poem, it's asking you to refer to the poem, you think the speaker is a certain way because of certain words that are used.

And "What might have motivated Angel to write this poem?" We can never know exactly what's in another person's mind, but we can make inferences about what might have motivated them from what they write, and I think this is a really interesting question.

"Why do you think Angelou chose the word phenomenal rather than a different adjective?" For example, you identified in the check for understanding that extraordinary is a synonym for phenomenal, but she didn't pick that one.

So pause the video while you have your discussion, and if you are working by yourself, pause the video and make a few notes.

Off you go.

So welcome back, well done.

I hope you enjoyed that discussion and I really would like to commend you on the way you listen to each other so respectfully.

Now I would like to share with you some of Sam and Alex's responses in the discussion.

So Sam said, "I think the main message is that this woman, or women as a whole, should be celebrated for who they are.

The speaker draws attention to all the wonderful things about her.

She wants us to appreciate her, but also doesn't seem to care what others think." And I think Sam has caught a really interesting nuance there is that in that the speaker seems both assertive of herself and possibly dismissive of other people's opinions, confidence in herself, doesn't need other people's opinions.

Interesting, Sam, well done.

And Alex said, "That I think the speaker is assertive but also a bit unknowable.

They're really confident about why they are phenomenal throughout the poem, but they have a mystery, that's in Stanza 3.

There's a mystery about them, and they're quiet, and that's in stanza 5." So I think Alex has done really well there to pick up two interesting references that support the idea of this mysterious, slightly unknowable power that this woman has.

And I'd like to add that I thought one of the most interesting aspects of the discussion was when there was a focus on the word phenomenal, and why it's different to saying something is extraordinary or remarkable.

And I think it was really interesting the way you teased out this idea that a phenomenon is not just exceptional, it's actually has a rarity value.

Like we talk about things like the Northern Lights being a phenomenon.

There's something very much not of the everyday about phenomenon, and almost like it has a real force of nature.

And I think that too is implied in the title.

It was a fantastic discussion that you had there.

Very well done.

And I would like you to respond to Sam's idea.

Sam says that the speaker in the poem doesn't care what people think of her, what others think of her.

And I want you to tell me if you agree and if you do agree, why? And if you don't agree, why not? And are there words that you would use to describe the speaker? What are they and why would you choose them? Again, can you please pause the video while you have that discussion or pause the video and make a few notes.

Off you go.

So I'd like to give you a little bit of information about the poem, "Phenomenal Woman." It was first published in 1978 in a collection of 32 poems. All were written by Maya Angelou, and the collection was called, "And Still I Rise." And at the time of writing it, Angelou had written three autobiographies and two volumes of poetry.

So she was a fairly accomplished and experienced writer by them.

And she was also an established civil rights activist.

And she was an advocate for racial justice as well as for the equal rights of women and men.

And as a Black woman in 20th century America, she had seen and face both racist and sexist discrimination.

Now, in light of the context, that means this information around her life and the time in which she wrote, in light of this context, I would like you to reconsider and discuss the earlier question, "What might have motivated Angelou to write this poem?" And in your discussion please, can you refer to examples from the poem? Pause the video while you have that discussion, or pause the video while you make a few notes.

Off you go.

That was a really interesting discussion, and I would like you to build on it with this question.

Now, "Phenomenal Woman" has proved over time to be one of Angelou's most popular poems. I'd like you to discuss why you think its message and its speaker are so popular.

And again, please refer to examples from the poem in your discussion.

Pause the video while you have the discussion, or pause the video while you make some notes.

Off you go.

Well done for a brilliant discussion.

Now let's have a check for understanding.

What is true of "Phenomenal Woman?" Is it A, that Angelou wrote it near the end of her career? B, it was one of the first poems Angelou wrote and led to her future success? Or C, it speaks to Angelou's experiences as a civil rights activist.

Which of those answers is true? Have a think.

Make your choice.

It very much speaks to her experiences as a civil rights activist.

She wrote it more like kind of mid-career.

Well done if you've got that right.

Let's move on.

Now, I would like you to bring all that you have been learning and talking about today and write an answer to this question.

"Why do you think "Phenomenal Woman" is such a popular poem?" And you could consider its main messages.

What is it trying to communicate to the reader and why would the reader like to hear that message? Sometimes a really good thing is rather than just thinking, why is it popular? Think about why do I like it? Because often the reason we individually like something is the reason why everybody likes something.

And to think about the voice of the speaker.

Why the the assertiveness, the attract assertiveness of the speaker? And also you should think about the context.

The world in which Maya Angelou grew up, what she must have seen and experienced and known about growing up, and yet how successful she became.

Remember, she's a much praised and much lauded and much honoured American poet.

And in your writing, I would like you to refer to the poem, make references to key points, and show how what you have read in the poem and what you have enjoyed about the poem proves and shows your understanding about the popularity of "Phenomenal Woman." So time to pause the video when you're ready.

Off you go.

Now, I am sure that you did a really brilliant piece of writing there because you've done so much discussion and so much thinking.

So I need your help to help Sam and Alex finish off their ideas.

Sam made a good start.

Sam wrote, "I think "Phenomenal Woman" is so popular because it contains messages about being empowered and confident, which readers might.

." Really good start.

But that's as far as Sam got.

And Alex wrote, "I think "Phenomenal Woman" is so popular because it is a powerful response to those who tried to oppress, belittle, and discriminate against Angelou.

For example.

." Now you can see that they are both unfinished, but they're unfinished in different ways.

And I would like you to discuss how could you help them develop their responses? Pause the video while you have that discussion and pause the video while you make a few notes.

So off you go.

So welcome back.

That was a really good discussion and I think what you have to say will help Sam and Alex enormously.

So Sam needs to add, as you pointed out, Sam needs to add the reader response.

It's a really good start, but it doesn't tell us how the reader might respond.

So Sam needs to draw on the thoughts and the discussions from earlier in the lesson to finish that statement.

And Alex, well, he says, "For example," and so what is missing there is some reference to the text.

So Alex needs to go back to the poem and look for a particular reference or a particular quotation, which really summarises how the speaker is speaking back, standing up to all those people who tried to oppress her.

Very good.

Really helpful.

Now I'd like you to turn your focus, that laser focus on your own writing.

Have you explained the reader response, and have you also used examples from the text? Can you pause the video while you do that and then return for the end of the lesson.

Off you go.

So well done for that focus and improving your writing.

Now, before we say goodbye, I would like to summarise what you have been learning today.

You have been learning that the poem, "Phenomenal Woman" by Maya Angelou was first published in 1978, and that's about halfway through her career when she is what you might call a mature poet and confident writer.

And you learned that the poem has sees a confident speaker tell us how and why she is phenomenal, all the many ways in which she is a phenomenal woman.

And you had some really good discussions in which you learned and thought about that the poem is perhaps a response to the sexist and racist discrimination that Angelou faced in her life because you related the poem to the context of her life.

And Angelou performed phenomenal woman many times in her lifetime.

That's why I asked you to do so many kind of reading aloud.

And you learned that the poem remains very popular because of its very powerful and uplifting messages.

And you had really good discussions around why in particular it speaks to so many people and so many people have been heartened and inspired by its message.

Now, all I have to do is to say thank you again for coming to the lesson.

I'm really, really pleased with your focus and your attention.

It's been a pleasure to teach you today, and I look forward to seeing you again in another lesson about Maya Angelou's poetry.

So bye for now.