Hello, my name is Ms. Grant.

I'm so glad you've decided to learn with me today.

We're in the unit single poet study, Maya Angelou.

Today we are gonna look at two poems, one by Maya Angelou called "Caged Bird", and one by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, which is called "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings".

Now, Maya Angelou was inspired by Paul Lawrence Dunbar's poem, and we are going to look today to understand what did that inspiration look like and why was she so inspired by this particular poem.

First things first, we need to get a copy of Maya Angelou's "Caged Bird".

So I would like you to pause the video and go and get a copy of Maya Angelou's "Caged Bird", which was published by Penguin Random House in 1983.

Don't worry about getting a copy of Paul Lawrence Dunbar "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" because you'll find that in the additional materials.

But you do need a copy of "Caged Bird" by Maya Angelus.

So pause the video and go and get your copy of "Caged Bird" now.

Welcome back.

Now you have your copy of "Caged Bird", we are ready to start our lesson.

I cannot wait to hear all of your fantastic ideas.

I'm gonna be your support and guide as we work through today's lesson together.

Let's get started.

So by the end of today's lesson, you are going to have explored the poem "Sympathy", and you are going to have used it and "Caged Bird" to inspire your own writing.

So we've got loads of exciting things to do today, two poems to read, and then some creative writing ourselves.

There are some key words which are gonna help unlock our learning today.

They're gonna help us achieve our objective.

They're on the board now.

If you'd like to spend some more time with them, then pause the video.

You can make some notes, you can read through them.

I'm just gonna draw your attention to one of these words.

Persistent, it's the second word on the board, and that is how you pronounce it, persistent, which means continuing to do something even when it is difficult.

Now, the rest of these words, we will come up across through the lesson and we will go through them as and when.

But as I say, if you'd like to pause the video now, then please do.

Our lesson outlined for today.

We're gonna start off by exploring Paul Laurence Dunbar's "Sympathy".

We're gonna read through that poem and think about why it's so brilliant, its main messages and how of course it inspired Maya Angelou's "Caged Bird".

And then in our second learning cycle, we are going to be inspired ourselves.

So just as Maya Angelou was inspired by Paul Lawrence Dunbar.

So will you be inspired by both of these writers to do some writing yourselves.

So let's start off with exploring "Sympathy", this poem by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, which inspired Maya Angelou's "Caged Bird".

So pupils reread "Caged Bird" and discuss it.

And Sam says, "The bird in the cage is an extended metaphor for.

." So extended metaphor, one of our key phrases today.

So metaphor that is developed over a number of lines.

So rather than the comparison being made once it is actually developed over a number of lines, and because we're reading a poem, it's developed over a number of stanzas.

Now, Andeep says, "Angelou uses the bird that is free to.

." So we know that in Maya Angelou's "Caged Bird", there is a bird that's in a cage, but there is also a that is free.

Now I'd like you to reread "Caged Bird", and I'd like you to discuss what do you think the peoples might be saying? So we've got the first half of their sentences there, but how do you think they might be completing their sentences, their thoughts about "Caged Bird"? So pause the video and complete these two tasks, the rereading, and then the discussion.

Pause the video now.

Welcome back, a really lovely rereading of "Caged Bird".

Some people choosing to read it out loud, which is always fantastic to do with Angelou's poems. They sound so beautiful because of their rhythm and rhyme.

And then a really nice discussion about how we could finish these sentence starters.

So some people saying, well, this extended metaphor that Sam is talking about, it is used to present the effects of oppression, of inequality, of segregation on the black community.

So Maya Angelou is using the idea of the 'Caged Bird" to represent the segregation which was imposed in lots of American states by the Jim Crow laws, which segregated people based on the colour of their skin.

So a really nice exploration of the use of the extended metaphor there.

Another saying, well, Angelou uses the bird that is free.

So now looking at Andeep sentence start, Angelou uses the bird that is free to contrast the bird that is in the cage.

So we've got this idea of the bird in the cage.

We see how unhappy this bird is, but also how as strong willed this bird is as well, still singing of this song of freedom.

But one of the ways in which we see how unfair it is that one of the birds is in a cage is because of this contrast with the bird that is free.

The bird that is free gets to do whatever he likes.

He's very happy and he's very confident in his freedom.

So we've got these two methods that Angelou is using the extended metaphor and then the idea of contrast.

And this helps us to understand the extended metaphor being an exploration of the impact of the unfairness, of the injustice of the unjust laws on the black community, particularly those Jim Crow laws which segregated, separated people based on the colour of their skin.

Now Angelou was inspired to write "Caged Bird" after reading a poem called "Sympathy" by Paul Lawrence Dunbar.

He was born in 1872 and he died in 1906.

Like Angelou, Dunbar was a black American writer.

He found fame for his work in his lifetime, and he experienced racial discrimination and inequality.

In Dunbar's "Sympathy", so his poem, the idea of a bird a cage is used as an extended metaphor for the experiences of the black community.

Now, Dunbar's extended metaphor was the inspiration for Angelou's "Caged Bird".

So these two poems now have a relationship with each other, you're about to see.

And when we read through "Sympathy" that it is quite different to "Caged Bird", but you can also see the relationship between them and I love that connection between these two poems. We start seeing literature sort of speak to each other across time.

So Paul Lawrence Dunbar wrote "Sympathy" and it inspired Maya Angelou to write her own poem, "Caged Bird".

Now a quick check for understanding before we read Paul Lawrence Dunbar's "Sympathy".

Which of these statements are correct? We've got, A, both Angelou and Dunbar wrote poems called "Caged Bird".

B, both Angelou and Dunbar were born in 20th century America.

C, both Angelou and Dunbar gained reputations for the quality of their work.

D, both Angelou and Dunbar experience racial discrimination and injustice.

Pause the video and complete this check now.

Welcome back.

Well done if you selected C and D.

Both Angelou, let's have a look at A and work at why it's incorrect.

Angelou and Dunbar wrote poems called "Caged Bird".

They did not.

Angelou's poems called "Caged Bird", but Paul Lawrence Dunbar's poem is called "Sympathy".

Both Angelou and Dunbar were born in 20th century America.

Now, Angelou was born in 20th century America.

She was born in 1928, but Dunbar was born in 19th century America.

He was born a little bit before Angelou.

He was born in 1872.

All right, our first practise starts.

We're gonna read "Sympathy", this fantastic poem, and you can find that poem in the additional materials.

And after reading, I'd like you to discuss these questions.

What are the main ideas and messages in this poem? What do you think the speaker is like? Why do you think the poem is called its "Sympathy"? What are some of the similarities and differences between "Sympathy" and "Caged Bird"? And you can consider the messages in the poem and the way in which the poem is written.

So have a really enjoyable read through of "Sympathy".

Read through it twice, if you can read it aloud so that you can really hear the musicality of this poem.

And then afterwards, you're going to discuss these questions.

Pause the video and complete this first practise task now.

Welcome back.

So lovely to hear people reading through that poem "Sympathy".

It's got a really musical quality to it.

It sounds very, very beautiful aloud.

Some people choosing it to read in their heads and really getting to grips with some of the ideas that are in this poem.

It was also really nice to hear people thinking, ah, well, I can see the similarities and differences between this poem and "Caged Bird".

Let's have a little bit of a look at that during our feedback task.

So Sam considers some of the similarities and differences between "Sympathy" and "Caged Bird", and she starts off with similarities.

Well both use the extended metaphor of a "Caged Bird".

So really nice to use that key phrase, the idea of a metaphor that is developed over a number of lines or a number of stanzas in this case, because we are looking at poems. So that is a similarity.

They both use the extended metaphor of a "Caged Bird".

But the differences, well, one of the differences that Sam has noticed is that Dunbar uses first person, so uses I.

That is how the poem begins, I know.

And Angelou uses a third person.

So we don't have this first person pronoun "I" within her poem, we've instead got these pronouns like he, that is how Angelou refers to the "Caged Bird".

We don't have the pronoun I.

So we've got a similarity and we've got a different set.

So a great start.

Now I'd like you to discuss what other ideas could Sam add to her table? So this is building on the discussion you had when you just read the poem "Sympathy".

What other ideas could Sam add to her table? Pause video and discuss the question now.

Welcome back, a really lovely discussion there.

Really starting to see the relationship between these two poems, what ties 'em together, but also crucially what the differences are.

So you can see how Angelou was inspired and thought, well, I really, really like this poem "Sympathy", but I also want to change it and make it my own.

So here are some ideas that you might have had.

Now these are just some ideas, you might have had many, many more.

So some of the similarities; both explore the anger of the bird in the cage.

So the bird in the cage is very unhappy, and he also expresses his frustration in slightly different ways in the poems. But definitely they both have this idea that the bird in the cage is unhappy and angry at being in this cage.

He knows, understands the oppression that he's facing.

And a difference.

Angelou contrasts a bird in a cage to a bird that is free.

So Lawrence Dunbar, he does not do this in his poem, he doesn't have that contrast of a bird in a cage with a bird that is free.

So something that Angelou has added to her poem.

Both use repetition.

Another similarity.

Absolutely, they repeat certain lines or phrases.

Differences, Dunbar repeats certain lines, and Angelou repeats whole stanzas.

So there's a repetition of a complete stanza in Angelou's poem, whereas Dunbar is just repeating certain lines at the start and end of each stanza.

So what I really like about comparing poems is you can start to understand.

You can really see, ah, I can understand the methods that the writer has chosen here because Dunbar I can see has chosen to repeat a certain line, whereas Angelou has chosen to repeat a certain stanza.

And if I can see that they have made a choice, I can start to make a comment on that choice what I think about it.

So that's why comparison can be really, really useful, particularly when looking at poems I think.

Now Sam uses her ideas to consider which poem she prefers.

So she's looked at "Sympathy", she's looked at "Caged Bird".

Which poem does she prefer? She says, "I think I prefer Dunbar's poem.

I really like his use of first person because it makes me feel connected to the reader." So really lovely choice there and a really specific choice.

Sam said the reason she likes Dunbar's poem is because of his use of first person.

Now I'd like you to discuss which poem do you prefer and why.

And obviously this is personal preference, so there's no right or wrong answer.

It's just which one it speaks to you, which one you connect with more? So I think I prefer and I really like because it makes me feel.

So have a think about which poem you connect to more and why? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Welcome back.

A really lovely discussion there about which poem you prefer and why.

Really important in poetry to have a personal response.

What poems are looking for is a connection, a connection with their reader.

So if you start to think, what do I like about this poem, that is you connecting with the poem, and that is a really, really valid form of interpretation.

There was a bit of a split in the room.

Some people prefer "Caged Bird" really liking the use of contrast between the bird and the cage and the bird that is free.

Liking Angelou's use of repetition, some of her word choice and others saying, no, I really like Dunbar's poetry.

Like Sam, I really like the use of first person and I actually really like the lyrical, the beautiful quality of his lines.

So no right answers here, just which one you prefer and why.

Okay, we're gonna move on to our second learning cycle.

Now I'm really excited for this learning cycle 'cause we're gonna do some inspired writing.

We're gonna do some writing ourselves based on these two poems, "Sympathy" and "Caged Bird".

So Dunbar's "Sympathy" inspired Angelou's, "Caged Bird".

And now you will use both poems to inspire your own writing in response to this prompt.

Write one paragraph which uses the image of a "Caged Bird" as an extended metaphor for experiences of oppression.

So extended metaphor, that key phrase which keeps coming up.

The idea that you will repeat, develop a metaphor, a comparison that you have originally created over a number of lines.

So we've already got our extended metaphor.

We know we're going to use the idea of a "Caged Bird".

Now your paragraph must start and end with this line from Dunbar's poem.

I know why the "Caged Bird" sings.

So we're not gonna be writing a poem today.

We're gonna be writing a paragraph and we can use that first line from Dunbar's poem, "I know Why the caged bird sing!" That's gonna be the start and end of our paragraph.

Now, when using another writer's work as inspiration, you might be inspired by words and phrases that they use, methods.

So this is one of our key words.

So that's the tools that a writer uses to create their work.

We had a look at those in our first learning cycle.

So you might be inspired by the use of refrain, by the use of repetition, by the use of contrast.

These are just some methods that writers can use to create their work.

You might be inspired by particular images.

Of course, we are going to rely on this image, this extended metaphor, the cage bird.

You might be inspired by the structure of their work.

And actually we are taking some inspiration from Dunbar's structure because our paragraph is gonna start and end with the line "I know why the caged bird sings" and that is a structural choice that he has chosen to start and end each line of each of his three stances with the same line of poetry.

So we've already got some inspiration in terms of Dunbar's structure.

Now I'd like you to discuss what aspects of Dunbar's work will inspire you.

What aspects of Angelou's work will inspire you? Really nice to see people already reaching to get their poems. They want to look at these poems again in order to find out what will inspire me, what do I want to use when I'm writing at my own paragraph, using the extended metaphor of "Caged Bird".

So pause the video, give this discussion task the time that it deserves, it's really gonna set you up for the rest of the lesson.

Pause the video and discuss these two questions now.

Welcome back.

Such a lovely discussion and a really varied discussion.

People taking different things from the poems that they are going to be inspired by.

So sometimes particular words, sometimes particular terms of phrases, sometimes particular methods.

So lots of people thinking, no, I really do want to use contrast.

I think it's very effective just as Angelou used it.

So lots and lots of ideas have been generated from these poems. Now Sam plans her paragraph using a single paragraph outline.

This was one of our key phrases from the beginning of today's lesson.

So let's have a look and understand what a single paragraph outline means.

So we've got a diagram on the board.

You can see that a single paragraph outline starts with a topic sentence.

Now this introduces the main ideas in your paragraph and you write it in a full sentence.

Now in this case, you will rely on Dunbar's sentence, "I know why the cage bird sings".

So a single paragraph outline, it starts off with a topic sentence, which you write in full, and we've already got our topic sentence today.

Then you have supporting details, and these are the ideas and methods you will use in your writing along with key vocabulary.

And you can write this in note form.

So methods being the tools that you are going to use to create your paragraphs.

So some of you will use repetition, some of you will use alliteration, some of you will use contrast.

Everybody of course will use extended metaphor, which is an important method to both Dunbar and Angelou in their poems. And then your concluding sentence, this concludes the main ideas in your paragraph.

And again, like your topic sentence is written in a full sentence and you will rely on Dunbar's sentence.

So we can have a bit of repetition in terms of our topic sentence and concluding sentence.

So this is what a single paragraph outline is.

It is a way of planning a single paragraph.

You have your topic sentence and concluding sentence in full and your supporting detail in note to form.

Let's have a look at Sam's example so that we can understand this idea of single paragraph outline in more detail.

So watch Sam build her single paragraph outline.

I know why the caged bird sings! That's her topic sentence.

Then she's got her supporting detail ideas, vocabulary and methods are selected.

She's got caged bird, she's gonna use these words, bruise, belittle, battle, broken, really lovely there to use that alliteration, the repetition of the B sound at the beginning of all of those words.

Then we've got caged bird.

She's going to describe powerful, persistent, passionate song, again using alliteration there with that repetition of that P, we've got the persistent.

So continuing to do something even though something is really, really difficult.

So it's difficult for the caged bird to sing, but he continues to do so anyway.

And then we've got this final bit of supporting detail, the free bird soars, climbs and glides versus, the caged bird who soars, whose song saws, climbs and glides.

We've got repetition there.

So you can see how carefully Sam has put together this paragraph.

It will have taken time and effort to think of those brilliant vocabulary words and to think of the methods that she wants to use.

Then we've got Sam's concluding sentence.

I know why the caged bird sings.

And of course we are taking that from Dunbar's poem "Sympathy".

So a really successful single paragraph I outline there where we've got a topic sentence of including sentence in full and ideas of vocabulary and methods in note form.

Now here is Sam's paragraph.

She has written, "I know why the caged bird sings! A tiny body may be bruised and battered.

A tiny heart may be belittled and broken.

But the caged bird sings a passionate song, a powerful song, and a persistent song.

While the free bird soars, glides and climbs the skies, the caged bird song soars, climbs and glides.

I know why the caged bird sings." So a really nice paragraph that clearly inspired by Dunbar and Angelou.

Now I'd like you to discuss what aspects of Sam's work were clearly inspired by Dunbar and/or Angelou.

So you're gonna look at the poems again.

You can look at Sam's paragraph and think, well, how was she inspired by Dunbar and or Angelou? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Welcome back.

Such a lovely discussion showing off your knowledge of both of these poems, but also being able to pick out at what inspired Sam in this paragraph.

Here's some ideas that you might have had.

So she used some vocabulary from Dunbar like bruise.

So you'll have noticed that this word bruise is in Dunbar's poem and Sam has used that as well.

So a really nice choice selection there.

It works really well in her paragraph.

She has contrasted the caged bird to the bird that is free like Angelou.

So we've got the caged bird and she's saying, "I know why the caged bird sings." But we also have this contrast to the free bird who is soaring gliding and climbing into the skies.

And then we've got repetition, Sammy's repetition like both Angelou and Dunbar.

So her tiny body and then tiny heart repetition of just that word tiny.

And then we've got these repetition of the verb soars, glides and climbs.

That is what the free bird can do, but the bird in the cage, that's what her song can do.

So a really nice relying on Angelou and Dunbar, but also making the paragraph very much her own.

A check for understanding before we write our own paragraphs, which of these statements about your creative writing task are correct? Read through each of these statements, A, B, C, and D and then select which you think are correct.

Pause video and complete the check now.

Welcome back.

Well done, if you selected D.

You must rely on Angelou and Dunbar's words and methods to inspire you.

So A is incorrect.

You can't write your paragraph first and then your single paragraph outline, the single paragraph outline is the plan.

You will use that plan to write your paragraph.

You don't need to create be an original extended metaphor because you are going to use the extended metaphor of a cage bird.

And C, you don't need to include the word sympathy.

You might choose to and that's absolutely fine, but you don't have to.

What you do need to do is start off with Dunbar's line, "I know why the caged bird sings." Alright, our final practise task for today.

Here is the prompt, write one paragraph which uses the image of a caged bird as an extended metaphor.

Your paragraph must start and end with this line from Dunbar's poem, "I know why the caged bird sings!" I'd like you to first plan your piece using a single paragraph outline.

And second, write your piece relying on your single paragraph outline.

Please give this task the time that it deserves.

I cannot wait to read your paragraphs at the end.

Pause the video and complete this task now.

Welcome back.

Such a pleasure to see people really thinking hard for their planning, creating beautiful single paragraph outlines that they could really then rely on when they came to writing their paragraph.

Let's do a bit of feedback.

So I'd like you to recall how Sam's paragraph was inspired by Dunbar and Angelou.

We looked at some vocabulary, we look at this, we looked at this method contrast, and we also looked at the method repetition.

So we could see clearly how she was inspired by Dunbar and Angelou.

We picked out some things that clearly inspired her.

I would like you to identify where and how you have been inspired by Dunbar and/or Angelou.

So you might select particular methods.

You might select particular words where you have clearly been inspired by these two poets.

Pause the video and complete the self-assessment now.

Welcome back.

Lovely to see people reading through their paragraphs really quickly, really carefully, sorry, identifying where they have been inspired by Dunbar and/or Angelou.

And what you will have seen there is that you were inspired by these two poets, but you have very much made at the paragraph your own.

Just like when Angelou was inspired by Dunbar, she definitely was inspired by him by this image, but she made the poem her own.

Well done.

In summary, Angelou was inspired to write "Caged Bird" after reading a poem called "Sympathy" by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, who was born in 1872.

He died in 1906.

Like Dunbar, Angelou relies on the extended metaphor of a bird in a cage to present ideas about discrimination and injustice.

Like Angelou, you can be inspired by texts you have read.

A single paragraph outline is a way of planning a paragraph.

First and final sentences of a single paragraph outline are written in full.

Supporting detail is written in note form.

It has been such a pleasure to work through today's lesson with you today, and I look forward to seeing you next time.