Finding my own voice: writing a poem inspired by Maya Angelou
I can write a poem inspired by the ideas and methods in Angelou's poetry.
Finding my own voice: writing a poem inspired by Maya Angelou
I can write a poem inspired by the ideas and methods in Angelou's poetry.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- You can use a poet's work to inspire your own creativity.
- You can plan each stanza of a poem by considering its focus, details and methods
- Reading your poem aloud can help you identify areas you would like to improve.
Keywords
Methods - the tools a writer uses to create their work; use of figurative language is one example
Sullen - bad-tempered, sulky
Figurative language - non-literal phrases and words which develop a writer's meaning
Idle - not doing anything, lazy
Ignoble - not honourable, unworthy
Common misconception
You can't plan a stanza of a poem. It's not like a paragraph or an essay.
Stanzas are like paragraphs. They need structure and focus. Spending time planning their methods, vocabulary and ideas make writing the stanza easier.
To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Finding my own voice: writing a poem inspired by Maya Angelou, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Finding my own voice: writing a poem inspired by Maya Angelou, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 english lessons from the Single poet study: Maya Angelou unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You need access to 'Phenomenal Woman', 'Woman Work', 'Still I Rise', 'On Aging', 'Caged Bird', 'Equality', 'Life Doesn't Frighten Me', and 'On the Pulse of the Morning' (Penguin Random House).
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
- Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
- Depiction or discussion of sexual content
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
a repeated line or lines throughout a poem
using words that sound like each other in the middle or end of lines
using the same letter to start two or more words
the repetition of the 's' sound
bad-tempered, sulky
not doing anything, lazy
unworthy, not honourable
having no problems or anxieties
antonym of guilty