Lesson Overview 

 Every year I faced the dilemma of how do I prepare my students to take the state assessment test at the end of the year without losing any more class time.  In trying to kill two birds with one stone - I designed in-class assessments built around what we were actually doing in class.  Today's lesson is built on that model.  The students will write an essay, fill in a chart (showing their evidence for the essay) all built on a prompt designed to look exactly like the kind they would encounter on their state (IL) assessment at the end of the year.  I really like this lesson a lot.  Based on an Anglo-Saxon poem, "The Wanderer" - it asks the students to compare and contrast the Anglo-Saxon version with a modern poem written by W.H. Auden that was inspired by the Old English verse.
      The following is taken directly from the handout:  Today, you will demonstrate your ability to read, analyze, and write about two texts that are linked by a common theme.  You will have 46 minutes to read two poems – one ancient; one modern – organize your thoughts, and write an analysis using textual evidence.  Your response will be written on a sheet of paper using a pen.
The first poem, “The Wanderer” is an Anglo-Saxon poem written down in the 10th Century, but may have been composed hundreds of years before that.  The second poem also entitled “The Wanderer” was written by the Anglo-American poet, W.H. Auden in 1930 – when Auden was a young man living in what was then the gloomy beginnings of Nazi Germany.
How does Auden’s poem use the themes of wandering, loss, and fulfillment in his own poem?  What evidence can you find of specific lines, ideas, or metaphors that exist in both poems?  How are the poems related in the most specific way that you can find?
Your response should demonstrate how well you provide an analysis of a connection between these two poems, and Auden’s effectiveness in modernizing the Anglo-Saxon poem with contemporary concerns, experiences, and ideals.
First, organize your thoughts by completing the graphic organizer provided.  You should identify and list the key specific lines and ideas that connect between each of the poems.
Then write a response that analyzes the effectiveness of the modern’s poem using the ancient poem as a starting point.  This analysis should include sufficient textual evidence.  You should consider both the actual words of the poems as well as the bigger ideas that are found behind those words.

Thoughts on the Lesson 

We never have enough time in the classroom.  From when I began to when I finished there were approximately 20 less days to actually teach lessons because of everything else that students were required to do.  I mourned the time - and felt "time's winged chariot" behind my back every day.  My classes began at the sound of the first bell until the next one signalled the period was over.