One of my favorite lessons for one of my favorite units.  In fact, students would come back 20 years after they had my class - and the beginning of today's lesson would stick out in their heads.  I owe so much of this lesson - and everything that I did in this unit to my wonderful Professor at UIC, Gene Ruoff - to whom I dedicate this unit on this unit on the Romantics.
The lesson begins with a demonstration involving darkness and light (see my description below) - this is what students really remember and I have to say, it is pretty cool.  We then talk about what makes the Romantic Era, the Romantic Era.  We discuss (briefly) Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge. Next, we read the first poem in that collection: "My Heart Leaps Up", and talk about what it means.  We then read our only nonBritish poem of the year - "A Child Went Forth" by Walt Whitman - and we read it as we walk through the halls of my school, observing the people around us as we read (and go forth).  When we make it back to our room, I play the song "The Cat's in the Cradle" and the students put this together with everything else that we've done so far that day.  I tell a very personal story about rainbows and the wonders of small children seeing their first one - and we end the class with Eva Cassidy's incredible "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

 This is very subversive lesson.  Many people love this poem - but I am not one of them.  Gray is considered a preRomantic for a reason - his language is flowery, and though the poem is about "the simple people" (as he would say) - it is definitely not from their perspective.  In fact, I find it downright patronizing.  HIs central thesis is that there many wonderful people who live and die in the country (away from London) but because of their location - their lives go unnoticed (like flowers blooming in the desert).  What nonsense!  These people's lives are just as full and fruitful as the learned in their city.  

 Another one of my "big" lessons.  In fact, the poem (or song) "To a Mouse" is referenced in one of our very early classes (Grendel - Chapter 5) and at one point in my career - I had considered opening the entire year with this incredible text.  It also happens to (like Donne's tolling bell) one of the most misunderstood and quotes texts in English.  The mouse - though his home is destroyed by the farmer - is blessed compared to humankind - for while the mouse in that moment is distressed - they soon will forget and move on, while we, on the other hand, are doomed to worry about what came before (earlier home destructions) and the future (plows that will someday demolish our home & hearth).  This lesson tries to get that depth across - it is obviously something that everyone can identify with - but especially our anxiety, stress-riddled students of today.  

 Another one of my "big" lessons.  In fact, the poem (or song) "To a Mouse" is referenced in one of our very early classes (Grendel - Chapter 5) and at one point in my career - I had considered opening the entire year with this incredible text.  It also happens to (like Donne's tolling bell) one of the most misunderstood and quotes texts in English.  The mouse - though his home is destroyed by the farmer - is blessed compared to humankind - for while the mouse in that moment is distressed - they soon will forget and move on, while we, on the other hand, are doomed to worry about what came before (earlier home destructions) and the future (plows that will someday demolish our home & hearth).  This lesson tries to get that depth across - it is obviously something that everyone can identify with - but especially our anxiety, stress-riddled students of today.  

 This lesson challenges the students to try and figure things (Blake's Proverbs) out completely on their own (well - with a partner).   From the beginning of the year, a poster of Michael Jordan with his arms spread like wings, with Blake's proverb: "No bird soars too high, if it soars with its own wings" has been in the front and center of our classroom.  And now - they get to see where those words come from.  I'd like to think that so much of what we do in our classroom is like that - with the ultimate goal to convince the students that this old stuff really does have something to say to us.  The students will work with a partner (or by themselves if they choose - everyone writes) and decipher a number of Blake's Proverbs.   Some of the more important and/or more well known proverbs will be required - and in order to cover a wider cross-section of the text - beyond the required ones, students will choose from the others based on their last name.

  I know that the school year is getting close to its end when we reach this lesson.  The timing is perfect - daffodil flowers are in season (I give one to each student) and that last Wordsworth poem that we look at today, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" (aka the Daffodil Poem) is a perfect precursor for the last class's reading of Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey.  We also go on a little field trip to the bridge that connects our Academic & Arts builiding and that over looks Downtown Chicago, so that we can try to experience a little bit of what Wordsworth did when he looked at London, early in the morning - when the pollution  had yet become oppresive - and in that great city he could see an echo of the nature's beauty.

  I know that the school year is getting close to its end when we reach this lesson.  The timing is perfect - daffodil flowers are in season (I give one to each student) and that last Wordsworth poem that we look at today, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" (aka the Daffodil Poem) is a perfect precursor for the last class's reading of Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey.  We also go on a little field trip to the bridge that connects our Academic & Arts builiding and that over looks Downtown Chicago, so that we can try to experience a little bit of what Wordsworth did when he looked at London, early in the morning - when the pollution  had yet become oppresive - and in that great city he could see an echo of the nature's beauty.

Above all, Coleridge's poem is about what it means to live vicariously.  The poet (or persona) has injured his foot and he can't his friends as they take an extended hike through some of the most beautiful countryside that he knows.  And boy does he know that countryside.  Rather than being sad or depressed that he is stuck (under a lime tree) while they venture forth - he imagines (and writes) every single thing that they see and every single joy and touch of awe that they experience.  And while, the lesson works well as a Group Work - with students sharing similar experiences of having to be home while their friends did something - those two years during the Pandemic, when we collectively looked back at students experiencing things in person - together - while we tried to vicariously join them - gave us an unparralled insite into this poem.

Perhaps one of the most fast moving and exciting lessons of the year - this activity gets all of the students involved in acting out the story of the poem - and as always - by acting it out, they will come to a deeper understanding of Coleridge's verse.  The students should have read the poem before you begin - though I often hold off on the quiz (though they THINK that it's going to be given today) because of the time constraints of making sure you can finish the entire poem.  You also have to break one of my fundamental rules in "reading aloud" and not having random readers.  First, I choose the narrator for the day - or at least pick from students who volunteer.  You need someone who is loud, quick on their feet, and that can focus.  I let the rest of the students (with one exception) choose their roles but you have to do a lot of balancing and you may end up choosing for them if it is taking too long. 

Perhaps one of the most fast moving and exciting lessons of the year - this activity gets all of the students involved in acting out the story of the poem - and as always - by acting it out, they will come to a deeper understanding of Coleridge's verse.  The students should have read the poem before you begin - though I often hold off on the quiz (though they THINK that it's going to be given today) because of the time constraints of making sure you can finish the entire poem.  You also have to break one of my fundamental rules in "reading aloud" and not having random readers.  First, I choose the narrator for the day - or at least pick from students who volunteer.  You need someone who is loud, quick on their feet, and that can focus.  I let the rest of the students (with one exception) choose their roles but you have to do a lot of balancing and you may end up choosing for them if it is taking too long.