Above: Amanda Dettmann and Madeline Curtis, Telling Room authors featured in A New Land
A New Land Unit Plan
Common Core & Maine Learning Standards Aligned
Level: Grade Nine - English Language Arts
Length: One week, with options for standalone lessons
This poetry unit inspires students to see themselves as writers by exposing them to examples of excellent peer writing from A New Land, providing opportunities for collaboration and discussion, and supporting them through the revision process. In an effort to make poetry analysis accessible to all students, no matter their previous exposure or level of academic development, lessons have been designed to scaffold analytical skills and offer a variety of ways for students to engage with texts. The progression of the unit reflects the central tenets of The Telling Room’s educational philosophy by giving students low stakes opportunities to practice writing and share their ideas with their peers. Students will leave the unit with a drafted and revised poem and, hopefully, more confidence in themselves as writers and thinkers.
Acknowledgements: This unit was created by Veronica Foster, an English teacher at Biddeford High School, with support from Telling Room alumnae Amanda Dettmann and Madeline Curtis and feedback from Xu Li and Kurt Ostrow.
ADDITIONAL TEACHING TOOLS FOR A NEW LAND
"This anthology is strongly recommended for all teachers of creative writing, especially at the high school level. You will find sustenance to share in every poem."
— Naomi Shihab Nye, Poetry Foundation’s Young People's Poet Laureate, author of Voices in the Air: Poems for Listeners, and The Tiny Journalist
A paperback copy of A New Land rests on top of a black typewriter
WRITE: Each poem in A New Land is accompanied by writing prompts to inspire your students! Writing prompts are included in the e-book edition of A New Land, and can also be downloaded separately here.
LISTEN: Check out our Voices of the Future podcast, hosted by former Maine Poet Laureate Stu Kestenbaum, as he dives into conversations with the poets in A New Land about their work.
Or, tune into our Soundcloud to hear these poets read their work in their own voice.
WATCH: We have multiple engaging multimedia interpretations of the poems in A New Land to share with your classroom! Check out these videos for an immersive look at these poems.