Lesson Overview:

This lesson was written to compliment and enhance the Scholastic Book, Color Me Dark and subsequent production staged and produced by the Kennedy Center. This lesson also stands individually and may be taught without referencing the book or the play.

How does a poem or a song express feelings and meanings? This lesson will explore the origins of "The Black National Anthem," which was originally a poem by James Weldon Johnson entitled Lift Every Voice and Sing. By analyzing the poem's figurative language, students will come to understand how the poem conveys a sense of hope and unity despite hardship. The poem was later set to music by the poet's brother, J. Rosamund Johnson, and became known as "The Black National Anthem." Students will also learn how the addition of music further enhances the messages of imagery of the poem's words, helping the song to become an anthem for African-Americans.

Length of Lesson:

Three 45-minute class periods

Notes:

This lesson is particularly suitable for grades 5-6.

Instructional Objectives:

Students will:

• understand the origins of "The Black National Anthem" in reference to author, time, purpose, circumstance, and mood.
• Students will analyze and discuss the figurative language and imagery of the poem to better understand the text.
• Students will recognize the effect that music and rhythm have on written words.

Supplies:

• Writing paper

Instructional Plan:

Part 1: Analysis and Discussion of Poem

Locate and review the lyrics to "The Black National Anthem." There are various copies available online, including:

Poets.org
http://poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15588

Xavier University of Louisiana
http://xavier.xula.edu/naacp/anthem.html

Distribute copies of the poem to students. Read the poem aloud to class dramatically, using voice intonation and facial expression.

Ask students what they think the poem is about. Does it remind them of any other poem or song that they know? (Answers will vary.) Distribute copies of the Vocabulary Handout to the students in order to provide them with terminology definitions.

Now discuss with students background information regarding the poem's author, purpose, origin, and circumstances. Tell students that the poem, Lift Every Voice and Sing, was set to music and has become known as "The Black National Anthem." James Weldon Johnson, a lawyer, educator, writer and activist for African-American rights, wrote the poem. He lived from 1871 to 1938. He was a man of many talents who served as a role model for his fellow African-Americans.

In 1900, Johnson was serving as a school principal in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, and was asked to speak at a celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday. He decided instead to write a poem, and then soon decided that the poem should be set to music. He asked his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, who was a music teacher, to compose music for the poem. The song became very popular among church choirs, and was included in hymn books used in religious services. Since that time, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" has been widely regarded as an anthem for African Americans and symbolic expression of the struggle of African-Americans for civil rights in this country.

Tell students that they first will study the words of the poem to understand how the poem's figurative language, imagery, and mood contribute to its meaning.

Write these lines (from two different parts of the poem) on the board:

1. Till earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty
2. We have come over a way that with tears has been watered

Direct students to read the lines carefully. What does harmony mean? Ask whether "harmony" can really "ring." State that these are examples of figurative language. Explain that figurative language is essential in certain types of writing, such as a poem or song, to help convey meaning and expression. It is a way of writing that conveys precise meanings in an artistic manner, by describing one thing in terms of another. The poet has a story to tell, and the language he or she uses must convey the emotional content of that story. If the writer does not create an image, he may lose the reader's attention and may not give feeling to the meaning that he is trying to communicate. How would the meaning be different if the figurative language was not there, such as "Till earth and heaven ring with Liberty" or "we have come over a way with tears"? Ask students to locate at least one other example of figurative language in the poem.

Write these lines (from different parts of the poem) on the board:

1. Let our rejoicing rise
2. Sing a song full of the faith
3. Let our rejoicing rise
4. Out from the gloomy past
5. God of our weary years
6. God of our silent tears

Direct students to read the lines carefully. Ask students to think carefully and describe what types of feelings the lines create when they are read. (Answers will vary.) Explain that the use of these words is the poet's way of conveying a mood.

Write these lines from the poem on the board:

1. Let our rejoicing rise,
2. High as the listening skies,
3. Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
4. Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast
5. Shadowed beneath Thy hand

Direct students to read these lines carefully. Ask them what images come to mind as they are reading. Do these words make them "see" anything? Have students substantiate their explanations. Explain that phrases such as "listening skies," "rolling sea," "white gleam of our bright start" and "shadowed beneath Thy hand" are all types of imagery. How would the meaning be different if the imagery were not there? Offer students the first example without imagery: "Let our rejoicing rise high and let it resound." How is this different? How does imagery create a different level of meaning?

Part 2: The Poem as a Song

Review with students an analysis of the anthem. Discuss its message of unifying African Americans in their struggle for equal rights in this country and to convey the hope of a better future.

Review with students that the poem Lift Every Voice and Sing as set to music by the poet's brother, J. Rosamond Johnson. You might also display original sheet music for "Lift Every Voice and Sing".

Explain to students that words of a song are called lyrics. Now they are going to examine how the poem's words take on a different level of meaning when they are set to music.

Ask students what kinds of music they listen to. What is special about music that creates special feelings, memories, or meanings?

Tell the students that you are going to play some music for them and that they need to listen carefully. Have students listen to one or more of various musical versions of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" at these Web sites:

National Public Radio
http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/me/20020204.taeolians.lift.ram

University of Virginia Library
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/exhibits/music/overview.html

Conduct a guided music lesson by posing the following questions and writing student responses on the board or chart paper:

• How does the music affect the words?
• How does the music affect the mood and emotion of the lyric?
• What do you think the singer(s) wants listeners to feel when they hear the song?
• What emotions or feelings to you hear? Joyfulness, sadness, anything else?
• Where do you think the singers are singing?
• How does one person singing (solo) compare to a group of people singing together (such as a choir)?
• Why do you think people sing together, such as in a choir?
• How does harmony affect the music?
• Identify rhythm in each music selection.
Ask students to identify the tempo of each music piece as either fast or slow. Do they prefer a fast tempo or a slow one? Why?
• Compare and contrast the words as a poem with the words set to music. Which has more of an effect on them? Which do they prefer? Why?

Part 3: "The Black National Anthem" Today

Have students investigate events in African-American civil rights history that have occurred in the United States since the anthem was composed. Outlines can be found at the following:

Civil Rights Timeline (Info Please)
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html

The Civil Rights Movement (Abbeville Press)
http://www.abbeville.com/civilrights/washington.asp

Divide students into small groups. Have them select an event that they researched and use that event to create an original lyric that could be set to music. They might think of the verse as an updated addition to "The Black National Anthem."

Have students put their new lyric to a beat. It can have the same beat as the anthem does or another one.

Have students meet as a class to share their new anthem lyrics.

Assessment:

Refer to the Assessment Rubric.

Extensions:

Have students re-read the anthem. Ask them to think about what they see as they read each line. What visual images come into their mind as they read? Ask students to choose one of their favorite lines of the poem and to draw the image or images that come into their mind as they read the line. Encourage them to incorporate color, shape, theme, and emotion in images. Are their images realistic or exaggerated? Why?

Explain to students that they are going to create a mural depicting the class's visual interpretation of the anthem by incorporating one image from each student.

Give students a large piece of paper on which to sketch an enlarged image for the mural.

Once each student has completed his or her enlargement, have the class work together to arrange the composition of the mural. In small groups, have students draw and paint their images onto the mural. Guide students in discussions about how the placement of each image, color choice, shape, and emotional expression will affect the mural's emphasis, balance, and overall mood or theme.

Allocate time for the students to access the following Web sites on principles of design:

Art Foundations: The Principles and Elements of Art Design
http://www.mmwindowtoart.com/artfoundations.html

ArtSpace: Art2: Principles of Design
http://www.peonqueen.com/ArtSpace/temp_exhib/art2/

Encourage students to incorporate these principles into the creation of their mural images.

The mural can be painted on mural paper or, if possible, as a permanent installation on a wall in the school. Document each stage of mural production with photographs to create a photographic journal as a culminating activity.

Authors:

• Scholastic Inc.
  New York, NY