Poetry and Song Lyrics: Protesting for
Change
8 weeks
Year: 9
Stage: 5
Assessment:
Suite of protest poems and/or song lyrics
Personal reflection
Text types:
Poetry, songs and song lyrics
photographs
Language:
Voice and irony
Concept:
Perspective/point of view and cultural
perspective
Learning
experiences:
reading, writing, viewing, listening creating
Unit of work:
Duration:
Links to other learning areas:
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History
General capabilities:
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•
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Literacy
Critical and creative thinking
Ethical understanding
Personal and social capabilities
Cross-curriculum Priorities:
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and culture
Other learning across curriculum areas:
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Difference and diversity
Protesting for Change Unit of Work (NSW)
Essential Learning Goal
To investigate the
ways protest texts
provide individual
agency and change for
social participants?
Overarching Questions
What do we desire our future to
look like?
• In what ways does social change
occur through the
vehicle/mechanism of protest?
• In what ways do individuals
stage non-violent protests?
• In what ways do the features of
texts engage our interest and
influence our understanding of
ourselves?
•
Key Learning Ideas
The role of protest in our society
What is social agency and how can individuals
achieve it through creating protest texts
The language of songs and poetry
Unit Focus/Rationale
In this unit students will be looking at ideas about social issues and change and how to empower themselves to
create protest texts that bring about 'a better world' to live in. The following social issues will be investigated and
researched: what is social protest, the history of social protest, motivations for social protest, non-violent, group
and individual forms of social protest and social protest as a form of agency. Student will be exploring a range of
protest songs, lyrics and poetry by a variety of composers to critically analyse the use of language features, text
forms and structures of protest texts. The unit is framed by the key question: What do we desire our future to look
like?
Resources
Protesting for Change Unit of Work (NSW)
• Luka Lesson, ‘Please Resist Me’
Video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-HED2UXwbw
• 1967 Flower in Gun Photograph
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/gallery/2010/nov/14/ten-best-protests
• 'Tank Man" in Tiananmen Square
http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1887394_1861266,00.html
• Rosa Parks: Montgomery Bus
http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1887394_1861257,00.html
• 'From Little Things Big Things Grow' by Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody
http://www.songlyrics.com/paul-kelly/from-little-things-big-things-grow-lyrics/#yVVIf11qzKx706Ya.99
Video clip and documentary: http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/blood-brothers-little-things/clip2/
• History of Australian protests
http://www.teachingheritage.nsw.edu.au/section03/timeenviron.php
• Language of protests http://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus-category/british/To-rebel-or-protest
• 'Land Rights' by Xavier Rudd
Lyrics: http://www.lyrics007.com/Xavier%20Rudd%20Lyrics/Land%20Rights%20Lyrics.html
Video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GZL6vWqtwI
• 'The Catch' by Michelle Williams
• 'Conversation with an American Writer' by Yeugeny Yevtashenko
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/conversation-with-an-american-writer/
• '400 Miles from Darwin' by The Whitlams
Lyrics: http://www.lyricsdepot.com/the-whitlams/400-miles-from-darwin.html
Video clip: http://www.google.com.au/#q=400+miles+from+Darwin&safe=active
• 'Time's Running Out' by Noonuccal, Oodgeroo
• ‘Dear Mr. President’ by Pink
Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/pink/dearmrpresident.html
Video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmMS9XVIa00
• 'The Hero' by Sigfried Sassoon
Protesting for Change Unit of Work (NSW)
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http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/hero/
‘On Passing Menin Gate’ by Sigfried Sassoon
http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/siegfried-sassoon/on-passingthe-new-menin-gate/
Bed-In for Peace photograph:
http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1887394_1861256,00.html
Lady in White photograph:
http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1887394_1861259,00.html
Formative Assessment
• Language features
questions on ‘On
Passing Menin
Gate’ by Sigfried
Sassoon
• A personal response
to a poem or song
lyrics
• Poetry prose about
an injustice
experienced in
childhood
Summative Assessment
Outcomes
Compose a suite of protest texts › EN5-1A responds to and composes increasingly
from either poetry or,
sophisticated and sustained texts for
lyrics/songs/music that
understanding, interpretation, critical
represent a social issue you
analysis, imaginative expression and pleasure
desire to be changed to make the
› EN5-3B selects and uses language forms,
world a better place in the world.
features and structures of texts appropriate to
a range of purposes, audiences and contexts,
Use persuasive written and/or
describing and explaining their effects on
aural techniques to represent you
meaning
social issue.
› EN5-5C thinks imaginatively, creatively,
• Collect one protest poem and
interpretively and critically about information
one protest song and write an
and increasingly complex ideas and
analysis of how each text
arguments to respond to and compose texts in
positions the responder to
a range of contexts
perceive a social issue.
› EN5-7D understands and evaluates the diverse
• Complete a personal reflection
ways texts can represent personal and public
on the process of constructing
worlds
your protest poem/song lyrics.
•
Protesting for Change Unit of Work (NSW)
Protesting for Change Unit of Work (NSW)