Students will read poem and use worksheet to answer to ´Who´s the bird?´, ´What´s the bird singing about?´ You can use it as a lesson plan or just a quick activity.. ~The musicality of words is an important element of poetry, and many poets carefully consider the sound of the words on the page. ~ Students will listen to and analyze jazz music, specifically considering sound, rhythm, and improvisation. Students will identify jazz characteristics in Maya Angelou´s poem, and will incorporate these elements in their own original poetry. * Discuss the meaning of ´Caged Bird´. * Discuss how the lyrical tone in this poem is all the more poignant due to the tragic history of African slavery. *What are the Theme, Voice, and Persona found in this poem? * Theme: The central idea or topic of a work. * Voice (Persona): The speaker of a literary work, i.e., who is doing the talking. Thus the voice/persona is the "I" …or the implied speaker of a poem. Through the voice of the speaker, the reader may determine the crucial components of the speaker’s identity, such as religion, culture/ethnicity/race, sex, and class. * Tone: The poet´s or persona’s attitude in style or expression toward the subject, e.g., loving, ironic, bitter, pitying, fanciful, solemn, etc. ~ Tone can also refer to the overall mood of the poem itself, in the sense of an atmosphere intended to influence the readers´ emotional response. ~ "I Know why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou The free bird leaps ~ on the back of the wind ~ and floats downstream ~ till the current ends ~ and dips his wings ~ in the orange sun rays ~ and dares to claim the sky. ~ But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage ~ can seldom see through ~ his bars of rage ~ his wings are clipped and ~ his feet are tied ~ so he opens his throat to sing. ~ The caged bird sings ~ with fearful trill ~ of the things unknown ~ but longed for still ~ and is tune is heard ~ on the distant hillfor the caged bird ~ sings of freedom. ~ The free bird thinks of another breeze ~ an the trade winds soft through the sighing trees ~ and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn ~ and he names the sky his own. ~ But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams ~ his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream ~ his wings are clipped and his feet are tied ~ so he opens his throat to sing. ~ The caged bird sings ~ with a fearful trill ~ of things unknown ~ but longed for still ~ and his tune is heard ~ on the distant hill ~ for the caged bird~ sings of freedom.

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