a detailed comparison which develops one idea over a number of lines, paragraphs or stanzas

being able to cope, withstand and recover from difficult physical or mental challenge

to keep doing something even if it is difficult

to treat someone, or a group of people, unfairly

Exploring Maya Angelou's 'Caged Bird'

English

An introduction to Maya Angelou's distinctive voice: ‘Life Doesn’t Frighten Me’

Writing a poem inspired by Maya Angelou's 'Life Doesn't Frighten Me'

Exploring Maya Angelou’s ‘Phenomenal Woman’

Exploring Maya Angelou's figurative language in ‘Phenomenal Woman’

Exploring Maya Angelou’s ‘Still I Rise’

Performing Maya Angelou's ‘Still I Rise’

Performing Maya Angelou's ‘Caged Bird’

Exploring Maya Angelou's 'Equality'

Exploring Maya Angelou’s use of figurative language

Maya Angelou’s influences: exploring ‘Sympathy’ by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Exploring Maya Angelou's 'Woman Work'

Exploring Maya Angelou’s ‘On the Pulse of the Morning’

Exploring Maya Angelou's 'On Aging'

Maya Angelou's poetic voice

Analytical paragraphs: Maya Angelou’s poetic voice

Finding my own voice: planning a poem inspired by Maya Angelou

Finding my own voice: writing a poem inspired by Maya Angelou

Refining poems: harmony and dissonance

Finding my own voice: performing a poem

In 'Single Poet Study: Maya Angelou', pupils study a body of work by a single poet, in order to explore what makes her style and voice unique, giving Angelou her identity as a writer. In the second  Power and Conflict Poetry unit, pupils study the identity cluster of poems, including works by Agard, Dharker and Rumens, all of which use poetic voice to explore questions about personal identity.

In 'Poetry about Place and Home', pupils use spoken word poetry to explore their relationship to the city that they live in. In 'Single Poet Study: Maya Angelou', pupils explore how spoken word poetry can be used to express personal and political views. 

In this unit, pupils read and discover the work of Maya Angelou. They explore some of Angelou's most famous poems, such as 'Caged Bird' and 'Still I Rise', and practise writing and performing poems inspired by her work. As the unit develops, pupils find their own distinctive poetic voice.

Single poet study: Maya Angelou

Discriminatory behaviour or images, whether on the grounds of race, gender, disability, religion or belief or sexual orientation, or otherwise.

Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour

Subjects which particular individuals may be sensitive to, eg, adoption, migration, bereavement or death, divorce, poverty, deprivation.

Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Maya Angelou wrote a poem called '{{ }} Bird'. ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')

Which of these verbs describe the bird that is free in Maya Angelou's 'Caged Bird'? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')

Which of these verbs describe the bird that is in the cage in Maya Angelou's 'Caged Bird'? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')

Starting with the first that was published, put these Maya Angelou poems in the order they were published ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou').

An {{ }} metaphor is a detailed comparison which develops one idea over a number of lines, paragraphs or stanzas. ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')

The final word in Maya Angelou's poem 'Caged Bird' is "{{ }}" ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou').

Poems are usually divided into …? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')

a 1st person speaker explains why they are confident and amazing

a 1st person speaker tells us how she overcomes oppression

a 1st person speaker lists what they don’t find scary and why

Match each of these poems, all written by Maya Angelou, to their overall focus. ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')

being able to cope, withstand and recover from hardship

Match these words to their definitions ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou').

A {{ }} is a method of comparison where a writer uses a non-literal word or phrase to describe something. For example, 'My sister has a heart of gold.' ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')

My power is like the ocean's: vast, constant, soothing yet scary.

I ran out of the school gates, a bird flying to freedom.

His singing was beautiful, the high notes sounded like a nightingale.

Which of these is a metaphor? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')

I wanted to persevere in the race, but I was too tired so I gave up.

She is really persevere. It's impressive!

To get better at any skill, you must persevere through the endless practice.

I don't mind if I don’t get it right first time – I just persevere until I do!

To persevere means to keep doing something even if it is difficult. Which of these sentences uses the word persevere correctly? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')

Starter Quiz

Poems are usually divided into …? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')