Skip to content
Oak National Academy
Oak National Academy
Teachers
Pupils
Choose a curriculum

Edexcel (KS4)

KS3 & KS4 English curriculum

Unit sequence

Skip to units

Filter and highlight

Year group

Category (KS4)

Highlight a thread
English
Year 8

Single poet study: Maya Angelou

20 lessons

Threads

  • Appreciation of poetry
  • Modern literature strand 1: identity, belonging and community

Description

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.

This unit uses and builds on pupils' understanding of poetry, voice and performance from 'Poetry about Place and Home'. Pupils are now emulating more complex poetry, and starting to think about more complex themes of identity and belonging in their poetry. Pupils are now starting to think more about their own distinctive voice. This prepares pupils for later study of poetry, such as in their GCSE poetry anthology, and for other texts that reflect on themes of identity and belonging, such as 'Small Island' and 'Leave Taking'.

  1. An introduction to Maya Angelou's distinctive voice: ‘Life Doesn’t Frighten Me’
  2. Writing a poem inspired by Maya Angelou's 'Life Doesn't Frighten Me'
  3. Exploring Maya Angelou’s ‘Phenomenal Woman’
  4. Exploring Maya Angelou's figurative language in ‘Phenomenal Woman’
  5. Exploring Maya Angelou’s ‘Still I Rise’
  6. Performing Maya Angelou's ‘Still I Rise’
  7. Exploring Maya Angelou's 'Caged Bird'
  8. Performing Maya Angelou's ‘Caged Bird’
  9. Exploring Maya Angelou's 'Equality'
  10. Exploring Maya Angelou’s use of figurative language
  11. Maya Angelou’s influences: exploring ‘Sympathy’ by Paul Laurence Dunbar
  12. Exploring Maya Angelou's 'Woman Work'
  13. Exploring Maya Angelou’s ‘On the Pulse of the Morning’
  14. Exploring Maya Angelou's 'On Aging'
  15. Maya Angelou's poetic voice
  16. Analytical paragraphs: Maya Angelou’s poetic voice
  17. Finding my own voice: planning a poem inspired by Maya Angelou
  18. Finding my own voice: writing a poem inspired by Maya Angelou
  19. Refining poems: harmony and dissonance
  20. Finding my own voice: performing a poem
See lessons in unit

37 units shown,

Need help with our new curriculum?

Visit our help centre for technical support as well as tips and ideas to help you make the most of Oak.

Go to help centre