Description
This poetry activity is a meaningful and engaging way to incorporate ELA instruction during Women’s History Month or Black History Month, while highlighting the powerful voice and legacy of Maya Angelou.
Students begin with an introduction to Maya Angelou’s life, providing important context that deepens their understanding of her poetry and its connection to history, identity, and social justice. They then read and analyze three of Angelou’s most influential poems: “Still I Rise,” “Caged Bird,” and “Woman Work.” Each poem offers rich opportunities for close reading, discussion, and literary analysis.
The lesson culminates in a constructed response task that asks students to compare and contrast two of the three poems. Students may focus on elements such as theme, imagery, tone, language, style, mood, or the influence of Angelou’s life experiences on her writing. To support all learners, the resource includes sentence starters that help struggling writers successfully craft a strong, text-dependent analysis paragraph.
Throughout the activity, students analyze key poetic devices and literary elements, including simile, tone, alliteration, rhyme scheme, speaker, repetition, imagery, personification, juxtaposition, universal theme, stanzas, and mood. These guided questions help students move beyond surface-level reading and develop deeper interpretive skills.
This resource includes ready-to-print PDF files for immediate classroom use, as well as an editable Word document so teachers can modify the assignment to fit their students’ needs. Perfect for middle school and high school ELA, this Maya Angelou poetry lesson blends literary analysis with historical context in a way that is both rigorous and meaningful.