Starter:In what ways are all of these people important?

Why do you think you didn’t know about them?

Toussaint L’OuvertureThe leader of the Haitian Revolution. His actions led to the establishment of the independent black state of Haiti, transforming an entire society of slaves into a free, self-governing people. Nanny de Maroon

Jamaican National Hero: led Jamaicans in battle

against the British.

Shaka

the most influential leader of the Zulu

Kingdom

Mary Seacole

Jamaican nurse best known for her involvement in the

Crimean War

Barack Obama

The first black man to become President of the United States of America.

Character and Voice Poetry

Our identity is created through how we act, speak and relate to others.

WALT: Comment on form and structure in ‘Checking Out Me History’ by John Agard.

W.I.L.F in your poetry responses

A* • Explores several interpretations in detail.• Carefully chosen and well-integrated quotes.• Compares poems thoughtfully and in detail.• Comments on language, form and structure.• Imaginative ideas about themes, attitudes and feelings• Personal responses to poems.

A • Gives several interpretations.• Well-chosen quotes used to support ideas.• Compares poems with evidence.• Describes how language, form and structure affect the reader.• Looks at themes, attitudes and feelings in detail.

W.I.L.F in your poetry responses

B • Thoughtful interpretations of poems.• Supports interpretations with quotes from the text.• Some well-chosen evidence to support comparisons.• Gives several examples of how language, form and structure affect

the reader.• Provides some evidence to support ideas about themes and

feelings.

C • Comments on several aspects of the poems.• Quotes are used to back up comments.• Makes several comparisons between poems.• Explains how language, form and structure affect the reader.• Makes valid comments about themes and feelings.

W.I.L.F in your poetry responses

D • Comments on some aspects of the poems.• Quotes are used to back up comments.• Makes some comparisons between poems.• Begins to explain how language, form and structure affect the

reader.• Shows understanding of themes and feelings.

E • Comments on some simple aspects of the poems.• Some quotes are used to back up comments.• Makes simple comparisons between poems.• Shows some awareness of how language, form and structure

affect the reader.• Shows some understanding of themes and feelings.

EasierWhich words sound odd here? Why is that?

Task: Look at the Wordle of the poem’s words. The most commonly used are biggest.Can you work out what attitudes this poet might have from the words you see here?

ExampleHe mentions ‘dem’ (them) and says they ‘tell’. Is this a nice way to talk?

HINT!This is the leader of the revolution in Haiti.

Click to hear John Agard reading his poem.

Pairs• What has John

Agard not used at all in this poem?

• Why not?• What effect does

it have on the poem?

• What does it say about his ‘history’?

Just like in hip-hop music, the rhythm in this poem is made by the words.

In pairs, look through the poem and try to categorise the words into the following clusters:

• Short, strong sounds• Long vowel sounds (e.g. ea, a_e)• Words that sound painful• Words that have a thoughtful sound• Words that have a silly sound

moon, spoon

bandage, wounded, …

1. ‘Dem tell me bout…’ 2. ‘dem never tell me bout…’

1066 and all dat

What they don’t teach you: ‘Checking Out Me History’•Read the poem carefully and make two lists. In the first column, write down what the speaker says he learnt about. In the second column, list things he said he didn’t learn about.The first one has been filled in for you.

•Now look again at the list in the first column. Some of the things are (a) matters of historical fact while others are (b) fictional stories or nursery rhymes.• Using two different colours, shade the boxes to show whether what the speaker learned was history or fiction.

Using what you have learned by doing tasks 1 and 2, write a sentence to explain what the poet is telling us in this poem.•Now circle any of the things listed in column 2 (‘dem never tell me bout…’) that the speaker finds out about. •If he wasn’t taught about these things, find a quotation to explain how he has learned about them.

The speaker is angry that Black culture and history has been neglected

The speaker implies that the history he has been taught is a fiction

The poem makes clear that cultural transmission (the passing on of knowledge about culture and history) starts at a very early age.

The poet values the qualities of independence and courage.

The poet is careful to use humour to make his point in a non-threatening way

The poem suggests that the process of education involves passive people being bombarded with information by those who have power and/or authority.

The poem can be interpreted as encouraging self-empowerment and pride in one’s culture.

The poem equates identity with knowledge of your own cultural and racial roots.

What are the attitudes and ideas in the poem?

Theme/ideaEvidence from the poem to support my

ideas about this statement

The speaker is angry that Black culture and history has been neglected.

The speaker implies that the history he has been taught is a fiction.

The poem makes clear that cultural transmission (the passing on of knowledge about culture and history) starts at a very early age.

The poet values the qualities of independence and courage.

The poet is careful to use humour to make his point in a non-threatening way.

The poem suggests that the process of education involves passive people being bombarded with information by those who have power and/or authority.

Find evidence from the poem to support the ideas in the poem