I am not touching politics here or now with a ten-foot pole, but I will say that the Biden Administration employing a poet laureate, 22-year-old Amanda Gorman, creates opportunities in your ELA classroom to explore the power of poetry and verse to move people’s hearts and not just their minds. It even has the power to give us a unique perspective on history and history in the making, allowing us to see everything from a slightly different (and calmer) angle. I’m sure you’ll think of a ton of ways you can use it. Please let me know how you use it in the comments! I am curious. 

The Hill We Climb: written and delivered on Inauguration Day 2021 (January 20, 2021) by Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. It’s a text you can use in your classroom today, tomorrow, and forever. (Also available as a free printable – click here.)

The Hill We Climb

Ideas for how to use in ELA:

1) Break the poem up into about 4-5 sections. Have students write a summary of each section in plain English basically interpreting what she is saying literally beyond the figurative language and literary devices. You could even have students do jigsaw groups – break the class into 4-5 groups and assign each group a section. Each group works together to interpret it. At the end, have a representative from each group say their summary (in order would be best).

2) Identify literary devices being used such as simile, metaphor, concrete imagery, allusion, hyperbole, repetition (very popular in political speeches), use of ethos/pathos/logos, etc.

3) Have students explain what a quote means and what it means to them, such as “For while we have our eyes on the future history has its eyes on us.” (Get the printable FREE HERE.)

4) Write down every instance of repetition she uses and evaluate whether it’s more powerful as a result (plus compare to other political speeches such as Obama).

5) Compare and contrast this poem to other political poems, such as the inaugural poems listed below that Amanda Gorman says inspired her to write her poem the way she did.

6) Have students analyze what it was about the inaugural poems below that Amanda Gorman says inspired her. In what ways did the poems inspire her — rhetorically, philosophically, politically, symbolically, (…uh, I could keep going lol)?

These are the inaugural poems Amanda Gorman says inspired her:

• Robert Frost, who recited “The Gift Outright” at John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inauguration. Frost recited the poem from memory after he was unable to read the text of the poem, “Dedication,” because of the sun’s glare on the snow-covered ground.
• Maya Angelou, who read “On the Pulse of Morning” (text; video) at Bill Clinton’s 1993 inauguration.
• Miller Williams, who read “Of History and Hope” (text; video) at Bill Clinton’s 1997 inauguration.
• Elizabeth Alexander, who read “Praise Song for the Day” (text; video) at Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration.
• Richard Blanco, who read “One Today” (text; video) at Barack Obama’s 2013 inauguration.

Link to multimedia version of Amanda Gorman Delivering Her Poem on Inauguration Day 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ055ilIiN4

Also Available as a FREE Printable. CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS NOW

I HOPE YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS ENJOY READING THIS POEM AND DOING SOME FUN ELA ACTIVITIES TO GO WITH IT. I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR WHAT IDEAS YOU COME UP WITH FOR USING IT, SO PLEASE LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS!

AND BE SURE TO CHECK OUT:

How about save this pin to your “Poetry” or “Literacy in Social Studies/History” Pinterest Board so that you can come back to this post again?