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Lesson 7: Braiding Sweetgrass, “Witch Hazel,” and Poems by Joy Harjo
50 min
California CCSS: Focus Standards
California CCSS: Supporting Standards
Student Lesson
Lesson 7: Braiding Sweetgrass, “Witch Hazel,” and Poems by Joy Harjo
Student Learning Objectives
1
Content
Students will analyze how Kimmerer and Harjo use imagery, metaphor, and figurative language to convey the idea that the earth operates on its own timing and that understanding nature requires humility, not control.
2
Language
Students will compare how Kimmerer and Harjo use figurative language, including personification, extended metaphor, and imagery, to develop ideas about the earth’s role in human life by identifying figures of speech by name, citing text evidence from both writers, and using compare/contrast connectors (both, however, while) in written analysis.
3
Foundations
Students will practice fluency in reading poetry by listening to the teacher read as a model, echo-reading with the teacher, and then practicing reading with a partner.
Essential Question
What does it mean to live responsibly within natural systems?
Connections to
Knowledge-Building:
Students will examine the unusual timing of witch hazel blossoms as an example of how living systems model reciprocity and balance.
Enduring Understanding:
Students will examine the story that Kimmerer tells about her mother and her neighbor to show that when knowledge is shared across generations and worldviews, it can restore balance between people and the planet.
Future Lessons:
In Lesson 8, students will continue to read and analyze Braiding Sweetgrass. In Lesson 9, students will write about how different media, like video and text, impact how we understand information.
Unit Performance Task:
The idea of having humility toward the earth will be an important part of the reciprocity research reports that students will write in the performance task.
Lesson Pacing
| Lesson Flow | Purpose of Learning Experience |
|---|---|
Launch5 Minutes | Students will engage in a Quick Write explaining similarities between how the writers talk about the earth. |
Literacy Lab10 Minutes | Students will practice reading poetry fluently using one of the poems by Joy Harjo. |
Learning in Action30 Minutes | Part A: Analyzing Figurative Language in Joy Harjo’s Poetry (RL.8.4, L.8.5.a) Students will analyze “Perhaps the World Ends Here,” identifying the extended metaphor of the kitchen table and personification of dreams. Students will then analyze “Don’t Bother the Earth Spirit,” identifying the personification of the earth spirit as a storyteller. Part B: Drawing Connections Between Figurative Language in Multiple Texts (RL.8.4, RI.8.4, W.8.4, L.8.5.a) Students will briefly revisit the “Witch Hazel” excerpt (p. 79) with a partner to identify Kimmerer’s figurative language, then write individual responses comparing how both writers personify the earth as active and animate. |
Vocabulary
Vocabulary for Additional Support
- obligated
- required to do something because of a duty or expectation
Material List
- Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults by Robin Wall Kimmerer, adapted by Monique Gray Smith, illustrated by Nicole Neidhardt
- Unit 3 Lesson 7 Student Edition
Routines
- Quick Write
- Turn-and-Talk
- Fluency Practice
