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Maya Angelou - Unit - Kids Disover

Grades
4 to 12
  
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In this unit, students will discover the actual human behind the famous name Maya Angelou. The unit has three parts: Tough Beginnings - Maya as a child and teenager, Talent ...more
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In this unit, students will discover the actual human behind the famous name Maya Angelou. The unit has three parts: Tough Beginnings - Maya as a child and teenager, Talent to Spare - Maya as a young adult and her early career, and More than Words - Inspiration. Many students may not know that she was the first African American streetcar conductor in San Francisco and a singer and songwriter. Part three, More Than Words: Inspiration, has a timeline from 1971-2008 and colorful images of her later in life. In the last two parts of the unit find four discussion questions called Think Piece. At the bottom of the landing page are three different word activities. You will need to have a free Kids Discover membership to access this unit.

tag(s): african american (119), authors (107), biographies (94), black history (134), poetry (195), women (151)

In the Classroom

This unit is geared for 5th-6th grade readability (Lexile level 750-890). Introduce your students to this unit on your interactive whiteboard or a projector. The first part, Tough Beginnings, is very interesting, describing that Maya didn't speak for five years and why. Once you get through that part and the Think Piece that goes with it, let students read the rest in pairs or small groups. For the Think Piece(s), create a class FigJam, reviewed here where students can record their answers and include sticky notes and images. Depending on the age of your students, you may want to create a guided reading activity using eMargin, reviewed here.