1. Lori Smith
LIBS 6144
Grade 5: 14 Students: 8 girls, 6 boys, 5 white, 9 African American
What does freedom mean?
Materials-paper, pencils, computers with internet and card catalog, speakers
Hand out paper and pencil to each student and ask each student to write down what freedom
means to them.
• Have students read their papers aloud to the class. In whole group discuss and elaborate
on the meanings and differences in how we see freedom.
• Listen to Harriet Tubman, read by Maya Angelou, and discuss how it was read-emotion/
rhythm and meaning. http://www.freedomarchives.org/downloads.html
• http://www.freedomarchives.org/audio_samples/Mp3_files/Harriet_Tubman.mp3
• Using the overhead, read the poem Universal Freedom, by George Krokos.
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/universal-freedom-is/ Stop throughout to discuss
the properties of poetry-stanza, rhyme, rhythm, word choice, and using context clues to
figure out meaning.
• Hand each student a stanza from the poem by Maya Angelou. Have students read their
stanza quietly to themselves and write their interpretations/what they think it means.
Have students read their stanzas out loud and discuss interpretations as a group.
• Assign groups of 2 to computers. Have students locate and open the card catalog and
use the keywords freedom, poetry, or biographies to locate books in the library. Have
students scroll through and identify number of books available, call numbers, and locate
one of the books in the library.
Common Core- English Language Arts
R.CCR.4 Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical,
connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or
tone.
R.CCR.6 Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

2. Social Studies
5.C.1.4 Understand how cultural narratives (legends, songs, ballads, games, folk tales and art
forms) reflect the lifestyles, beliefs and struggles of diverse ethnic groups.
Information and Technology
5.Sl.1.1 Use various types of resources to gather information (including print and online media)
AASL
1.1.7 Make sense of information gathered from diverse sources by identifying misconceptions,
main and supporting details, conflicting information, and point or view or bias.
P21 Skills
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Make Judgments and Decisions
• Synthesize and make connections between information and arguments
• Interpret information and draw conclusions based on the best analysis
• Reflect critically on learning experiences and processes

3. Lori Smith
LIBS 6144
Lesson Reflection
Student arrived at the media center and sat in groups of 4 at round tables. As I was handing
out their papers I announced that we were going to do an activity and then read and listen
to some poems. Once all of the papers were handed out I told the students that we were
going to talk about freedom and posed the question “What is freedom what does freedom
mean to you?” and instructed them to write their answer on their papers. I walked around
reading what students had on their papers and guiding those who were struggling to come
up with an answer. I called on students to share what they had written. We then discussed
the differences on how we think about freedom. I told them about the second graders who
associated freedom with “getting out of here” and “running free.”
I was surprised by the difficulty that the fifth grade students had with interpreting freedom.
Some of them just wrote “freedom is” and could not come up with anything. Some
examples of what students wrote: “to be out of something like jail”, “when you’re not a
slave”, “no rules”, “you have your own rights and that you can do whatever you want as
long as it’s not against the law”, “free expression”, “released from something”, “it’s about a
person’s feelings”, “to go wherever you want to have fun”, “to be what you want to be”,
“you’re not held in, you’re free”.
After we discussed our intpretations I put the poem on the overhead and read the first
stanza. I stopped to discuss and ask questions about the rhyme, rhythm, what you call a
group of words in a poem (stanza)