We are all alike; we are all different. Students explore their similarities and differences through poetry. In this poetry study, they will be immersed in reading and writing poems.They will learn about and utilize a variety of poetic tools to create original poems. Their culminating project is a collection of published and original poems which reflect their own individuality.

The full study will take 4 to 5 weeks.

GRADE
6-8

THEME
Four Freedoms

LENGTH
The full study may take 4 to 5 weeks.

DISCIPLINE
Social Studies; Language Arts: Reading; Language Arts: Writing

VOCABULARY
Individuality; Diversity; Anthology

1. We are all alike; we are all different.
2. The diversity of the citizens of the world is essential to the welfare of the world and its inhabitants.
3. Our individuality can be reflected in a variety of ways including but not limited to: our words, our interests and our actions.

• What are ways that people of the world are the same? What are some ways they may be different?
• How does world diversity create a better world?
• How do you show your individuality?

• Students will recognize the unique qualities and characteristics that contribute to their own individuality.
• Students will read and analyze poems by a wide variety of poets, modern and classical.
• Students will write a variety of poems, using different styles and formats.
• Students will create a collection of published and original poems that reflect their individuality.
• Students will write a reflective essay which analyzes their collection and how this collection reflects their individuality.
• Students will create a one of a kind portrait of themselves for the cover of their poetry

Norman Rockwell is a storyteller. He painted pictures that were seen on the cover of a magazine called The Saturday Evening Post for 47 years. His paintings, also referred to as illustrations, reflected life in America. They also served to draw attention to ideas that Rockwell felt were important, and that  he wanted people to think about.

In preparing to paint this 1961 Saturday Evening Post cover, Rockwell noted that many countries, cultures, and religions incorporate some version of The Golden Rule into their belief system. “Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You” was a simple but universal phrase that reflected the artist’s personal philosophy. A gathering of people from different cultures, religions, and ethnicities, this image was a precursor of the socially conscious subjects that he would illustrate in the 1960s and 1970s.

“One day I suddenly got the idea that the Golden Rule, “Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You,” was the subject I was looking for,” Rockwell said. “I began to make all sorts of sketches. Then I remembered that down in the cellar of my studio was the charcoal drawing of my United Nations picture, which I had never finished.” “In it I had tried to depict all the peoples of the world gathered together. That is just what I wanted to express about the Golden Rule.” Rockwell’s Golden Rule painting later served as the inspiration for the stunning glass mosaic that was presented to the United Nations in 1985 as a Fortieth Anniversary gift on behalf of the United States by then First Lady Nancy Reagan, made possible by the Thanks-Giving Square Foundation.

In 2015, the United Nations celebrated their Seventieth Anniversary. A special installation
was created which brought together Rockwell’s original drawing, his Golden Rule painting, and other works that reflected his appreciation for humanity as a citizen of the world.

Things to Notice About Norman Rockwell’s Golden Rule

• Mothers of different cultures holding their children
• Mary Rockwell, Norman Rockwell’s wife and the mother of their three sons, holding their first grandchild, Geoffrey Rockwell. Mary had died before Geoffrey was born, but Rockwell brought them together in this work.
• Clothing and objects representing different cultures

Background on Norman Rockwell’s United Nations

In 1952, at the height of the Cold War and two years into the Korean War, Rockwell conceived an image of the United Nations as the world’s hope for the future. His appreciation for the organization and its mission inspired a complex work portraying members of the Security Council and sixty-five people representing the nations of the world—a study for an artwork that he originally intended to complete in painted form. United Nations never actually made it to canvas, but Rockwell’s desire to reach out to a global community found its forum on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post in Golden Rule nine years later, in 1961. Pictured here are Security Council Members, Soviet Ambassador Valerian Alexandrovich Zorin, British Ambassador Sir Gladwyn Jebb, and United States Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge.

Of his work on the United Nations drawing, Rockwell said, “Like everyone else, I’m concerned with the world situation, and like everyone else, I’d like to contribute something to help. The only way I can contribute is through my pictures.”

Norman Rockwell
United Nations, 1953
Study for an unfinished illustration
Pencil and charcoal on paper
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
NRACT.1973.113 (M57)

In the history of the world, there have been multiple tragic events which have resulted from people denying basic human rights to others because of their differences. The illustration, Golden Rule, was created after World War II was over. However, the United States was deeply embroiled in the Civil Rights Movement. Much like the issues of World War II, the Civil Rights Movement sought to provide equal rights to all citizens of the United States regardless of the color of their skin. The illustration provides its viewers with an opportunity to reflect on the good in all people. It also reminds us that all people deserve to be valued and respected. We are all contributors to the world and it is through our individual uniqueness that technologies have been developed, man has explored space and medical research has provided vaccines and cures for diseases that shortened the lives of our ancestors.

A wide collection of poetry by classic and modern poets which may include:

• Honey, I Love and Other Love Poems by Eloise Greenfield
• The Dream Keeper and Other Poems by Langston Hughes
• All the Small Poems by Valerie Worth
• A Writing Kind of Day: Poems for Young Poets by Ralph Fletcher
• Baseball, Snakes, and Summer Squash: Poems About Growing Up by Donald Graves
• Nameless: A Collection of Poems by Sana Rafiq-Mitchell
• The Best Poems Ever (Scholastic Classics) by Edric S. Mesmer (Editor)
• Leave This Song Behind: Teen Poetry at Its Best by John Meyer et al
• Poetry Speaks Who I Am: Poems of Discovery, Inspiration, Independence, and Everything Else by Elise Paschen and Dominique Raccah
• Songs of Myself: An Anthology of Poems and Art by Georgia Heard
• All the Small Poems and Fourteen More by Valerie Worth
• Any titles from Poetry for Young People series (Scholastic Books)
  • William Shakespeare
  • Lewis Carroll
  • Robert Frost
  • Emily Dickinson
  • Rudyard Kipling
  • Maya Angelou
  • Carl Sandburg
  • Walt Whitman
  • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• Access to computers to search online poetry sites such as
  • Poetry.org
  • FamilyFriendPoems.com
  • Poets.org
• Class Chart: What We Noticed about Poetry (initiating activity)
• Class charts created during lessons highlighting tools and strategies poets use in their writing.
• Individual and/or class copies of a wide selection of poems to be shared and discussed. The websites above are a great source for poems.
• Paper and writing implements
• Art supplies for original artwork
• Pocket folders, two per student to create a portfolio.

Teacher Resources:

Any of these resources may be used to help plan daily poetry lessons, as well as containing a variety of poems to share with students.

• Atwell, Nancie. Naming the World; A Year of Poems and Lessons. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 2006
• Fletcher, Ralph. Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem From the Inside Out. :HarperCollins.
• Heard, Georgia. Awaking the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 1998
• Heard, Georgia. For the Good of the Earth and Sun: Teaching Poetry. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 1989
• Janeczko, Paul. The Place My Words Are Looking For: What Poets Say About and Through Their Work.
• Koch, Kenneth. Rose, Where Did You Get that Red? Teaching Great Poetry to Children. New York. Random House. 1973

• Initiating Activity: Prior to students arrival, place a copy of a poem on each desk (a different poem on each desk). Students read the poem on their desk. Have students think and jot notes on page about the poem’s structure, theme, mood, language, etc. When students have had a chance to read and think about their poems, have them share their observations. Record their responses on the class chart. Exit task: Ask students what they have noticed about poetry based on the chart created. They may share aloud or you may have them write their response in their reading/writing notebook. Ask some students to share thinking aloud. Have students  keep their poem in a notebook or folder for future use.
• Daily Lessons: Plan daily lessons that focus on poetry structures, tools, rhythm and strategies and build on their present knowledge. The poems used in the initiating may be used as models for lessons. Students may use their first day poem as well as collected poems for analysis during lessons. Initially,  focus on reading poetry more than on writing poetry.
• On-going work: Over the course of this study, students read poetry,  analyze structure, language, theme, mood, rhythm, etc. As they explore the poems of a variety of poets, students think about how the poet’s uniqueness  is reflected within their poems. They copy or have copies made of poems that they identify as reflective of themselves. Reading poems may continue after students begin writing original poetry. Poetry shared in lessons, found through exploration or shared with each other may all serve as mentor poems as students write their own work.
• Essay: During the final week of the study, students write a one page reflective essay introducing the collection to the reader, and explaining the significance of choices contained in anthology. Provide students with models of introductions to use as a mentor text. Magazines include an introduction at the beginning of each issue which is written by the editor. In addition, some of the poetry books, especially those containing collections, begin with an introduction written by the editor.
• “About the Poet” page: A brief (optional) “About the Author” piece may also be included at the end of the anthology. Students can find “about the author”mentors on the back of many books. They may choose one to serve as a model as they write their own.
• Original Artwork: Students create an artistic portrait for the cover of their anthology. In addition, they create an interpretive piece of artwork based to accompany a published or original poem from their collection. Students may use any media which they choose including but not limited to: computer generated art programs, watercolor, and collage.
• Bibliography: A student handout is included which provides students with the structure for citing book and internet sources.
• Celebration: Plan a gallery walk so students can enjoy their classmates’ anthologies. Due to the length of the collections, you may choose to hold the walk over two days. After the gallery walk, have students come back together to reflect on the process as well as new understandings that they uncovered about themselves and the members of their class community.
• Culminating Class Discussion: Referring back to the enduring understandings/essential questions, how has this work changed their thinking about people? About themselves?

• Did students read and respond to a variety of poems orally and in writing?
• Did students’ reflections demonstrate new understandings?
• Were poems ambitious in form, structure and content? Did students take artistic risks and share original thoughts and feelings through their poetry?

This curriculum meets the standards listed below. Look for more details on these standards please visit: ELA and Math Standards, Social Studies Standards, Visual Arts Standards.