We don’t actually have to do much to make words matter to our students. They know the power of words. They know that words shape and define, hurt and shame, anger and bruise, soothe and comfort, encourage and mend. They know that words create beginnings and endings. They know that words give them access or deny them entry. “I’d do better on these tests if I knew the right words,” Malcolm said to me one day. “But I don’t want to learn them if it means more of those exercises in that vocabulary book. I hate that book. Who cares about words like poultice and verdant?” he said, pointing to two words in the workbook. I think Malcolm understands something that is critical—students must have a passion for the words they are to learn and see a purpose for learning them. (May 2000, p. 3)

• read and analyze a text closely for the underlying concepts and ideas.
• identify rhetorically significant words, words which bring passion to a text.
• be introduced to the genre of diamante.
• explore the relationship between the structure and meaning of a poem.
• draw conclusions about the ways a writer's choices play a role in writing.

• Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Speech from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 28 August 1963, also known as the I Have a Dream speech. Available versions include the following:
  
  
  • HTML Text, from the U.S. Department of State
    
    
  • PDF Text, available in multiple languages, from The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University
    
    
  • Audio recording, from History and Politics Out Loud Web site
    
    
  • Video excerpt, from Mr. DeCubellis's iClassroom. Note that excerpts of the speech are included on videos about the Civil Rights Movement, such Eyes on the Prize, which may also be available in your school media center. The speech is available in its entirety on VHS from Mpi Home Video: Martin Luther King, Jr.—I Have a Dream (1986).
    
    
• “Diamante” from Albert Somers's Teaching Poetry in High School
  
  
• Power of Words Diamante Assignment
  
  
• Diamante Rubric
  
  
• Diamante Poems Student Interactive
  
  
• Stapleless Book Student Interactive
  
  
• Stapleless Book Planning Sheet
  
  
• General classroom supplies (paper, pens or pencils, board and chalk or chart paper and markers, and so forth)
  
  

1. Review the available versions of Dr. King's speech, and make arrangements to share the speech with students (e.g., making copies of the text version, setting up computer access to play the audio version, arranging for television or projectors for the video version).
2. Familiarize yourself with the structure of diamante poetry. “Diamante” from Albert Somers's Teaching Poetry in High School can serve as a resource.
3. Make copies of the Power of Words Diamante Assignment and the Diamante Rubric.
4. Obtain copies of dictionaries and thesauruses to serve as resources for students as they read and write.

1. Play the audio recording of the speech for students, pausing after the fifth paragraph. Alternately, if you do not have the resources available to play the speech, read the first five paragraphs of Dr. King’s speech to students, or ask student volunteers to read the paragraphs aloud.
2. Ask students to brainstorm a list of the words from the opening of the speech that seem most important to them, compiling the list on the board or on chart paper.
3. Ask students to predict what other words and concepts will be covered in the remainder of the speech. Note these predictions in another area of the board, or on a separate sheet of chart paper.
4. Continue playing the audio recording of the speech or reading the speech aloud.
5. Have the students continue to track the important words and concepts in their notebooks as they listen.
6. Once you've listened to or read the entire speech, break the class into small groups and ask them to share the words they identified as being stressed in general discussion.
7. Once students have had a chance to share their lists, ask each group to compile a list of the most significant words and concepts on a sheet of chart paper.
8. When every group has a list compiled, post the lists on the wall where everyone can see them.
9. Give students a few minutes to look at the lists from the other groups as well as the lists compiled by the full group after hearing the first five paragraphs of the speech.
10. In full class discussion, ask students to explain patterns of repetition that they see among the lists as well as to identify words that seem more important than others. Have the students defend their responses.
11. For homework, ask students to reread the speech, and make note of the words that seem particularly powerful to them in their notebooks. Explain that they will use these lists in writing during the next session.
12. Save all of the compiled lists so that you can refer to them during the next session as well.

1. Ask students to review their lists of powerful words and concepts from the speech.
2. After a few minutes of review, ask students to identify polarities from the lists, words and concepts from the speech that contrast (e.g., freedom and slavery, or black and white). List these opposites on the board or on chart paper.
3. Explain that you are going to use the list of opposites as inspiration for a special type of poem that focuses on contrasting words, diamante.
4. Distribute the Power of Words Diamante Assignment and Diamante Rubric, and review the structure of the diamante and the rubric with the class. You can use the Diamante Poems Student Interactive to explain the structure of the poem and provide examples.
5. Model the process of writing a diamante by following these steps, composing on the board, on chart paper or with the Diamante Poems Student Interactive:
   
   
   1. Choose a set of contrasting words. Ideally, choose words that are not included in King's speech. You might simply choose something randomly (sunlight/shadow, or Beauty/Beast), choose opposites relevant to your class or the time of year (Pass/Fail, or week day/ weekend), or invite students to provide a pair for your example poem.
   2. Once you've chosen the contrasting words, write each in a separate area of the board (or on separate sheets of chart paper).
   3. Ask students to brainstorm descriptive words that they associate with each of the two words.
   4. Encourage students to stretch their vocabulary options by consulting dictionaries and thesauruses for additional words to add to the list. In addition to stating simply that students can use these books, you might model the process by asking a student to look up more information on a word. For instance, if a student offers the word "fun" for the weekend list, you might say something like "That's a good basic word. Can you get a thesaurus and see if there are some related words that we can add to the list?"
   5. Once your students have brainstormed plenty of words for both of the contrasting words, return to structure of the diamante to review the form of the poem.
   6. Using the word lists as resources, invite students to draft a diamante as a group. Begin by going through the lists and circling words that stand out for some reason.
   7. Allowing plenty of room for crossing out and revising, write the contrasting terms in a new area of the board or on a new sheet of chart paper—one term at the top and the other at the bottom.
   8. Move through the structure for the poem, choosing words from the list and adding them to the appropriate line for your draft.
   9. Demonstrate process writing by rearranging, changing, or moving words, and so forth as students make suggestions.
   10. Take the opportunity to discuss -ing and -ed participles briefly, explaining how the words are formed and how participles are typically used. You might also discuss parallelism at this point if pertinent (e.g., should all of the participles match in form, or does it make sense in your poem to mix -ing and -ed forms?)
   11. Once you've included words for each line of the poem, step back and read through the poem aloud, giving students the chance to hear the complete piece.
   12. Return to the structure of the diamante and move through the lines, confirming that each matches the requirements for the form. Make revisions as necessary.
   13. If appropriate, make a new "polished" copy of the poem. Once the copy is finished, model proofreading the poem by checking spelling and ensuring that commas between words are included.
   14. Refer to the pertinent areas of the rubric and think-aloud about how the poem fulfills the requirements.
   15. Leave the poem on the board or posted in the room as a model for students.
   
   
   
6. Answer any questions that students still have about diamante or the rubric.
7. Divide students into small groups.
8. Explain the assignment, referring again to the assignment sheet and rubric. Point to the lists of words from Dr. King's speech which will serve as resources for students as they write. Students can also return to the text of the speech as well as consult the dictionary or thesaurus.
9. Explain that students should use group members as resources as they write and revise. Encourage them to share drafts and to help one another revise and polish the poems.
10. Ask students to begin work on their own poems, either individually or as a group, using the Diamante Poems Student Interactive to create their final draft. If necessary, students can also work on their poems as homework, with the class sharing taking place during the next class session.
11. Circulate among groups, answering questions and helping students as necessary.
12. Bring the class back together, and have each individual or group share poems.
13. Have the class identify the similarities and differences in each of the poems (or as many as possible depending on the timeframe).
14. Return to Dr. King's speech. Ask students to compare the words that they choose to those that Dr. King used, and ask them to think about the reasons for the differences. Encourage students to share any new realizations that they made about the speech as a result of writing their poems.
15. Before collecting the poems at the end of the class, ask students to write a short reflection on the process they followed as they wrote the poem. In particular, ask students to reflect on the two words that they choose to contrast—on the reasons that they choose the words, the process of choosing descriptive words for the poem, and which words in their poems seemed most powerful to them and why.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in 1929.
http://www.readwritethink.org/calendar/calendar_day.asp?id=396

Choose among additional Web and text resources as well as find links to lesson plans and classroom activities that can be used to supplement or extend this lesson, from the January 15 entry from ReadWriteThink calendar.

The Martin Luther King Papers Project at Stanford University
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/

The primary location for information about Dr. King, this site includes a chronology, encyclopedia, biography, videos, lesson plans, and more. The overseeing board for the Project is chaired by Coretta Scott King.

Today in History, for January 15, from the Library of Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan15.html

The Library of Congress entry for King's birthday provides a linked overview of King's life and the struggle for Civil Rights.

The Nobel Peace Prize 1964
http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1964/index.html

The Nobel Prize Web site includes the text of the committee's presentation speech, awarding the Peace Prize to Dr. King, as well as Dr. King's Nobel Lecture, his acceptance speech, and biographical information.

Photo Essay: Martin Luther King in His Own Words
http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/mlk/index.html

This Time.com collection pairs ten photos of King with excerpts from his writing. Each could provide a starting place for a classroom discussion of King's carefully chosen words.

Martin Luther King: His Greatest Triumphs
http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/24541

The Life site provides a wealth of pictures of Dr. King, including this gallery of his greatest triumphs.

NCTE/IRA Standards

1 - Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

2 - Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.

3 - Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

6 - Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.

12 - Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).