Black History 365 Sub Plan: Poetry as Power | Middle School Language Arts| 60-Minute Lesson

This Black History 365 one-day sub plan introduces middle school students to poetry as a powerful form of expression across the African diaspora. Students learn how poetry can communicate identity, culture, memory, resistance, pride, and hope while practicing key literacy skills such as theme, tone, imagery, figurative language, annotation, and text evidence.

Designed for a 60-minute class period, this resource requires minimal teacher guidance and is ideal for substitute days, emergency lesson plans, Black History Month, poetry units, identity units, culturally responsive literacy instruction, or year-round Black History 365 instruction.

This resource includes a substitute directions page, student reading passage, original student-friendly poem, vocabulary preview, comprehension questions, poetry analysis graphic organizer, theme development activity, CER writing response, exit ticket, extension activity, and answer key.