I have decided that I would like to teach, “The raven” by Edgar Allan Poe. This is a classic piece of literature in the Romantic and Gothic period. I would like to pursue this piece of work because on the surface, the story is concrete but behind it, has a whole new meaning. I believe teaching this to a fourth grade or fifth grade class would be best because they can understand the story and then after discussion see the deeper meaning behind it. Many people enjoy “The Raven,” because of its dark themes. This story is actually about not holding on or putting too much trust in things. If so, it can be detrimental. Also, I find in my experience that people are intrigued by the romantic and gothic literary period so it will interest this next generation of writers.

As for how to teach this text, I would like to use Gardner’s naturalist or musical intelligence. The musical intelligence addresses acting out the story and this will keep the students engaged while they are understanding the story line. Using the body as a teaching tool will excite the students and they will be more likely to participate. This is also partially a visual aiding tool, so seeing and being a part of the story will make more sense to each one of them. It makes the lesson more personal. The naturalist intelligence will focus more on the aspect of the bird itself and what it represents. I could incorporate the outdoors in this lesson. Learning in a new environment seems to work best in my experience, so I think this will go over well with them.

As a group, we have not come across any major issues yet, but I am worried that we have different opinions on how we want to teach the text. I would like to take more of the naturalist or bodily-kinesthetic approach, whereas my partner would like to approach this in a musical or visual way. Still we are not completely sure on how we want to teach this, as our ideas are scattered. We have had good and respectful conversations on our different ideas so I know eventually this problem will be solved. I am excited to take the next step in this project and explore more about “The Raven” as well ass the literary period itself.