Innovative lesson plan on Even Past Fifty

Breaking Barriers

Even Past Fifty

Name of the teacher : Jidhu Krishnan

Class: IX

Name of the subject : English

Duration:45min

Name of the unit : Breaking Barriers

Name of the subunit : Even Past Fifty

Objectives• To make the learning process

interesting and effective

• To develop an awareness about gender inequalities

• To engage pupils in various discourse activities

Phase 1Are you familiar with these women? How old do you think they are? They are all past fifty

K. R Gowri Amma Sonia Gandhi Kiran Bedi

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Latha Mangeshkar Sarah Joseph Rekha

Do you personally know any woman who works tirelessly even past fifty? Your neighbours, your aunts, and even your mothers work day and night despite their growing age. Haven’t you noticed?

They engage in household chores without paying attention to their health

Do they have more hands than men? Why do they have to work so hard always? Have you ever thought about it?

Now we are going to read a poem based on all those women who have dedicated their lives to make their dear ones happy.

Let us take a bow…

Phase 2Let me introduce the poet to you…

Shanta Shelke

A brief history of the poet...

• Born: October 19, 1922, Indapur, India

•  Marathi poet and writer

• journalist, professor, composer, story writer,

translator, writer of child literature

• Penned novels like Punarjanma and Dharma

• Famous poems include Varsha and Godhan

• Died of cancer on 6 June, 2002

Even Past FiftyShanta Shelke

Phase 3The poem is about the toil that women suffer in our society. They endure everything for the sake of their family.

Phase 4The teacher recites the first stanza with proper stress, rhythm, and intonation

She’s past fifty;

yet she’s stilla little girl at heart

for whom the house is a doll’s house,

and running the household

a childhood game.

Phase 5Individual reading by the learnerLearner reads with proper stress, intonation and rhythm

Phase 6Sharing with pair or peerBounce ideas back and forth…

Doll’s house: a toy house with small furniture and sometimes dolls in it for children to play with

Phase 7 Glossary reference with the help of the teacherBoost your vocabulary

Childhood /ˈtʃaɪldhʊd /-the state of being a child.

Phase 8Scaffolding QuestionsTime to use your brains, Folks!

1. Who is the ‘she’ in the poem? Is it only the woman in the poem? Or does she represent all women?

2. Is it possible for a woman of fifty to be ‘a little

girl at heart’? How?

Phase 9Appreciation

Rhyming wordsThe stanza has no rhyming words.

Rhyme schemeThe rhyme scheme is irregular.

Phase 10Reading aloud by the Learner Why don’t you recite the stanza once again?

Phase 11EvaluationDo it yourself….

•Write a paragraph on your mother’s activities during the course of a day.

•You are worried about your mother’s poor health. You ask her to take a break from the household chores. Enact the conversation.