Lesson Plan: class 7- Term 2 - Unit 2 Poem -Wandering Singers

Lesson Plan: Wandering Singers

Poet: Sarojini Naidu | Unit: 2 (Poem) | Subject: English | Board: Tamil Nadu State Board (Samacheer Kalvi) | Class: 7 | Duration: 2 periods (45 minutes each)

1. Learning Objectives

The teacher expects the students to:

• read the poem aloud with correct rhythm, rhyme and expression.
• learn the meanings of new words: lute, roam, kindred, lays, tarry, fate.
• understand the life of wandering minstrels who travel and sing wherever the wind calls them.
• identify rhyming couplets, repetition ("echoing forest and echoing street") and personification ("voice of the wind").
• appreciate the poet's message of universal brotherhood: "All men are our kindred, the world is our home."

2. Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to apply what they learn in daily life by:

701.  answers questions orally and in writing on a variety of texts

702.   reads aloud stories and recites poems with appropriate pause, intonation and pronunciation

707.  asks and responds to questions based on texts (from books or other resources) and out of curiosity

714. refers dictionary, thesaurus and encyclopedia to find meanings / spelling of words while reading and writing

703. participates in different activities in English such as role play, poetry recitation, skit, drama, debate, speech, elocution, declamation, quiz, etc., organised by school and other such organisations.

• treating people of every region, religion and language as their own family.
• being open to travel, new places and new cultures with curiosity and respect.
• valuing folk singers, storytellers and street artists who keep history and tradition alive.
• accepting change and living without too much attachment to possessions.
• using the new words and poetic devices in their own speaking and writing.

3. Introduction (5–7 minutes)

The teacher plays a short folk song or hums a tune and asks:

1. Have you ever seen street singers or folk artists performing at a festival or on a bus or train? How did you feel?
2. Where do you think such singers go after the show? Do they have a fixed home?
3. If you could travel anywhere in the world with only a musical instrument, where would you go and why?
4. Can the wind "call" or "speak"? What might it say to a traveller?

Announce the topic: Today we will read a poem about singers who wander freely with the wind, written by Sarojini Naidu, the "Nightingale of India."

4. Reading and Understanding

Reading: (i) Teacher's model reading with expression, (ii) choral reading by the class, (iii) stanza-wise reading by individual students, (iv) silent reading.

New words and meanings

Word	Meaning	Tamil equivalent	Example sentence
lute	a stringed musical instrument	வீணை போன்ற இசைக்கருவி	The minstrel played a sweet tune on his lute.
roam	wander, travel	அலைந்து திரி	Cattle roam freely in the village fields.
kindred	relations	உறவினர்	We are all kindred under one sky.
lays	songs, stories	பாடல்கள்	The poet sang lays of ancient heroes.
tarry	wait, delay	தாமதி	Do not tarry; the bus is about to leave.
fate	destiny, luck	விதி	The old man accepted his fate calmly.

Stanza-wise understanding

• Stanza 1: The singers follow the call of the wind through forests and streets, carrying lutes and singing. They consider everyone their relative and the whole world their home.
• Stanza 2: Their songs speak of cities that have lost their glory, of beautiful women long dead, of ancient battles and kings, and of ordinary joys and sorrows.
• Stanza 3: They do not know what hope or dreams they will find. No love or happiness can make them stay; the wind decides their path, and it is their destiny.

Poetic devices: rhyme scheme aabb (feet/street, roam/home); repetition ("echoing… echoing"); personification (the wind has a voice); alliteration ("wandering feet," "hope… harvest" style sound play); imagery of sound and travel.

5. Mind Map

Click the map 

Branch	Key points
Centre: WANDERING SINGERS	Minstrels who travel with the wind, singing with lutes
Where they go	Echoing forests and streets; wherever the wind calls
What they carry	Lutes in their hands; songs
What they believe	All men are kindred; the world is home
What they sing	Fallen cities, beauty of women long dead, old battles and kings, happy, simple and sorrowful things
Their attitude	No fixed hope or dreams; no love or joy can make them stay
Their guide	The voice of the wind = their fate
Theme	Freedom, universal brotherhood, acceptance of destiny

Board flow: Wind calls → Singers wander → Sing of the past and present → Treat all as kin → Never settle → Follow fate.

6. Consolidation and Presentation

Summary for the class: The poem describes wandering singers who follow the voice of the wind through forests and streets, playing lutes and singing. They feel no strangeness anywhere because they regard all people as relatives and the whole world as home. Their songs recall vanished cities, forgotten beauties, old wars and kings, as well as everyday joys and sorrows. They do not plan or hope for settled lives; no love or joy can hold them back. For them, the wind's call is their destiny. The poem celebrates freedom, brotherhood and a life of art.

Presentation: Groups of four prepare one stanza each. Each group reads its stanza aloud and explains it in two or three sentences, using the mind map on the board.

7. Reinforcement

Additional information the teacher shares:

• About the poet: Sarojini Naidu (1879–1949) was a poet, freedom fighter and the first woman Governor of an Indian state. She is called the "Nightingale of India" for her lyrical poetry. Her collections include The Golden Threshold, The Bird of Time and The Broken Wing.
• Wandering minstrels in India: Bards, bauls, bhatts and folk singers travelled from village to village, preserving history and legends through songs. In Tamil tradition, panars and viraliyars were wandering singers and dancers who praised kings and shared news.
• Link to unity: The line "All men are our kindred" echoes the Tamil saying "Yaadhum oore, yaavarum kelir" (every place is my home, everyone is my kin) from Kaniyan Pungundranar.
• Sound and rhythm: Read the poem again and notice how its galloping rhythm imitates walking and the blowing wind.

8. Evaluation

a) Lower order thinking questions (remember and understand)

1. What do the wandering singers carry in their hands?
2. What calls the singers to wander?
3. Find the word from the poem that means "relations."

Model answers: 1. Lutes. 2. The voice of the wind. 3. Kindred.

b) Middle order thinking questions (apply and analyse)

1. What kinds of things do the singers sing about? List any three.
2. How do the singers show that they love all people equally?
3. Why do the singers not stay anywhere for long?

Model answers: 1. Fallen cities, old battles and kings, women long dead, happy and sorrowful things. 2. They say that all men are their kindred and the world is their home. 3. No love or joy can make them wait; they follow the wind, which is their fate.

c) Higher order thinking questions (evaluate and create)

1. "The voice of the wind is the voice of our fate." What does the poet mean? Do you think people should follow their fate, or make their own path? Give reasons.
2. Is it good to live without a fixed home as the singers do? Justify your opinion.
3. Compose two rhyming lines about a modern traveller (a bus driver, a delivery rider or a street artist) in the style of the poem.

9. Remedial Teaching (Slow Learners)

• Re-teach the glossary using pictures (a lute, a forest, wind) and Tamil equivalents; students match words and meanings in pairs.
• Provide a simplified paraphrase of each stanza in two short sentences.
• Use peer tutoring: a fast learner partners with a slow learner for reading and word work.
• Give a fill-in-the-blank worksheet: "The singers carry ____ in their hands. They roam wherever the ____ calls."
• Ask one-word and yes/no questions first, then build up to short answers.
• Practise rhyming pairs from the poem (feet–street, roam–home, shed–dead, kings–things, sow–go, wait–fate).
• Give extra reading time and positive feedback after every correct attempt.

10. Writing

Students write in their notebooks (choose one):

1. A paragraph (6–8 lines) on "Life of a Wandering Singer."
2. A short paragraph on "Why the world is our home."
3. Imagine you are a wandering singer. Write a diary entry about a day on the road.

11. Follow-up

• Homework: Learn the meanings of the six glossary words and write one original sentence for each. Write the summary of the poem in five sentences.
• Assignment: Find and write down the rhyming words from the poem. Identify one example each of repetition and personification.
• Activity: Collect a folk song, lullaby or street song from your family or neighbourhood. Write two lines about it and share it with the class.
• Creative task: Draw the journey of a wandering singer with the wind as a guide, adding one line from the poem as a caption.