Computers/laptops or journal/paper and pens/pencils

Between the World and Me book/ film

This lesson will not be appropriate for every classroom or learning environment. The students as well as the facilitator will be called upon to access emotions associated with personal loss. Use your discretion and knowledge of your students to inform your decisions. Remind them to approach this lesson with sensitivity and respect for their own emotions and those of others.

This lesson is meant for learning environments that have already explored some level of personal writing.

How can the elegy writing process help us explore and process our own experiences of loss and grief?

How can we create a supportive and respectful environment for sharing personal elegies?

How can elegy writing contribute to the healing process and provide a means of healing/catharsis?

Students will understand the characteristics and purpose of an elegy as a poetic form.

Students will practice expressing emotions and personal feelings of loss through their writing.

Students will gain confidence in sharing personal elegies in a supportive and respectful environment.

Students will explore the role of elegy writing in the healing process and its potential for catharsis.

Students will explore the saliency of elegiac writing as a form of racial healing

Please use any of the suggestions below to help create a safe learning environment for your students and yourself:

Look for signs that a student may be having a hard time adjusting to the material/ subject matter. Check-in with students throughout the unit to gauge their level of emotional safety.

Check on and assist students who feel overwhelmed by grief triggers and ensure they feel seen and supported.

Inform a school counselor or psychiatrist that you will be facilitating a lesson that deals heavily with grief. Have that professional on standby in the event a student is overcome with emotion and needs professional support.