If by Rudyard Kipling
Creative Writing and Sharing
Recommended: Grades 4-12.

Muhammad Ali often used poetry to make predictions about his fights, to poke fun at
his opponents or just to highlight his sense of humor for the public and the press. He
was also inspired by poems, such as If by Rudyard Kipling. Share Muhammad’s
legacy by viewing the Orientation film “If You Can Dream”, visiting the Lighting The
Way Theater and walking through the Global Voices exhibit.

Be inspired to create lyrical poetry focusing on your dreams and hopes for the future.
Your original poem may be chosen to become a part of the Global Voices permanent
exhibit.

Pre and post educational materials available.

 
 
Pre-Lesson: If, My Dream - High School

Lesson Objective: Students will apply active reading strategies for comprehension
of poetry.

Taught by: Teacher

Grade Level: 9th -12th grades (adaptable to any grade level)

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Lesson Time: 50 minutes

Resource /Materials: Classroom set of:

• Handout #1 (“If” by Rudyard Kipling)
• Handout #2 “Dream Deferred” by Langston
Hughes
• Note cards 5” x 8”
• Muhammad Ali Biography
Overhead Projector
Overhead transparency #1- Reading Strategies

Teaching Strategies:

Interpret the meaning of a passage taken from texts appropriate for grade level
Use well- known examples of poetry
Model the reading strategies as you share your reading with the students

Core Content Areas: Literary Reading

Outcomes:
• Students will become familiar with reading strategies: Listen, Sense, React,
Question, and Clarify and Interpret.
• Students will be able to apply reading strategies to poetry as it is being read
aloud by teacher.
• Students will learn to work cooperatively in groups to obtain the information
needed to complete assignments.
• Students will list some of their dreams for the future.

Procedures:
Divide your class into six groups (this can be done the day before). Inform students
that they will be taking a field trip to the Muhammad Ali Center and this lesson is
designed to give them a brief introduction of what they will be doing during their visit.
Teacher will set the tone, activate prior knowledge and set a purpose for the reading
and writing by sharing Muhammad’s Bio and his ability to talk in poetic form.
.

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1. Introduce the reading strategies using transparency on the overhead and discuss each one
with the class to ensure understanding.

2. Recite or read aloud to the class “Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes. Tell students to
actively listen and record any thoughts they have about the poem. Model what you want
your students to do when reading the poem. Put your thoughts about the poem on an
overhead and share them with the students and ask the students to share their thoughts.

3. Divide the students into groups and tell them that they will be applying the Reading
Strategies found on the work sheet to the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling.

4. Assign each group to read the poem and circle all words that seem unfamiliar.
• Accommodations for diverse learners:
• Be available to assist students with vocabulary and/or have a dictionary handy
for definitions.
• Students can work individually.

5. Assign one student to write responses for the group (recorder), one person to report to the
class (reporter), and one person to be the timer (keeps group on task).

6. This should be a ten minute timed activity. Each group will read the poem and through
group discussion, apply the learned reading strategies. Each group will be prepared to
report their interpretation of the poem to the class.

7. After each group reports to the class, the class will recite the poem together or the teacher
can select volunteers to read verses.

Assessment:

The teacher will lead a class discussion:

• Identify the theme or “big idea” of the poem.
• Discuss emotions felt after the reading
• Share their dreams and how it relates to theme

Follow-up Activity:

Homework Assignment – Students will make a list of their dreams on a note card (5” x 8”) and
list 5 things they will do to start them on their path to achieving their dreams. Each student’s
card should be posted in the classroom to give them incentive to continually strive to reach their
goals.

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Muhammad Ali Biography

Over forty years after he burst upon the scene as a gold-medal winner at the 1960
Olympics, in Rome, Muhammad Ali remains a magical figure, known and loved
throughout the world.

As a boxer, Muhammad brought unprecedented speed and grace to his sport, while
his charm and wit changed forever what the public expected a champion to be. His
accomplishments in the ring are the stuff of legend. There was always far more to
Muhammad than what took place in a boxing ring.

Muhammad’s life and career have played out as much on the front pages of national
and international newspapers as on the inside sports pages. His early embrace of the
Nation of Islam and his insistence on being called Muhammad Ali instead of his “slave
name,” Cassius Clay, heralded a new era in black pride. His refusal to be inducted
into the United States Army anticipated the growing antiwar movement of the 1960’s.

Traveling across continents, he has hand-delivered food and medical supplies to such
needy sites as the Harapan Kita Hospital for Children in Jakarta, Indonesia; the street
children of Morocco; and Sister Beltran’s orphanage for Liberian refugees in the Ivory
Coast, to name just a few.

 
 
 If
By Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!
  
 

Handout #2

Dream Deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore –
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over –
Like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
Like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

Langston Hughes

The headline, “A Dream Betrayed” that is in the diner area in the Conviction exhibit at the
Muhammad Ali Center was written intentionally as an allusion to Langston Hughes’ poem.

 
 
Transparency/Handout I

Active Reading Strategies Using a Poem

Listen Read the poem aloud. Breathe when

there is punctuation. Note the rhythm and how it
affects mood. Listen for special sounds within words.

Sense Imagine the sights, sounds, smells,

taste, and sense of touch within the poem.

Question Note the questions the poem

raises. Ask yourself what it is about, what words or
phrases mean, and why the poet chose the language
she/he did.

Clarify Summarize or paraphrase. Find the

meaning of symbolic language.

Interpret Share the poem with others.

Read it aloud and talk about the meaning. Connect
the title to the meaning. Identify a theme or “big idea.
“If”, My Dream - Overview of Program and Ali Center Tour
Purpose: To have students learn more about the life of Muhammad Ali and in a fun,
interactive way, motivate them to think about their dreams for their future. To create an
original poem or essay about student’s hopes for their lives inspired by the poem, If by
Rudyard Kipling.

Grade Level: 4th, 5th, middle and high school

Expectations for Involvement: Students, Center Staff, Teachers, and Chaperones

State Standards Tie-in: The comprehensive Program of Studies for Writing specifies
that “Students use the writing process and criteria for effective writing in pieces developed
over time, as well as in on-demand writing situations, to personal, literary, transactive, and
reflective pieces.”

Core Content for Assessment:

The seven basic step of reflective writing:
1. Inviting the writing- Connecting to content knowledge, prior learning
2. Prewriting- narrowing the purpose, audience, organizing the writing through
webbing, mapping, etc, initiating authentic connection about the selected
topic
3. Drafting- writing the piece for the first time
4. Revision- add, select, rearrange, elaborate content, etc.
5. Editing-Teacher input on work
6. Publishing- Final piece (completing the writing using revisions and edited
input)
7. Reflecting- assessment and evaluation

Ali Center Areas to be Included: Orientation Theater Film (“If You Can Dream),
Lighting The Way Theater, Global Voices and the Auditorium (set up classroom style)

Before the Visit – Preparation:

A. Ali Center representative will make contact with teacher and deliver prep packet
of materials (containing Ali Center field trip information and educational materials
related to their chosen program).
B. Teacher will discuss expectations of students for the field trip and start them
thinking about content knowledge and review prior learning on Muhammad’s life
(see pre-lesson for grade level) - “Inviting the writing”
C. Class will read the poem, If by Rudyard Kipling. Students will work to discover
the theme of the poem through co-operative learning, individual work, etc...
D. Students will begin thinking about their lives and what path they might take to
achieve their dreams.
E. Students will begin to organize their thoughts for attaining their dream through,
mapping, webbing, as related to their assigned topic. “Writing Prewriting”

Visit to the Ali Center:

A. Students will begin their visit in the classroom at the Ali Center and be given all
information and materials for their experience.
1. Instructions for behavior- Respect is one of the six core values of the
Center. We will show respect throughout our visit for others by treating
them the way in which we want to be treated.
 2. Please stay with your chaperones. We want you to enjoy and visit as many areas
as possible in the short time allotted.
3. Student expectations- We will take a journey through the Center and, at the end,
you will be expected to start a draft of an original work. We encourage all
participants to be active listeners and observers because you will learn facts about
Muhammad that you never knew and it will help you with your final writing piece.
4. Note Cards- Hand out note cards to all participants- Use note cards to record any
information or thoughts that you feel will help you with the construction of your
writing piece.
5. We will start in the Orientation Theater, weave through the Center to the Lighting
The Way Theater, stop at Global Voices with a full explanation of the project and
end in the Classroom where we will begin drafting our original work.
6. Final check for questions before visitation to exhibits.

B. Students will visit the Orientation Theater, and then be escorted on short walk through the
exhibits to the fourth floor Lighting The Way Theater.
C. Students will be instructed to begin their experience by touching the torches. The teacher will
challenge the students to reflect on Muhammad’s life and think about how they can improve
their lives; fulfill their dreams and hopes for the future.
D. After the personal challenge, students will continue on a short walk to the Global Voices
exhibit. At this point a full explanation of the floor tiles will be given to the students which will
allow them a brief time to scan the tiles.
E. The visitors will proceed to the Classroom where a discussion will began on how
Muhammad’s life has been a challenge and what he has challenged us to do in the Lighting
The Way Theater. After discussion, the students will begin writing their original works.
Based on need, students could be given prompts like: If I had……. If I can…….. If I were….
If I try…… etc. Drafting

Post Work:
On their return to school, students will continue to refine their original work. Revision and Editing
The final works will be presented to the class, and the students and teachers will select up to 10
pieces that they feel have best addressed the academic expectations of the project. These pieces
will be given to the Center to be entered in Phase II of the Global Voices Project. Some of the
pieces not selected for Global Voices may appear on “Cultural Buzz,” Ali Center’s web site for
young people* Publishing

Assessment:
Students will comment through writing or discussion why they think the selected writing samples
were chosen as the ten best. Teachers by will grade and suggest how each student can improve on
his or her writing piece. Reflection

Evaluation:
Visitation Survey Form provided by the Ali Center. Center contact and teacher will continue to be in
communication through visits, phone calls, and/or email. Teachers, chaperones, bus drivers and
students will be asked to give the Center contact staff person an evaluation of their Center
experience. The Center staff person will also give the teacher an evaluation of their group
experience (concentrating on offering positive feedback) along with an invitation for future field trips.

*Suggestion to the teacher- All student original works should be published by displaying them on a
classroom or hallway bulletin boards, reading them during the morning or afternoon announcements,
putting them in a school newsletter, presenting them before the Parent Teacher Association, displaying
them on the school bus, etc., putting them in their portfolio, and/or local businesses may also be willing to
display student works as a community service activity.
Post Lesson: If, My Dream - All Grades

Lesson Objective: Students will continue to write, refine and edit their original work
for publishing.

Taught by: Teacher

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Lesson Time: 50 minutes (this lesson could take more time depending on needs of
students)

Resource/Materials: Student’s original work piece (teacher edited)

Dictionaries
Examples of well known published examples of literature
appropriate for grade level
Red pens for revisions and editing
Highlighters
Classroom set of rubrics for self-assessment or grade

Teaching Strategies:
• Use several professionally written poems to give students exposure to
published writing.
• Have students work in pairs or small groups to assist them in getting positive
feedback on original works from peers.
• Schedule mini conferences with each student to give your opinion on their
piece and offer suggestions.

Core Content Areas: Reading and Literary Writing

Outcomes:

• Students will work cooperatively in pairs or groups to obtain the information

needed to complete assignments (peer conferencing).
• Students given a self-guide will be able to critique their written piece.
• Students will be able to identify well-written pieces based on academic
expectations.

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Procedure:

Assign students to pairs and/or groups before activity. Review rubric to ensure understanding.

1. The teacher will hand out the rubrics for self-evaluation and ask the students to
divide into pairs or groups. While students are working, the teacher will use this
time to mini conference with each student on his draft.

Elementary students will be adding four or five stanzas to their original

written piece prepared before the field trip to the Center.

2. Each pair/group of students will continue to work on their drafts with group input.

3. After each student has finished his/her mini conference, students should continue to
work on his/her drafts. Teacher will tell each student to make sure to give his/her poem a
title. Using their best penmanship, students are to rewrite the final copy of their poem on
a sheet of paper (typed copies are acceptable) and, if they wish, may use crayons,
markers, clip art, etc. to decorate their papers. Each student’s poem should be signed
at the end of the poem.

Assessment:

Using the rubric, poems will be graded by the teacher and the students as they are presented
before the class. *The students and teacher will select up to ten pieces that they feel have best
addressed the academic expectations of the project. These selected pieces will be given to the
Center to be entered in Phase II of the Global Voices project. Students will comment through
writing or discussion why they feel the selected writing pieces were chosen as the ten best.

Enrichment:

Encourage students to research ways that they can work to ensure that their dreams and hopes
for the future become a reality by concentrating on the six themes of the Ali Center: respect,
confidence, conviction, dedication, giving and spirituality.

Evaluation:

Visitation Survey Form provided by the Ali Center. Ali Center educational staff will continue to
be in regular communication through outreach opportunities, phone calls, Center mailings
and/or email. We ask that teachers, chaperones and students fill out Visitation Surveys and
return them to the Center. The Center staff will also give the teacher an evaluation of their
group experience along with an invitation for future field trips.

*Suggestion to the teacher: With students’ permission original works should be published by
displaying them in public areas around the school, reading them during the morning or
afternoon announcements, inviting visitors to hear students read as part of an “open mic”
session, and making a scrapbook of students writings.

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Handout # 4

Writing Poetry Rubric

2- Surpasses expectations, 1- Meets expectations, and 0- Does not meet expectations.
On the blanks to the left, “+” indicates a strength and “-” indicates a weakness.

Fulfills specific requirements of assignment. 2 1 0

_____Turns in on time with name in proper place.
_____Meets all requirements (topic, length, etc.)

Uses spacing and mechanics effectively. 2 1 0

_____Uses proper and attractive spacing.
_____Gives poem a neat and appealing visual appearance.
_____Uses proper spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

Develops an interesting central idea clearly and fully. 2 1 0

Uses language and poetic elements effectively. 2 1 0

_____Has an appropriate subject for the poem.
_____Uses words clearly, correctly, and imaginatively.
_____Has a rhythm which is easy to read and is mostly consistent.
_____Has a rhyme which is easy to read and consistent.

Gives poem an effective title. 2 1 0

_____Captures main idea and/or mood of the poem.
_____Arouses interest and/or imagination of the reader.

Shows creativity. 2 1 0
_____Does something original.
-Use of words
-Use of visual elements (decorated, color paper, etc.)
_____Original aspects appeal to readers.

Adjust rubric as desired to fit grade level of your students.

Transparency I

Seven Basic Steps to the Writing Process

‰ Inviting the writing- Connecting to the

content knowledge, prior knowledge

‰ Prewriting- Narrowing the purpose and

audience, organizing the writing
through webbing, mapping, etc,
initiating authentic connection about the
selected topic

‰ Drafting- Writing the piece

‰ Revision- Add, delete, rearrange,

elaborate content, etc.

‰ Editing- Teacher input on work

‰ Publishing- Final piece

‰ Reflecting- Assessment and evaluation

School Visit Survey
School______________________________________Date________________________ Number of students_____
School Contact Person_______________________________
Grade (circle one): Elementary Middle High Other_________
Name of Program:__________________________

Thank you for participating in one of our Educational Programs. Your honest feedback will help us to serve
students and teachers better. Please rate each of the following aspects of your experience at the Muhammad
Ali Center:

1. I feel that the quality of the program was

Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor

Comments/Suggestions___________________________________________________________________________

2. I feel that the length of the program was

Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor

Comments/Suggestions___________________________________________________________________________

3. I feel that the program’s alignment with our school curriculum is

Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor

4. What aspect(s) of the mandated curriculum do you feel that the program serves best?

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments/Suggestions___________________________________________________________________________

5. I feel that communication between Ali Center staff and our school staff was

Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor

Comments/Suggestions___________________________________________________________________________

6a) Did you use the educational materials provided by the Ali Center
To prepare your students for their visit _____yes _____no
As a follow up or culminating activity upon your return to class _____yes _____no

6b.) I feel that the educational materials that I received from the Muhammad Ali Center are

Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor

Comments/Suggestions___________________________________________________________________________

7. I feel that our class visit to the Ali Center was

Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor

7b. My students felt that our class visit to the Ali Center was

Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor

Comments/Suggestions___________________________________________________________________________

8. Do you feel that your students were inspired by their visit to Ali Center? ____Yes ____No

If so, in what way(s)?_____________________________________________________________________

Additional Comments or Suggestions: