Visualizing History William Blake's London & The Industrial Revolution in ELA

I love using literature to teach history. Use my “Visualizing the Industrial Revolution Through Poetry Using William Blake’s Poem ‘London'” lesson plan (with handouts) packet to enrich your teaching and introduce students to this significant era of history and an essential British Romantic poet.

Use this 90-minute lesson plan to instruct High School or Middle School Social Studies or Humanities students. 

The packet contains the following:

• The text of “London” By William Blake (with annotations)
• The text of “London” By William Blake (without annotations)
• 11 Reading Comprehension Questions for “London.”
• 9 Discussion Questions for “London.”
• 1 Student-facing Reading & Discussion Guide
  • Student Friendly Learning Targets
  • Success Criteria and Visual Checklists
• 1 Words to Watch Worksheet
  • Key Vocabulary from the poem
• 1 Writing Prompt with Student-facing Planning Guide and Sentence Starters
• Hyper-Linked List of Further Reading about William Blake and “London”
• Standards Alignment Chart for planning
• Teacher Answer Key for All Questions
• It also includes My Teacher Notes for “London” on How to Use this Pack in Your Classroom!

William Blake wrote “London” when he lived in the city – as a satirical diatribe on the society of the time. Your students will be shocked by Blake’s trenchant language, and they will be encouraged to make their observations and text-to-text connections.

Possible Uses Across the Curriculum:

– High School or Middle School Humanities or Language Arts Class 

– A Social Studies / History Unit on the Industrial Revolution

– A Literature / Language Arts Unit on Romanticism

– A Poetry Unit on British Poets from the 18th and 19th Centuries

– A Literature / Language Arts Unit on Political Satire in Poetry

– A Current Events / Social Studies Unit on Child Labor Laws

– An Ethics Unit on Hypocrisy

Duration of Lesson: Two class periods of 45 minutes each (Or one class period of 1.5 hours)

Materials: Smartboard (optional); handouts, teacher notes, questions (all included in the packet), pencil, pen, paper, document camera (to model text annotations for students)

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