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Maya Angelou I know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Website Evaluators
Ann Gann - Clinton High School, Tennessee
Barbara Laurain - South Windsor High School, Connecticut
Website Reviewers and Compilers
Steve Segal - King Drew Magnet High School, California
Kathy Honda Stein - San Pedro High School, California
Site Ratings
1 = Poor 2 = Fair 3 = Good 4 = ExcellentI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings—Maya Angelou
http://www.educeth.ch/english/readinglist/angeloum/index.html
An excellent site for its "wealth of information, the educeth site
provides an extensive biography of Angelou, a synopsis of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
and her other works, teaching info, lesson plans, an extensive bibliography and related links. Students will "truly enjoy surfing this site" because of its eye-catching graphics and visual organization. The site is easy to navigate, and opens with "a powerful picture of Angelou."
Overall Rating: 4 Poet Hero: Maya Angelou
http://myhero.com/hero.asp?hero=mayaangelou
Not an extensive website, but it provides " a provocative statement" by Angelou about creativity and the arts. There are interesting related links to poetry,
images of Angelou, and information about her directorial debut in Down in the Delta, which includes a video clip. For teachers, video and sound clips are "useful in class," while the bibliography of
criticisms will enhance lesson planning. Excellent graphics and many helpful links will engage students.
Overall Rating: 4Voices From the Gaps: Maya Angelou
http://voices.cla.umn.edu/
Although not an extensive site, it provides "a good biography and a discussion of her five books." This site offers a good bibliography and good related
links, but does not offer lesson plans. It is "wonderful for the student who wants to know about Maya Angelou." Easy to navigate.
Overall Rating: 3
IPL Online Literary Criticism Collection: Maya Angelou
http://www.ipl.org/cgi-bin/ref/litcrit/litcrit.out.pl?au=ang-82
Although the website evaluators differ in their analysis of
this site, they both acknowledge that the literary criticisms offered can be "useful to both teacher and student." One downfall of the site is that the viewer must purchase some of the information for $1.
While students "doing serious research" will find the site useful, the level of writing makes the site inaccessible to the average middle school student. The logical organization of the site offsets the lack of
pleasing visual presentation.
Overall Rating: 2Microsoft Encarta Lesson Plan: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
http://encarta.msn.com/alexandria/templates/lessonFull.asp?page=1107
The most useful thing about this site is the lesson plan for teachers on Angelou's poem, "Mrs. Flowers." Students can gain insight into one of the central
figures in Angelou's youth, Bertha Flowers. The goals and objectives are "clearly stated and defined" and the lesson can be executed within two traditional class periods. Geared to middle school students,
the "simple" lesson may be too basic for the high schooler. Many of the links are dead, and the ones that are there did not provide any "new and exciting" information.
Overall Rating: 2 |
