{"id":14236,"date":"2022-01-10T00:00:15","date_gmt":"2022-01-10T08:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.philosophyforchildren.org\/?post_type=lessonplans&#038;p=5916"},"modified":"2022-02-16T21:49:14","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T21:49:14","slug":"i-wish-i-knew-how-it-would-feel-to-be-free-by-nina-simone","status":"publish","type":"teachertoolkit","link":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/i-wish-i-knew-how-it-would-feel-to-be-free-by-nina-simone\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free\u201d by Nina Simone"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><u>Whole Sequence Breakdown:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Welcome and warm-up (c. 5-10 minutes)<\/p>\n<p>Brief introduction to Nina Simone and the song (5 minutes)<\/p>\n<p>Listening to \u201cI Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to Be Free)\u201d with Lyrics (5 minutes)<\/p>\n<p>Small group discussions (c. 10-15 minutes)<\/p>\n<p>Whole-group share and discussion (20 minutes)<\/p>\n<p>Possible extensions (for extra time, or additional lessons)<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Welcome and Warm-up<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Welcome students and share any updates, or follow-up on points from the last session.<\/li>\n<li>Warm-up question:\n<ol>\n<li>\u201cHow would you define freedom?\u201d\n<ol>\n<li>Examples: Freedom is the ability to choose to do something without having to worry about consequences; freedom means not being constrained in ways you don\u2019t agree to<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>\u201cCan you think of a time you understood how someone who felt differently than you felt? How did you know?\u201d\n<ol>\n<li>Example: One time I was having a disagreement with a friend because I didn\u2019t understand how she was, and she referenced a time that I had told her that I had similar feelings as a way of reminding me of that moment to help me understand her better in that situation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Encourage students to give some more information about some of their choices, especially overlaps. Why does this make you feel respected?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Brief Introduction to Nina Simone and \u201cI Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to Be Free)\u201d<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Check prior knowledge: \u201cCan anyone tell me who Nina Simone is?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Fill in gaps as necessary with the following information:\n<ol>\n<li>Nina Simone was a U.S. American musician and singer; she was also an activist during the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement.<\/li>\n<li>She was especially notable for her biting and critical music, which was against the tone of Civil Rights Music at the time.<\/li>\n<li>She was a classically-trained pianist who became a singer to \u201cpay the bills\u201d when racism prevented her from being the classical pianist she wanted to be<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Introduce song: \u201cAs you listen today, I want you to try to think of a question this song raises for you, or one interesting point about the song you\u2019d like to discuss more. In particular, this song uses a lot of metaphors. Maybe there\u2019s something there that you\u2019d like to explore further\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><u><strong>Listening to \u201cI Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to Be Free)\u201d with Lyrics<\/strong> <\/u><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Play a recording of Nina Simone singing the song accompanied by lyrics on the screen.\n<ol>\n<li>For older students, consider using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_2ar5qDeru0\">this live recording<\/a> (with slightly different lyrics\/metaphors that may be more difficult for younger students)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">I wish I knew how<br \/>\nIt would feel to be free<br \/>\nI wish I could break<br \/>\nAll the chains holdin&#8217; me<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">I wish I could say<br \/>\nAll the things that I should say<br \/>\nSay &#8217;em loud, say &#8217;em clear<br \/>\nFor the whole round world to hear<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">I wish I could share<br \/>\nAll the love that&#8217;s in my heart<br \/>\nRemove all the bars<br \/>\nThat keep us apart<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">I wish you could know<br \/>\nWhat it means to be me<br \/>\nThen you&#8217;d see and agree<br \/>\nThat every man should be free<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">I wish I could give<br \/>\nAll I&#8217;m longin&#8217; to give<br \/>\nI wish I could live<br \/>\nLike I&#8217;m longing to live<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">I wish I could do<br \/>\nAll the things that I can do<br \/>\nAnd though I&#8217;m way overdue<br \/>\nI&#8217;d be startin&#8217; anew<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Well, I wish I could be<br \/>\nLike a bird in the sky<br \/>\nHow sweet it would be<br \/>\nIf I found I could fly<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Oh, I&#8217;d soar to the sun<br \/>\nAnd look down at the sea<br \/>\nThen I&#8217;d sing &#8217;cause I&#8217;d know, yeah<br \/>\nAnd I&#8217;d sing &#8217;cause I&#8217;d know, yeah<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">And I&#8217;d sing &#8217;cause I&#8217;d know<br \/>\nI&#8217;d know how it feels<br \/>\nI&#8217;d know how it feels to be free, yeah, yeah<br \/>\nI&#8217;d know how it feels<br \/>\nYes, I&#8217;d know<br \/>\nI&#8217;d know how it feels, how it feels<br \/>\nTo be free, no, no, no<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Small Group Discussions<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Break students up into small groups (3-4 students per group) to discuss their questions or points of interest. Ask each group to return with one questions or point of interest to propose to the whole group for discussion.<\/li>\n<li>In small groups, students should take turn discussing their questions\/points, before subsequently deciding as a group which question or point to propose.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>\u00a0Whole-Group Share and Discussion<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ask students to share their questions\/points from their small group discussions. The teacher should supplement these as needed depending on the anticipated depth of discussion arising from the suggested questions and points (I.e., if it seems that the questions \/points will be rather quickly discussed, the teacher should supplement with <u>one or two<\/u> questions or points with more opportunities for longer discussion.). For examples, see the Discussion Questions tab of the lesson plan.<\/li>\n<li>The students will vote as a whole group for 2 questions\/points to discuss.<\/li>\n<li>The group who proposed the first voted discussion question\/point will begin discussion, which will continue popcorn style from there.\n<ul>\n<li>If\/when discussion of the initial topic quells, move on to the second voted topic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Follow the thread of the students interests! If\/when there are lulls in the conversation, give some time, but afterwards, feel free to follow-up with questions or statements on the conversation that is happening (for example, \u201cSo I think what I\u2019m hearing is\u2026, is that correct? If that\u2019s true, do you think that\u2026\u201d and etc.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><u><strong>Possible Extensions\u00a0<\/strong> <\/u><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Introduce and listen to the original Billy Taylor version of \u201cI Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to Be Free)\u201d with this guiding question: how are these versions different? What effect does a different performer or genre have?<\/li>\n<li>Listen again and consider the role of the music: what does the music add here that the words alone do not capture? How does the music make you feel? Can music be free or unfree?<\/li>\n<li>Explore musical adaptation: if we wanted to create our own version of this song, what would we change and why?<\/li>\n<li>Begin a generative conversation using some of the following questions:\n<ol>\n<li>What metaphors can you think of to explain freedom?<\/li>\n<li>How would you explain freedom to someone who didn\u2019t understand it?<\/li>\n<li>Are there aspects of being free that can\u2019t be put into words? How about music or art?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whole Sequence Breakdown: Welcome and warm-up (c. 5-10 minutes) Brief introduction to Nina Simone and the song (5 minutes) Listening to \u201cI Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to Be Free)\u201d with Lyrics (5 minutes) Small group discussions (c. 10-15 minutes) Whole-group share and discussion (20 minutes) Possible extensions (for extra time, or additional <a href=\"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/i-wish-i-knew-how-it-would-feel-to-be-free-by-nina-simone\/\" class=\"more-link\">&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  \u201cI wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free\u201d by Nina Simone<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13129,"template":"","toolkitcategory":[29,229],"gradelevel":[46],"topics":[355,394],"class_list":["post-14236","teachertoolkit","type-teachertoolkit","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","toolkitcategory-history-social-studies","toolkitcategory-music","gradelevel-primary-elementary","topics-art","topics-freedom"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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