Lesson 7: Braiding Sweetgrass, “Witch Hazel,” and Poems by Joy Harjo

Have students take out their copies of Braiding Sweetgrass and turn to the chapter “Witch Hazel” on p. 75. Instruct students to take out their homework from the previous lesson.

• Lesson 6 Homework: Students were instructed to read the poems “Perhaps the World Ends Here” and “Don’t Bother the Earth Spirit” and the chapter “Witch Hazel” in Braiding Sweetgrass (pp. 75–82) and annotate the text by underlining moments where an everyday object or place is treated as something meaningful or sacred.

Quick Write

Instruct students to do a Quick Write in response to the following prompt.

Say these directions: In your homework reading, you encountered both Kimmerer and Harjo describing the natural world. In two or three sentences, answer the following question:

• What is one idea the two writers seem to have in common in how they talk about the earth?

  • One idea they have in common is that they both use contrasting elements to describe some part of the earth. Kimmerer describes bright yellow witch hazel flowers against the gray winter sky, and Harjo describes “the deaths of all those you love” and “the most blinding beauty.” Both of the authors see important parts of the Earth as involving multifaceted elements.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Today, we’re going to examine how both Braiding Sweetgrass and the poems of Joy Harjo use figurative language to express ideas about the earth.

Fluency Practice

Have students take out their copies of “Perhaps the World Ends Here” by Joy Harjo, and instruct them to follow along as you read it aloud.

• Say: I’m going to model how to read “Perhaps the World Ends Here’ fluently and clearly, using the punctuation and the stanzas to help me navigate the flow of the poem. Follow along with your copy as I read the poem.

Read the poem aloud, modeling fluency and accuracy. You may want to overemphasize some prosody choices, such as using different-sized pauses for commas, periods, semicolons, and em dashes.

Set a purpose for reading the poem a second time, and have students echo-read with you.

• Say: I’m going to read this poem again. This time, you’re going to echo-read with me. Try to really think about the different punctuation marks that indicate a pause and how long I choose to pause for each one, then do the same in your echo reading.

Read the poem a second time, emphasizing your prosody choices around pauses even more than the first time. For example, you might use a long pause and a shift in tone for the em dash. Encourage students to follow your lead as they echo read.

Instruct students to practice their fluency by reading the poem to a partner, who will provide feedback on their fluency, and then switching places. Set a purpose for reading the text a third time by explaining that students should try to read smoothly for expression while following the poem’s structure, including the flow of the stanzas, and pausing for punctuation.

Say these directions: Read the poem “Perhaps the World Ends Here” aloud one more time to practice your fluency. This time, you will read with a partner. First, Partner A will read the full poem while Partner B listens for three things: smooth phrasing, pauses for punctuation, and expression that matches the meaning of the poem. Next, Partner B will give one strength and one next step. Then you will switch roles and repeat.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Today, we are going to analyze how figurative language helps develop similar ideas in both Braiding Sweetgrass and the poems of Joy Harjo. Being able to read poetry fluently and accurately will help you get a good sense of how a poem’s language helps develop its meaning.

Part A: Analyzing Figurative Language in Joy Harjo’s Poetry (RL.8.4, L.8.5.a) (15 minutes)

Teach: Figurative Language in “Perhaps the World Ends Here”

Display the poem “Perhaps the World Ends Here” so all students can view it. Students should also have their own individual copies of the poem.

• Say: In the Literacy Lab, you practiced reading this poem fluently. Now we’re going to analyze the figurative language in this poem. Think about the following question as we discuss: How does Harjo use the kitchen table to express ideas about the earth and human life?

• Ask: What is at the center of this poem? What happens there?

  • The kitchen table is at the center. Harjo describes everything that matters in human life happening at or around the table—babies growing up, people gossiping, dreams, wars, birth, and death. The table holds all of what life has in store for us.

• Ask: Is Harjo really just talking about a table? What figure of speech is she using, and what does the table represent?

  • She’s using the table as an extended metaphor. The table represents the earth itself. It’s the place where all of human life happens. When she writes, “The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table,” the table and the earth become the same thing. Everything begins and ends there at the table.

Tell students that “the gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table” is a direct connection to Kimmerer’s reciprocity idea in Braiding Sweetgrass. Tell students to hold on to this phrase, and explain that you will come back to it in Learning in Action: Part B.

• Ask: Find one example of personification in the poem. What idea does it convey?

  • “Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children.” Harjo personifies dreams as people who sit at the table with us. This conveys the idea that our hopes and memories are just as present and real as the people sitting with us—the table (and the earth) holds all of it together.

Turn and Talk

Transition students into pairs to read and discuss “Don’t Bother the Earth Spirit” with their partners.

Say these directions: Read “Don’t Bother the Earth Spirit” with your partner. Then discuss the following questions with your partner.

Display the following questions.

• How does Harjo personify the earth in this poem? What human qualities does she give the earth spirit?

  • Harjo personifies the earth as “she”—a storyteller who “is working on a story,” who “will invite you in for coffee, give you warm bread.” The earth has the qualities of a host and an artist. She is generous but also powerful—“this is how she traps you.”

• The poem says, “This is no ordinary story.” What does the earth spirit’s story include, and what does this suggest about the earth’s power?

  • The story includes “earthquakes, lightning, the deaths of all those you love, the most blinding beauty.” This suggests the earth’s power includes both devastating destruction and astonishing beauty, and humans can’t escape either one.

• Say: Both of these poems portray the earth as something else—as a table that holds all of human life and as a storyteller who writes a story we can’t escape. Now we’re going to look at how Kimmerer does something similar in “Witch Hazel” and compare the three.

Provide students with a confidence continuum (i.e., 1–5). As needed, model how to demonstrate a level of confidence using the continuum.

Part B: Drawing Connections Between Figurative Language in Multiple Texts (RL.8.4, RI.8.4, W.8.4, L.8.5.a) (15 minutes)

Continue to keep students in pairs for this part of the lesson.

Say these directions: With your partner, reread the middle two paragraphs on p. 79 of “Witch Hazel,” from “Hazel leaned on my mother’s arm . . .” to “It just lightens your heavy heart, is what it does.” As you read, look for the answers to the following questions.

Display the following questions.

• How does Kimmerer (or her neighbor Hazel) use figurative language to describe the witch hazel? What figure of speech do you notice?

  • Hazel personifies the witch hazel when she says it “remind[s] us that there’s always somethin’ good even when it seems like there ain’t” and that “it just lightens your heavy heart.” She talks about the plant as if it has the intention to comfort people.

• What idea does this figurative language convey about the relationship between humans and the earth?

  • The earth offers gifts on its own timeline, not ours. Humans have to be patient and humble enough to accept beauty when the earth provides it, even at an unexpected time.

Quick Write

• Say: Notice what all three texts share: Harjo portrays the earth as a table that holds human life and personifies it as a storyteller who writes the story of existence. Kimmerer personifies witch hazel as a comforter that arrives on its own schedule. In all three, the earth is active and operating on its own terms. Now you’re going to write about this connection.

Say these directions: Choose one of the poems and complete a Quick Write to answer the following question:

• How do Kimmerer in “Witch Hazel” and Joy Harjo in your chosen poem each use figures of speech—such as personification, extended metaphor, or imagery—to show that the earth is active and alive?

• Choose ONE Harjo poem to compare with the excerpt from “Witch Hazel.”

• Identify at least one figure of speech from each text.

• Explain what the figure of speech means—not just what it describes, but what idea it conveys about the earth

• Cite specific text evidence from both writers.

• Use previously learned vocabulary words where possible.

  • “Don’t Bother the Earth Spirit”: In “Witch Hazel,” Kimmerer personifies the witch hazel plant through her neighbor Hazel’s voice. Hazel speaks about the plant as if it intentionally comforts people, saying, “It just lightens your heavy heart.” This personification conveys the idea that the earth offers gifts to humans on its own schedule—the witch hazel blooms in November, when everything else is dormant, and people must be patient enough to receive it. In “Don’t Bother the Earth Spirit,” Harjo uses personification even more directly by describing the earth as “she,” a storyteller “working on a story” that “is the oldest story in the world.” The earth spirit invites you in for coffee and warm bread, but the story she tells includes “earthquakes, lightning, the deaths of all those you love, the most blinding beauty.” This conveys the idea that the earth is powerful and operates on its own terms. Humans are not in control. They are listeners, obligated to stay. Both writers use personification to show that the earth is active and alive, not just a setting for human life. In both texts, humans must be mindful that the earth has its own timing and sacred rhythms. The difference is in tone: Kimmerer’s “Witch Hazel” is warm and comforting, while Harjo’s earth spirit is more powerful and even a little dangerous.

  • “Perhaps the World Ends Here”: In “Witch Hazel,” Kimmerer describes the plant’s November blooming as an unexpected gift, and her neighbor Hazel personifies it as something that “lightens your heavy heart.” This conveys the idea that the earth provides beauty on its own schedule. In “Perhaps the World Ends Here,” Harjo uses an extended metaphor—the kitchen table represents the earth itself. She writes, “The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table,” making the table and the earth one and the same. Harjo also personifies dreams as people who “drink coffee with us” and “put their arms around our children.” Both writers show that the earth is not a passive backdrop. It actively holds and shapes human life. Kimmerer shows this through a single plant that arrives on its own sacred schedule. Harjo shows it through a table that witnesses the full cycle of human existence. Both ask us to be conscious of how deeply our lives depend on the earth.

Turn and Talk

Instruct students to turn-and-talk with a partner about the following question.

Say these directions: Turn and talk with a partner about the following question.

• How do both writers treat the earth in their respective writing?

  • Both writers treat the earth as active and alive, not a backdrop but a participant. Both show that the earth operates on its own schedule, and humans must accept this with patience and humility. Both Kimmerer and Harjo use personification to show that the earth is a living, active presence in human life and that living responsibly means being mindful of the earth’s own timing and rhythms.

Instruct students to complete the following homework using their Journal.

Read the chapter “Allegiance to Gratitude” in Braiding Sweetgrass (pp. 83–99) and annotate the text to mark two or three moments when Kimmerer connects scientific observation with Indigenous knowledge or traditional teachings.