“Time marches on and sooner or later you realize it is marchin’ across your face.” Dolly Parton, Steel Magnolias
The march through February continues rapidly apace! Now that the theatrics of Valentine’s is another year away, I can continue mostly unabated until the end of the year. St. Patrick’s Day just does not spark the same kind of dramatic flair amongst the children that Valentine’s Day does! Thankfully. X)
Last post I hit upon some of my favorite Black History Month resources and now I’m touching upon the two more. (Though Hurston’s “Sweat” is my number one favorite!)
“We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks
“We Real Cool” is a very brief and relatable poem for students to engage with. It involves some seemingly rebellious teenagers in front of a pool hall, hanging out and skipping school. The implications of their behavior are definitely not good, and the poem has a very live fast and die young feel. It’s a great poem to use to introduce S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, or to use during reading of the novel to help break things up a little.
“Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou
Portraying the experiences of two birds, “Caged Bird” may be Angelou’s most well-known poem. Juxtaposing a free bird and a caged bird, Angelou uses this extended metaphor to explore motifs of race, freedom and oppression. “Caged Bird” makes a great addition to any Black History or poetry unit. My resource for it also includes a comparative analysis with The Beatles, “Blackbird.”
And now, completely randomly, I just finished compiling all my lessons for Laurie Halse Anderson’s historical fiction novel, Fever 1793. I posted an informative writing activity that marked my 200th TpT resource. It includes an original epidemic/pandemic article and writing activity.
200th! Wow. I remember starting my little store with some short story lessons and it seemed to take me forever to get a lesson organized and formatted. Then suddenly, BAM! there is resource 200! Well, it isn’t actually sudden. It’s been almost six years, but how the time goes, just a-marching away! I have not complied all the Fever resources into a bundle yet, but that will be coming soon.
Don’t let the stress of classroom time march across your face! Things are easier with quality and ready to print and teach lessons!
No pool halls, no cages, no Yellow Fever (well, heartworms) and no ravages of time for these dogs!
Happy Teaching!
M.D. Saints
Reading the Rapids
Liberty Dog Writing Co.