Stephen Dobyns, "The Street" & Langston Hughes, "Daybreak in Alabama"

This past week was my first full week of the semester. Between preparing for five classes and implementing my impeccable (ahem) lesson plans, it was a bit nutty, but things are off to a good (if exhausting) start.

Since I was unable to post anything about my Hands on Stanzas classes last week, I'll be succinct here and provide links to blogs at both schools, which include more detailed information about the poetry lessons and progress in the classroom. In each instance, as is usually the case, the same poem and plan was used, but of course the results are rarely duplicative between the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders at Solomon, and the 5th graders at Shields. Each school has quite different and dynamic social settings and diverse student populations, and that's without factoring individual idiosyncrasies into the mix.

The prior week's poem was Stephen Dobyns' "The Street." See what Shields and Solomon students created in response to Dobyns' ekphrastic verse. In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, this week's plan revolved around "Daybreak in Alabama" by Langston Hughes; peruse Shields and Solomon student responses, and hope you enjoy!