Poetry for High Schoolers: Langston Hughes

I am cleaning up my desktop at the end of the school year and filing away many resources. I wanted to complete this series while it was still somewhat fresh in my mind. I will put a link to the first post on my sidebar for future reference in the Charlotte Mason category. 

Our final poet for the year was Langston Hughes. What a nice change for Mr. A to enjoy this interesting poet and the sound of his words. We enjoyed reading aloud his poems and it gave us some insight into a period of history from this man's view.

Week 1:
Read as much of Langston Hughes' poetry you can this week in the time allotted. Tell me what you observed about his poetry. Choose one poem to share with me at our Friday meeting. Did you like the words? The topic? The rhyme?
We watched this video: Langston Hughes and His Poetry.


Week 2:
Watch this short video about the Harlem Renaissance.

Take notes to share on a notebook page...add an image.

Week 3:
Read more of Langston Hughes' poetry. Make a collage of words and images and title it "Langston Hughes".

Week 4:
Read "The Weary Blues" and then listen to it on YouTube: Poetry by Langston Hughes.



Week 5 and 6:
One last week of reading Langston Hughes' poetry. Pick a favorite to recite for the family. Complete a notebook page.

View these YouTube videos:

I, Too (Read by Langston Hughes)
Montage of a Dream Deferred (Read by Danny Glover)
The Negro Speaks of Rivers (Read by Langston Hughes)

Finish your notebook page for Langston Hughes.


Our Poetry Schedule:
Weeks 1-6 Edna St. Vincent Millay
Weeks 7-12 Robert Browning
Weeks 13-18 Robert Frost
Weeks 19-24 Carl Sandburg
Weeks 25-27 W.B. Yeats
Weeks 28-30 E.E. Cummings
Weeks 31-36 Langston Hughes

You can click on the "poetry for high schoolers" tag at the bottom of this post for all the other entries in this series. I hope this series has been helpful and given you some ideas for your own poetry study. We kept this year light and simple and Mr. A thoroughly enjoyed his poetry. I think concentrating on reading and then following up with simple activities has helped him develop an "ear" for poetry like he has not had before. What more could a mom want for her children?

Barb-Harmony Art Mom