Locomotion
by Jacqueline Woodson
total number of pages: 100
Dates :
22 – Books distributed. The two books being in 115 are Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
and Locomotion. Students will read at least one of these two books.
23 –Read Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco aloud in class
24 – viewed The Children’s March Video
27 – Read at least up through page 11* (Poem Book, Roof, Line Break Poem, Memory,
Mama, Lili, First)
Poem Book: Who is writing the poem? Lonnie. He is 11 years old. Always told to be
quiet by Miss Edna. Has a candle idea. His teacher’s name is Ms. Marcus. She tells
him to write quickly.
Roof: After Miss Edna goes to bed he goes to the roof and sits watching the stars. He
thinks one might be his Mama and Papa and that is why they flicker.
Foreshadowing?
Line Break Poem: Every line should count. They tell you what matters to the poet.
Woodson is teaching us how to read poetry, and know what is important to Lonnie.
Memory: The pigeon came to the window when he was holding his baby sister Lili.
She screamed, and Mama thought he had dropped the baby. She found out he hadn’t
and he asks her: Was I ever your baby Mama? And she responds You still are. And he
felt warm and safe and happy.
Mama: A sense poem. His mother used to wear Honeysuckle Talc powder. As a
young African American boy, when he goes into stores, people think he is going to
steal things. But he just wants to remind himself what his mother used to smell like.
No I say to the cosmetics lady. It’s not the right one. Then I leave fast. Why? Tears.
Lili: All that is on his mind is Lili and the talc. He says he wouldn’t hurt her for a
million dollars. He misses her.
First: We are just getting the idea now that he lives with Miss Edna. That when he
moved in he used to be loud and she told him to hush, and now she asks him “Where
is that boy I used to know, the one who was loud?” There is also another room down
the hall he should never go into. Foreshadowing again?
28 – read pages 12-19 (Commercial Break, Haiku, Group Home Before Miss Edna’s
House, Halloween Poem, Parents Poem)
Commercial Break Lonnie is watching television and white people come on in a
food commercial. He writes about it, and his teacher wonders why he had to
mention the people were white. He also wonders what they do with all the extra
food in the commercial. Lonnie is marginalized, and poor. Woodson is pointing this
out in the poem, also how people who aren’t marginalized and poor don’t even see
how they are. “Maybe if you are white, you can’t see all the whiteness around you.”
Haiku Today’s a bad day…
Group Home Before Miss Edna’s House Monsters and being a throw away boy. We
are finding out Lonnie used to live in a group home before Miss Edna took him in.
He doesn’t even know where Lili is. What has happened to his family?
Halloween Poem It is Halloween and Lonnie is wishing he could go trick or treating.
He also remembers having some bigger boys steal his candy when he was younger.
He wishes he had a big brother who could have gotten the candy back. But he
doesn’t he says.
Parents Poem This is where you find out what happened to Lonnie’s family. His
parents died in a fire. You also find out that he had a happy home. His father worked
for Con Edison and his mom worked as a receptionist. He recalls his dad calling him
Locomotion, and his mom’s voice when she talked to him. He says the fire just took
their bodies, but it couldn’t take those memories from him.
29 – read pages 20 – 30 (Sonnet Poem, How I Got My Name, Describe Somebody,
Epistle Poem, Roof Poem II, Me, Eric, Lamont and Angel, Failing, New Boy)
Sonnet Poem The form of the sonnet is a fourteen line poem: with the rhyme
scheme: a-b, a-b, c-d, c-d, e-f, e-f, g-g and he last two lines are a rhyming couplet (two
lines that rhyme and have the same meter or syllables.)
How I Got My Name Come on Baby, do the Locomotion. His name is Lonnie Collins
Motion Locomotion by Grand Fun Railroad
Describe Somebody He tells you about the kids in his class, focusing on Eric who
sings in a choir and “has an angel voice.”
Epistle Poem: Epistles are letters, usually formal, like those in the bible. In this
poem he has written his father about a memory about going to get hot dogs. He also
is writing about a poem he read by Langston Hughes.
Roof Poem II Key lines: you don’t have to worry about where you are going to live
next if somebody all of a sudden changes their mind about living with you. His
worry about Miss Edna.
Me, Eric, Lamont and Angel The boys are challenging each other for bad memories.
Lamont says he saw a house fall one someone. Angel describes this dog being hit by
a car. It sticks with Lonnie. Eric says “Once I saw a little boy, and then in my dream,
he was a man.” Eric says this is more than what Lonnie has seen. Only Lonnie is
thinking about the fire. The song she quotes is where a girl commits suicide because
her lover has left her.
Failing He struggles with knowing what the truth is. He doesn’t trust.
New Boy A new boy, Clyde, moves into the class from the country. The kids tease
him and laugh.
30 – read pages 31 – 41 (December 9th, List Poem, Late Saturday Afternoon in
Halsey Street Park, Pigeon, Sometimes Poem, War Poem Georgia, New Boy Poem II)
31 – read pages 42- 54 (Tuesday, Visiting, Just Nothing Poem, God Poem, All of a
Sudden, The Poem)
February 3 – read pages 55 – 66 (Hey Dog, Occasional Poem, Haiku Poem, LaTenya,
Poetry Poem, Eric Poem)
4 read pages 67 – 76 (Lamont, Hip Hop Rules the World, Photographs, New Boy
Poem III, Happiness Poem, Birth, Lili’s New Mama’s House)
5 read pages 77 – 84 (Church, New Boy Poem IV, Teacher of the Year, Easter Sunday,
Rodney, Epitaph Poem)
6 read pages 85 – 92 (Firefly, The Fire, Almost Summer Sky, Clyde Poem I: Down
South, First Day of School)
7 read pages 93 – 100 (Dear God, LaTenya II, June)
10 – Discuss project assignment – brainstorm options, etc.
11 – Time to work on project
12 – work time
13 – work time
14 – final work time
Monday February 17 – projects due
* You are welcome to read through the book as quickly as you want. However, on
these dates we will discuss/react to the incidents that occur on these pages. You
many not reveal to your classmates what happens in the later portion of the book if
you have read ahead.