TKAM Intro Lesson
Name:_____Mrs. Oliveira__________________ Grade: ___9th______
Subject: __English ________ Planned Lesson Date: __10/30/2013____
Lesson Objectives
Nat’l / State Standards
Pre-Instructional Activities
1. I can define literary theme.
2. I can identify multiple themes in works of literature.
3. I can analyze major themes used in different texts by
different authors.
2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in
detail its development over the course of the text,
including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by
specific details. [RL. 9-10.2]
1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis
of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences
drawn from the text. [RL. 9-10.1]
1. Bell Ringer: MLK Quote
2. Define: Literary Theme- a common thread or repeated idea
that is incorporated throughout a literary work
3. Introduce Langston Hughes (Harlem Renaissance)
4. Essential Questions:
- How can I recognize themes in literature?
-What are the central themes in TKAM?
Teaching
1. Teacher Demonstration: Read “Merry Go Round” by
Langston Hughes together as a class. Identify which themes
are present in the poem.
2. Independent Work: Read the poems on your desk one at a
time. Keep in mind possible themes while reading
3. Group Activity: Discuss and decide what themes each poem
shares with TKAM. List the quote or portion of the poem
that supports this theme.
Closure
1. Discussion: Group discussion of the TKAM themes found
in Langston Hughes poetry. Particular attention to the
textual evidence listed to support the themes.
2. Formative Assessment: Pay attention to the evidence
discussed to ensure the students understand the
definition of theme and how to identify theme in
literature.
IF TIME ALLOWS: Further explore the theme of right vs. wrong
with the moral dilemma worksheet. Have students consider their
reactions to moral dilemmas found in TKAM.
Name: _________________________________
Date: ____________________
Recognizing Theme: Langston Hughes Poetry
Theme
Social
Inequality
Racism
Right Vs.
Wrong
Education
I, Too
Children’s Rhymes
Theme for
English B
Bell Ringer:
“One has moral responsibilities to disobey
unjust laws”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
1.What do you think this means?
2.What does this indicate about our society?
Children's Rhymes
By what sends
the white kids
I ain't sent:
I know I can't
be President.
What don't bug
them white kids
sure bugs me:
We know everybody
ain't free.
Lies written down
for white folks
ain't for us a-tall:
Liberty And Justice-Huh!--For All?
Langston Hughes
I, Too
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed-I, too, am America.
Langston Hughes
Theme for English B
The instructor said,
Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you-Then, it will be true.
I wonder if it's that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here
to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class.
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem,
through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:
It's not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I'm what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me--we two--you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York, too.) Me--who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records--Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn't make me not like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white-yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That's American.
Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that's true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me-although you're older--and white-and somewhat more free.
This is my page for English B.
Langston Hughes
Merry-Go-Round
Where is the Jim Crow section
On this merry-go-round,
Mister, cause I want to ride?
Down South where I come from
White and colored
Can't sit side by side.
Down South on the train
There's a Jim Crow car.
On the bus we're put in the back—
But there ain't no back
To a merry-go-round!
Where's the horse
For a kid that's black?
Langston Hughes