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Unit 1
Reading Poetry
OBJECTIVES
Listen and respond to poems.
Identify how meaning is conveyed through word choice.
Read poetry fluently.
Connect ideas and themes across texts.
Model Fluent Reading
Read "We're All in the Telephone Book" aloud. Tell students to listen for the rhythm of the poem. Is the language graceful and flowing, or clumsy and awkward? Point out that the rhythm of a poem helps readers make sense of it.
Discuss the Poem "We're All in the Telephone Book"
1 Draw Conclusions • Inferential
Which names does the poet mention in the poem? Why might he include these names?
Possible responses: He includes the names Anderson, Zabowski, and Rockefeller. He might include them to show that people of many different backgrounds are included in the phone book.
2 Details and Facts • Critical
Why is a rich man like Rockefeller listed after Hughes, the poet, in the phone book? Why do you think the poet thinks this is important?
Possible response: Rockefeller is listed after Hughes because the phone book lists people in alphabetical order. The poet is pointing out that the phone book treats all people as equals. Wealth does not matter.
Model Fluent Reading
Explain to students that "Speak Up" is a conversation between two people. Read the poem aloud, using your tone of voice to express each speaker's emotions.
Discuss the Poem "Speak Up"
1 Dialogue • Inferential
What does the Korean American mean when he or she says that the other speaker's family came "from somewhere else"?
Possible response: The Korean American is pointing out that America is a land of immigrants. Most Americans can trace their roots back to someplace outside of the United States.
2 Compare and Contrast
• Inferential
How are the two speakers alike? How are they different?
Possible responses: The first speaker thinks the second one "sounds funny" when he or she speaks Korean. Both speakers were born in America, and their families came from other countries.
UNIT 1
Poetry
Speak Up
But I was born here.
But I’m American,
can’t you see?
Listen to me?
Say some other stuff.
Sounds funny.
Sounds strange.
C’mon. Say something.
Say something Korean.
Why don’t you speak Korean?
You’re Korean, aren’t you?
by Janet S. Wong
So was I.
Your family came from
somewhere else.
Sometime.
Say some foreign words.
Hey, let’s listen to you
for a change.
Halmoni. Grandmother.
Haraboji. Grandfather.
Imo. Aunt.
I don’t speak it.
I can’t.
Just don’t, I guess.
Yes.
We're All in the Telephone Book
by Langston Hughes
When Washington crossed the Delaware And the pillars of tyranny shook,
He started the list of democracy
That’s America’s telephone book.
For generations men have dreamed
Of nations united as one.
Just look in your telephone book
To see where that dream’s begun.
We’re all in the telephone book.
There’s no priority—
A millionaire like Rockefeller
Is likely to be behind me.
We’re all in the telephone book,
Folks from everywhere on earth—
Anderson to Zabowski,
It’s a record of America’s worth.
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Practice Fluent Reading
Have partners take turns reading "We're All in the Telephone Book" aloud. Tell students to listen for the rhythm of the poem. Is it easy to read aloud?
Does the language flow? Then have students listen to the AudioText of the poem and compare and contrast their readings with the CD recording.
Audio CD AudioText
WRITING POETRY
Have students write their own poem that is a dialogue between two people. Encourage students to have their speakers learn something about each other through their dialogue.