Robert Frost's Birthday

INTRODUCTION

Robert Frost is usually considered America’s most beloved poet. Born on March 26 in 1874, his poems are often set in rural New England and capture the colloquial speech of his time. Yet the poems manage to examine complex social questions. Frost won four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry and read one of his poems aloud at Kennedy’s presidential inauguration.

This Frost poem appeals to teenagers and to old people. As you listen try to decide why.
Have you ever felt that there is no one, no other person in the world, like you? It’s kind of a lonely feeling. There is no one who feels like you do, no one who can even understand what it feels like to be you? Have you had these feelings? What do you do with them? Think about that as you hear the poem. Know that the word ‘diverged’ means ‘split apart from each other.’

POEM
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth:

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should every come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh,
Somewhere ages and ages hence;
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
AMERICAN POETRY: THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, VOL. 1 2000. New York: Library of America. ISBN 1883011779

EXTENSION
Have a discussion based on these questions. What are you thinking? What parts do you like? What is the ‘difference’ the poet refers to in the last line?

What do you notice about how the poem is crafted? Write down one thing that you noticed about the rhyme, rhythm, figurative language, or images.

How can a teenager and an old librarian both get meaning from this poem?

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Civil Rights March in Selma

INTRODUCTION
During the third week of March, in 1965, three thousand people began a march for Civil Rights in Selma, Alabama, that grew to 25,000 people by the time they arrived in Montgomery, Alabama. I would like to share two short poems, about two African American women whose rights were denied during their lifetimes. These women created their own success in spite of being denied their basic rights in America. Even the march itself was inspired by a woman, Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man.

Some of you have given up trying to be successful in school. I see it in your attitudes. You think your circumstances are so hard that you will not be able to be successful. But Madam C. J. Walker was born of parents who were slaves until the Civil War freed them, and they died of yellow fever when she was seven. She married at 14, but her husband died by the time she was twenty. Still she managed to succeed. She invented and sold hair products for black women, eventually becoming the first female African American millionaire.

POEM
THE MILLIONAIRE
By Carole Boston Weatherford

All Girls She left the parched fields of the South
Girl 1 but still she lived from hand to mouth,
Girl 2 worked at a scrub board in blazing heat,
washing laundry to make ends meet.

All Girls Till dreams bid her to brew her potions,
Girl 3 Madam’s line of oils and lotions.
Girl 4 She filled glass jars on the kitchen floor
and sold her wares from door to door.

All Girls Her factory ran round the clock,
Girl 1 filling orders for beauty shops:
All Girls creams for skin and oils for hair.
Girl 2 Call her Madam—Millionaire.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Weatherford, Carole Boston. 2002. REMEMBER THE BRIDGE: POEMS OF A PEOPLE. New York: Philomel Books. ISBN 0399237267


EXTENSION
After reading this poem aloud, assign parts and read it again as a group before starting a discussion.
What if you lived during this time when neither women nor African Americans had many rights? Make a list of the things that are obstacles to you. List the reasons why you believe you are have not been more successful. What gets in your way? Can you think of anything you can do to help to solve one of your problems? Write them down to use as ideas for additional writing at another time.

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First Color Television Broadcast

INTRODUCTION
On March 27, 1955, the first coast-to-coast color television broadcast was transmitted. Take a minute to think about how we watch TV. Do you have a favorite snack you like to eat while you watch? What about your favorite TV shows? Does everyone’s family own a TV?

POEM
Jimmy Jet and His TV Set
by Shel Silverstein

I’ll tell you the story of Jimmy Jet-
And you know what I tell you is true.
He loved to watch his TV set
Almost as much as you.

He watched all day, he watched all night
Till he grew pale and lean,
From “The Early Show” to “The Late Late Show”
And all the shows between.

He watched till his eyes were frozen wide,
And his bottom grew into his chair.
And his chin turned into a tuning dial,
And antennae grew out of his hair.

And his brains turned into TV tubes,
And his face to a TV screen.
And two knobs saying “VERT.” and “HORIZ.”
Grew where his ears had been.

And he grew a plug that looked like a tail
So we plugged in little Jim.
And now instead of him watching TV
We all sit around and watch him.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Silverstein, S. (2004). WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS: THE POEMS AND DRAWINGS OF SHEL SILVERSTEIN. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0060572345

EXTENSION
Bring a large cardboard box, and with the students’ help, turn it into a television complete with a large cut-out window simulating the screen. Let them take turns “being on TV” and reading their favorite part of this or another poem.

Photo courtesy of http://images.google.com/.

Poet Naomi Shihab Nye's Birthday

INTRODUCTION
The novelist and poet, Nye was born on March 12th. As an Arab American living in the United States and in Israel, she has had an unusual life. But the problem she describes in this poem might happen to anyone. Have there been times when someone has accused you of lying? Think about that as you listen to her poem.

POEM
There Was No Wind
by Naomi Shihab Nye

I don’t know why I would tell
an outright lie
to someone I never saw before
but when she asked
Did you close this door?
in an accusing tone
I said No, the wind closed it

She gave me an odd look
pushed the door wide open
and left it that way

I felt strange the rest of the day
walking around
with a stone on my tongue

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Nye, N. S. 2008. HONEYBEE: POEMS AND SHORT PROSE. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 9780060853914

EXTENSION
Invite students to draw the emotion or event, or their own reaction to the poem. Also, allow time for children to share their thoughts on what is going on in the poem.

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World Maths Day

INTRODUCTION
This event aims to promote numeracy standards in a fun and exciting way. Take a poetry break in the middle of math class.

POEM

Money Poem
by unknown

Penny, penny, easy spent,
Copper brown and worth one cent.

Nickel, nickel, thick and fat.
You’re worth 5. I know that.

Dime, dime, little and thin,
I remember—you’re worth 10.

Quarter, quarter, big and bold,
You’re worth 25, I am told.

Half a dollar, half a dollar,
Giant size,
50 cents to buy some fries.

Dollar, dollar, green and long,
With 100 cents you can’t go wrong.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Math Poems. tooter4kids. http://www.tooter4kids.com/classroom/math_poems.htm

EXTENSION
Let your students have some computer time and play math games. Some free ones can be found at Cut the Knot website at http://www.cut-the-knot.org/Curriculum/index.shtml

Photo courtesy of http://www.tts-group.co.uk/Content/Files/images/WorldMathsDay_logo.jpg.