Poetry Activities for Colloquialism (w/ Langston Hughes & 'Mother...')

Dive into the world of poetry analysis with this versatile resource featuring Langston Hughes's powerful poem, "Mother to Son." Unlock the literary concept of colloquialism as you engage in guided annotation, comprehensive literary analysis (including short answer and essay assignments), and an inspiring creative poem-writing activity.

Through the compelling words of "Mother to Son," your students will unravel the impact of colloquial language on poetic expression. Witness their growth as they engage in thoughtful analysis and unleash their creativity through the poem-writing activity.

Teaching this resource is simple! Start by presenting and discussing the poem with the poem analysis activity, which makes an excellent bell ringer. Then, give students time to complete the guided annotation activity and answer the analysis question that accompany the lesson (answer key included!). Next, students have the opportunity to write their own poem using the poetic concept analyzed earlier. Finally, you can assess students understanding of the poem and its poetic concepts with a literary analysis essay. That essay assignment comes with a prompt, writing tips, peer review, and Common Core-aligned rubric!

Your TeachSimple download includes:

• A POEM ANALYSIS ACTIVITY: Give students the opportunity to read Langston Hughes' "Mother to Son” (text included) and analyze the poem via an annotation activity and accompanying analysis questions (answer key included). Ideal for a bell ringer!

• A CREATIVE WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Provide students the opportunity to further develop their understanding of colloquialism with a creative poem writing assignment (tied to one Common Core Writing Standard). Ideal for sub plans!

• A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY: This essay assignment builds on students' understanding of colloquialism and Hughes' "Mother to Son.” The assignment handout includes essay guidelines, analysis prompt, literary analysis writing tips, and a peer review checklist. The included rubric is tied to 4 Common Core ELA Standards and includes a link to an editable rubric that allows for grading customization and seamless integration into Google Classroom and many other Learning Management Systems (LMS's)

Although this resource can be fitted for any secondary Language Arts classroom, it has been carefully designed to work best in grades 9 through 12. The included rubric is subtly but specifically tied to Common Core ELA Standards for Language (1 and 2) and Writing (2 and 4). This resource is provided in print-ready, bookmarked, and adjustable PDF files and PowerPoint Show files.

This resource contains 5 pages and 1 Google Sheet.